KEHR, PAUL FRIDOLIN. - Born on 28 Dec. 1860 at Waltershausen near Gotha (Thuringia) into a Protestant family, died on 9 Nov. 1944 at Wässerndorf Castle near Würzburg. A distinguished historian, to him is owed the fundamental work for the study of pontifical documents up to the 13th century.
He began his scholarly career as a collaborator of the MGH, became a lecturer in 1889 and an extraordinary professor in 1893 at Marburg, and was appointed full professor of medieval history at Göttingen in 1895.
In 1896 he proposed to the Academy of that city the plan of collecting and publishing all pontifical documents prior to Innocent III (the year 1198), both published and unpublished, seeking out their originals and copies in all the archives of Europe. As a premise to the complete publication of the texts according to the requirements of scientific criticism there thus arose the Regesta Pontificum Romanorum, suitably arranged by regions, dioceses, places and institutions, of which the first volume appeared in 1906, dedicated to Rome. The grandiose work, conducted with admirable precision of method with the collaboration of distinguished scholars, was largely favored by the Church and in particular by the pontiff Pius XI, who honored K. with his friendship and also provided him with substantial financial aid to ensure the good continuation of the work. At his death eight volumes relating to Italy (Italia Pontificia) and three of Germany (Germania Pontificia) had been published; the ninth and last of Italy was ready for the press and the preparation of the volumes for France, England, Portugal and Spain was already well advanced. His minor publications are numerous: reports of archival explorations, particular studies of pontifical and imperial diplomatics, historical research and illustrations.
He was also director of the Prussian, later German, Historical Institute of Rome (from 1903 to 1936), director general of the State Archives of Prussia (from 1913 to 1929) and president of the MGH (from 1919 to 1936).
Bibliography
Giulio Battelli