Traces in Other Regions
Max Weber: German Sociologist and Politician in Killarney

Max Weber was born in 1864 in Erfurt into an intellectual and cultivated family. Weber studied law at universities in Heidelberg and Berlin and received his first university appointment in 1894 in Freiburg. Only two years later, he became professor for political economy in Heidelberg. His academic studies focused on sociology, philosophy, and religion but he was also a politically active person.

His work as a social theorist brought him the reputation of being one of the founding fathers of social science. His ideas were important for the creation of academic disciplines such as sociology. His most celebrated works are the “Rationalization Thesis” and the “Protestant Ethic Thesis”. The former is an analysis of the domination of the western world and the latter a non-Marxist exploration of capitalism. During the First World War, Weber was first a supporter and then a critic of the government and the war. He campaigned for a political reform after the war, including universal suffrage. Max Weber died of pneumonia in 1920, after possibly having contracted the Spanish flu.

A lesser-known fact about Weber is his appreciation for Ireland, particularly Killarney. In his letters he writes about visiting Killarney on one of his travels with his wife Marianne Weber in September 1895, when he was 31. According to Weber, Killarney is “the most beautiful [place] in the British Isles”. He writes appreciatively of the countryside, nature, agrarian culture, and historical ruins. In conversation with Irishmen who talk to him about the hopeful prospect of “homerule”, he uttered the opinion that he doubted that Ireland would ever achieve it. In his opinion, the catholic priests would then lead the country.