Hettner obtained his
PhD from the
University of Strasbourg, and was also a pupil of
Ferdinand von Richthofen and
Friedrich Ratzel at
Leipzig—where he obtained his
habilitation. According to him, geography is a
chorological science or it is a study of regions. Hettner rejected the view that geography could be either general or regional. Geography, like other fields of learning, must deal in both unique things (regional geography) and with the
universal (general geography), but the study of regions — especially in the form of his '''' approach — is the main field of geography. Hettner supervised, among others, the PhDs of
Martha Krug-Genthe,
Oskar Schmieder, and . In 1895, he founded the journal , which he also edited for many years. He was a lecturer briefly at
Tübingen (1894-1897) and
Leipzig (1897-1899). In 1899, he joined
University of Heidelberg as an associate professor. By 1906, he became the first Chair of Geography at Heidelberg. His book
Europe was published in 1907. He held this office until his retirement in 1928. From 1920-1931 or possibly longer he was the director of the Heidelberg section of the
Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft. He died in Heidelberg in 1941. == Literary works ==