Hermann Oncken was a German historian and political writer. He was one of the most notable historians of pre-Nazi Germany.

He lectured at the universities of Chicago (1905), Giessen (1906), Heidelberg (1907-1923), Munich (1923-1928), and Berlin (1928-1935). In 1935 he was forced to retire by the Nazi regime, which he opposed.

He specialized in the 19th century, istory of historical thought, history of political thought.

Notable students:

• Egmont Zechlin (1896-1992), doctorate in 1922
• Wolfgang Hallgarten (1901–1975), Ph.D. 1925
• Walter Frank
  Walter Frank
  Walter Frank was a Nazi historian, notable for his leading role in anti-Semitic research.-Life:Frank was born in Fürth, Kingdom of Bavaria. In his youth, he attended Julius Streicher rallies; his politics were heavily influenced by the Bavarian Soviet Republic and the Beer Hall Putsch...
  
   (1905–1945), Ph.D. 1927
• Michael Freund
  Michael Freund (writer)
  Michael Freund was a Nazi Party writer.Freund's view was that Louis Napoleon was the only real revolutionist in 1848. Freund wrote, "After the solemn republican respectablity of 1848 it seemed that only with the Napoleonic experiment did a great revolutionary élan appear on the stage of history"...
  
   (1902-1972), Ph.D. 1928
• Margret Boveri
  Margret Boveri
  Margret Antonie Boveri was one of the best-known German journalists and writers of the post-WW2 period.-Life:Margret Boveri was born in Würzburg, Germany, the daughter of German biologist Theodor Boveri and American biologist Marcella O'Grady Boveri. Her father died in 1915 and her mother returned...
  
  (1900-1975), Ph.D. 1932

Selected works:

• Lasalle. Zwischen Marx und Bismarck (Lassalle. Between Marx and Bismarck) (1904)
• Rudolf von Bennigsen. Ein deutscher liberaler Politiker (Rudolf von Bennigsen. A German liberal politician) (1910)
• Das alte und das neue Mitteleuropa, 1917
• Die Utopia des Thomas Morus und das Machtproblem in der Staatslehre, 1922
• Die Rheinpolitik Kaiser Napoleons III (The Rhine policy emperor Napoleon III) (1926)
• Über das Motiv der "Sicherheit" in der europäischen Geschichte, 1926
• Großherzog Friedrich I. von Baden und die deutsche Politik von 1854-1871 (Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden and the German policy of 1854-1871 (1927)
• Das Deutsche Reich und die Vorgeschichte des Weltkrieges (The German Reich and the history of the Great War) (1927)
• Cromwell, 1935

Further reading

• Felix E. Hirsch, Hermann Oncken and the End of an Era, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 18, No. 2 (Jun., 1946), pp. 148-159 (JSTOR)