ARCHENHOLZ, JOHANN WILHELM VON (1743 1812 ), German historian, was born at Langfuhr, a suburb of Dan zig, on Sept. 3, 1743, and died at Oyendorf, near Hamburg, on Feb. 28, 1812. He served in the Seven Years' War, and then retired from the army. He then spent a long period abroad, living in England from 1769 to 1779, and returned to Germany in 1780. His England and Italien (17 85) gave a good picture of English political and social life. But his best known work is the history of the Seven Years' War, Geschichte des siebenjahrigen Krieges (first published in the Berliner historisches Taschenbuch of 1787, and later in 2 vols., Berlin, 1793; 13th ed., Leipzig, 1892). This book is still a useful source of information.