Career
His major work was his monograph Geschichte des Hanseatischen Bundes. (engl: History of the Hanseatic League) published in three volumes 1802-1808. His research on this topic was the first modern work on the Hanseatic League.
A second edition prepared by him was published post mortem in 1830.
He made a historical study of the rule of the Ostrogoths in Italy while professor at Göttingen (Versuch iiber die Regierung der Ostgothen wabrend ihrer Herrschaft in Italien. Hamburg, 1811), an extremely painstaking treatise on Ostrogothic administration, chiefly compiled from the letters of Cassiodorus.
He is also known as translator and popularizer of Adam Smith"s Wealth of Nations. As an economist he gave lectures on taxation.
