The great German scholar Otto Hintze (1861-1940) is still only known to many as a historian of Prussia or even Hohenzollern. Yet his academic work went far beyond these fields of research and is impressively relevant today. This is particularly true with regard to a historical sociology of bureaucracy, the methodological turn towards a global history and a power-political realism that does not bypass the question of the possibilities of stable international peace orders. Hintze's work combines a critical continuation of historicism with a clear tendency and openness towards the social sciences. It can be read as a supplement as well as a corrective to the writings of Max Weber and Ernst Troeltsch, but also as an alternative to Carl Schmitt, and is therefore deservedly attracting increasing international attention.