How did Karl Lamprecht’s approach to history differ from Leopold von Ranke’s approach?

Karl Lamprecht’s historiographical approach diverged significantly from the tradition established by Leopold von Ranke. While Ranke focused on the state as the primary historical entity and emphasized the critical analysis of factual, narrative evidence to depict "how it actually was," Lamprecht sought to transform history into a more scientific discipline modeled after the natural sciences.123

Key differences include:

• Subject Matter: Ranke prioritized political history, viewing states as "spiritual entities" and original creations of the human mind. In contrast, Lamprecht shifted the focus toward social history, emphasizing economic groups, mass movements, and cultural life.213
• Methodology: Ranke relied on the critical examination of documents to reconstruct historical reality. Lamprecht rejected this focus on exterior factual data, arguing that history achieves scientific status through a philosophical synthesis derived from the comparative study of collective psychologies across different epochs.213
• Theoretical Basis: Ranke’s work was rooted in historical continuity and the development of individual states. Lamprecht, however, attempted to identify general laws of collective psychology governing human behavior, a move that critics labeled as reductionist and inadequately documented.213