Born in Iserlohn, Neuhaus studied history, German and philosophy as well as law and political science at the University of Tübingen and the University of Marburg. In 1971 he passed his first Staatsexamen for the teaching profession at grammar schools. In 1975 he received his doctorate in Marburg under Gerhard Oestreich in the subjects Medieval and Modern History, Ancient History and Modern German Literature with the thesis Reichstag und Supplikationsausschuss. Ein Beitrag zur Reichsverfassungsgeschichte der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts Eleven years later Neuhaus habilitated in modern and contemporary history. His appointment as a private lecturer followed. From 1973 to 1988 he worked during this time as a research associate and research assistant in Marburg and the University of Cologne. Between 1974 and 1992, numerous lectureships took him to Millersville, University of Kassel and Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena. From 1987 to 1988 he was professor of early modern history at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. In 1989 he was appointed to the Chair I for Modern History at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg, which he held until his retirement. He rejected appointments to the University of Bonn and the Leipzig University. Since 1987 Neuhaus has been a member of the, of which he was chairman from 2006 to 2010. Since 1998 he has also been a full member of the, whose secretary he was elected in 2006. From 2005 to 2007 he was chairman of the working group "Early Modern Times" in the. Neuhaus' field of work covers a wide range of topics in early modernGerman history with a special focus on the of the Holy Roman Empire, to whose research he has made an important contribution. At the end of the summer semester of 2009 he gave his on the topic Die Goldene Bulle von 1356 in der Frühen Neuzeit.
Publications
Reichstag und Supplikationsausschuß. Ein Beitrag zur Reichsverfassungsgeschichte der ersten Hälfte des 16. Jahrhunderts.. Berlin 1977.
Die Konstitutionen des Corps Teutonia zu Marburg. Untersuchungen zur Verfassungsentwicklung eines Kösener Corps in seiner 150-jährigen Geschichte.Marburg an der Lahn 1979.
Religiöse Bewegungen und soziale Umbrüche an der Wende vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit.. Düsseldorf 1980.
Reichsständische Repräsentationsformen im 16. Jahrhundert. Reichstag, Reichskreistag, Reichsdeputationstag. Schriften zur Verfassungsgeschichte. Volume 33). Berlin 1982.
as editor: Geschichtswissenschaft in Erlangen.. Erlangen 2000.
Das Reich in der Frühen Neuzeit.. Munich 1997, 2nd edition 2003.
Zeitalter des Absolutismus. 1648–1789. . Stuttgart 1997.
with Klaus Herbers: Das Heilige Römische Reich. Schauplätze einer tausendjährigen Geschichte. Cologne among others 2005, 2nd edition. 2006.
Axel Gotthard, Andreas Jakob, Thomas Nicklas : Studien zur politischen Kultur Alteuropas. Festschrift für Helmut Neuhaus zum 65. Geburtstag.. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2009,.
