Waitz, Georg

Waitz, Georg (gā`ôrk vīts), 1813–86, German historian. In the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848 he defended the idea of a unified Germany, including Austria and Prussia. He was professor at Göttingen after 1849. His great knowledge of the literature and sources of history enabled him to direct the Monumenta Germaniae historica after 1875 and to prepare with Dahlmann an indispensable Quellenkunde zur deutschen Geschichte [sources on German history] (ed. 1869, 1874, 1883; 9th ed. 1931). Waitz also wrote an eight-volume work (1844–78) on German constitutional history to the middle of the 12th cent.