#niklasluhmannszettelkasten — Public Fediverse posts

Niklas Luhmann’s Zettelkasten Method One Pager (1968)

The internet is now rife with what I call "zettelkasten method one pagers" that describe what many people rightly (or very often wrongly) think that Niklas Luhmann's zettelkasten method entails.  While doing some research about Luhmann's numbering system's antecedents, I recently came across a "one pager" (typescript) written by Luhmann himself in the form of some lecture notes from 1968 that folks may appreciate. Luhmann, Niklas. 1968-01-13. “Ms. 2906: Technik des Zettelkastens.” […]

https://boffosocko.com/2026/01/02/niklas-luhmanns-zettelkasten-method-one-pager-1968/

I now have definitive written proof of a numeric indexing system (delineated in a popular textbook for secretaries, and published by a company which did significant business in Germany) from the mid-1920s with increasingly more detail into the 1940s and a fifth edition published in 1950. It’s exactly like, but notably predates, Niklas Luhmann’s alphanumeric system which he started in 1952. I’ll write up some of the details shortly with specific references, but thought I’d tease it here a bit first.