Friedrich Heinrich Ranke studied theology and philology at the University of Jena and philosophy at the University of Halle and eventually became a private schoolteacher in Frankfurt an der Oder (a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the west side of the Oder River, on the Germany-Poland border, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Berlin).
He studied theology and philology at the University of Jena, where he was a pupil of Heinrich Luden and Johann Philipp Gabler. He then studied philosophy at the University of Halle (from 1817), afterwards working as a private schoolteacher in Frankfurt an der Oder. 'Frankfurt on the Oder') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the west side of the Oder River, on the Germany-Poland border, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) east of Berlin. 
