2005

CB -- Education

Biographisches Lexikon zur nationalsozialistischen Wissenschaftspolitik [Biographical Dictionary of National Socialist Academic Politics]. Michael Grüttner. Heidelberg: Synchron-Wissenschaftsverlag der Autoren, 2004. 212 p. 24 cm. (Studien zur Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte, 6). ISBN 3-935025-68-8: EUR 34.80 [05-1-174]

This is a biographical dictionary of selected groups of people who had some connection of importance to German higher education during the National Socialist period. The brief introduction to this volume states that no attempt has been made to be complete in the selection of persons included in this biographical dictionary, except in a few areas. For example, the list of entries on presidents of colleges and universities during the years 1933 to 1945 aims to be comprehensive. Names included range from influential ministers of education, to directors of the National Socialist German student union, to leaders of the National Socialist faculty union, to important scientists not belonging to any particular group. This dictionary covers 559 persons, most of them men.

The brief biographies provide the following information: name, date of birth, place of birth, father’s occupation, religious affiliation, education, professional career, membership in political parties or organizations and in student unions, political positions in state and party, military service, date and place of death. The information provided in this volume is very reliable. It is based on the unpublished files of all college and university faculty during the German Reich and the various editions of Kürschners deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender. Overall, the entries in this dictionary are superior to their counterparts in the recently published Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich (see IFB 04-1-027). The only fault with this volume relates to the selection criteria used in arriving at the list of names to be included in this dictionary. Many influential academic faculty and other individuals involved with higher education during the Third Reich are not included. This dictionary provides a reliable foundation, but could have been more comprehensive by including additional categories of people. [frh/ba]

Lexikon Greifswalder Hochschullehrer 1775 bis 2006 [Dictionary of Greifswald University Professors, 1775-2006]. Ed. Werner Buchholz.

This is the first published volume of a multi-volume bio-bibliographical dictionary of former university professors of the University of Greifswald. Founded in 1456, the Pomeranian State University of Greifswald is one of the oldest universities in what is now northeast Germany. [Ed. note: Three registries of Greifswald University students between 1700 and 1848 were published in 2004. See RREA 10:191-193.] The dictionary under review will contain all faculty members who were active between 1775 and the present. Each entry includes the birth and death dates, religious affiliation, curriculum vitae, awards, memberships, political activities, a bibliography of the professor’s publications, and secondary sources that were used to establish the entry. The publication is based on a wealth of secondary sources and goes beyond comparable publications in breadth and depth. Similar dictionaries have been published for the Universities Ingolstadt-Landshut-Munich (see IFB 99-B09-482), Heidelberg (see IFB 02-2-395), Halle (see IFB 04-2-517), and Helmstedt (see RREA 10:195). The choice to print the Greifswald publication complicates access, compared to the Catalogus professorum halensis (http://www.catalogus-professorum-halensis.de), which is fully searchable online. [mk/ao]

200 Jahre Wirtschafts- und Staatswissenschaften an der Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen: Leben und Werk der Professoren: die Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät der Universität Tübingen und ihre Vorgänger (1817-2002) [200 Years of Economics and Political Science at the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen: Life and Work of the Professors of the School of Economics and Business Administration and Its Predecessors (1817-2002)]. Ed. Helmut Marcon and Heinrich Strecker. Published under the auspices of the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration of the University of Tübingen. Stuttgart: Steiner, 2004. 25 cm. ISBN 3-515-06657-8: EUR 142 [05-1-182]

Vol. 1. 2004. xiv, 1030 p. ill.

Vol. 2. 2004. vi, p.1033–1596. ill.

The Staatswirtschaftliche Fakultät [State Economics School], the first of its kind in the German-speaking world, was founded at the University of Tübingen in 1817. In its 185-year history, the school has undergone several name changes, mergers with other schools, separations, downsizing to the status of "Fachbereich" [department], and restoration to its school status and to its current name. The history of this illustrious school has been previously documented in several publications. In 1967 a history of the school was published to mark its 150th anniversary. 1984 marked the sesquicentennial of the first doctoral degree awarded and was the occasion for the publication of a collective biography of the recipients of doctorates, honorary doctorates, and habilitations over the previous 150 years. It is not clear what the number 200 in the title of the work under review refers to, since the editors speak only of a 185-year history.

The two hefty volumes, representing a 15-year project, combine aspects of both of the earlier publications. The work fills in gaps in the earlier history of the department and contains many illustrations. However, its primary value—and the reason why it is reviewed here—lies in the biographies of the professors and lecturers of the School. 190 persons in all are represented, along with comprehensive bibliographies of their works. The editors have spared no effort to compile complete and accurate information about each faculty member, including honors bestowed on the more famous, such as monuments and medallions created in their honor and schools and streets named for them. This work can be recommended for specialized libraries, such as those particularly interested in the work of German economists or in the history of higher education in Germany. [sh/akb]

Die stumme Fakultät: biographische Beiträge zur Geschichte der Theologischen Fakultät der Universität Halle [The Silent Faculty: Biographical Supplement to the History of the School of Theology of the University of Halle]. Christian Stephan. Dössel: Stekovics, 2005. 250 p. ill. 22 cm. ISBN 3-89923-103-1: EUR 19.80 [05-2-385]

What is a silent faculty? As the subtitle suggests, this work offers biographies of the School of Theology of the University of Halle, in this case 52 departed, now "silent" theologians of the University who have died since the 18th century and been interred in the City Cemetery or the Laurentius Cemetery of Halle—the criterion for inclusion in this book. Since the School of Theology at Halle has always been held in high esteem, one finds a number of renowned scholars among the group. Their biographies have been thoroughly researched, citing the most important writings of each theologian. A good historical overview of the Halle Theology School concludes the book. The grave sites are carefully documented, mapped, and illustrated with photos of the numerous gravestones still standing. Clearly, the author is not striving for an exhaustive compilation of the professors of theology at Halle from 1694 to the present. Rather, his work contributes to what could be called "graveyard culture" by documenting the burial history of a city and its university. This is an area of cultural history currently receiving some scholarly attention. Another example of such literature is Falk Wiesemann, Sepulcra judaica: Bibliographie zu jüdischen Friedhöfen und zu Sterben, Begräbnis und Trauer bei den Juden von der Zeit des Hellenismus bis zur Gegenwart [Sepulcra Judaica: Bibliography of Jewish Cemeteries and Death, Burial, and Grief in Jewish culture from the Hellenistic Period to the Present] (Essen, 2005), to be reviewed in RREA 12 (2006).

Even if it was not the author’s intention to provide a biographical lexicon of the theologians of Halle, he still succeeds in making an important contribution to such a work. In some instances, Stephan offers more information than the Catalogus professorum halensis (electronic resource at http://www.catalogus-professorum-halensis.de). His work could certainly supplement Joachim Castan’s work in progress, Die Professoren der Universität Halle (1691-1806) [The Professors of the University of Halle (1691-1806)]. It would be a useful resource for anyone interested in the history of the city and university of Halle. [mk/akb]

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