D'AHN, Julius Sophus Felix. – German writer, historian, and jurist, born in Hamburg on 9 Feb. 1834, died in Breslau on 3 Jan. 1912. A fervent nationalist, he was greatly influenced by the atmosphere of the years around 1870 and by the Kulturkampf then unfolding.
Author of juridical and historical works, his romantic temperament led him to exalt the Germanic peoples and Nordic antiquity in vast and theatrical historical novels, in which there is always present a tendency that is anti-Roman and anti-Catholic, if not outright anti-Christian. Among these are: Ein Kampf um Rom (1876), his best work; Julian der Abtrünnige (Leipzig 1893); and Karl der Grosse und seine Paladine, in the latter of which he paints in dark colors the work of Christianization carried out by Charlemagne. Typical of his stance are also the Romane aus der altnordischen Göttersage (Berlin 1880-89). Of little value are his lyrics and dramas.