Mejer, Otto, 1818-1893

Otto Karl Alexander Mejer (27 May 1818, Zellerfeld – 24 December 1893, Hanover) was a German canon law specialist and church historian. He studied law at the universities of Göttingen, Berlin and Jena, receiving his doctorate at Göttingen in 1841. While a student in Berlin, he was deeply influenced by the teachings of Friedrich Carl von Savigny. Not long after graduation, he became a lecturer at Göttingen, and in 1845/46 took an extended study trip to Rome. In 1847 he became a full professor of law at the University of Königsberg, which was followed by professorships at Greifswald (1850) and Rostock (1851). In 1874 he returned as a professor to Göttingen, where he taught classes until his retirement in 1883. From 1885 to 1893 he was president of the State Consistory at the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Hanover, then the highest-ranking office of the church.