Friedrich Neumann (Germanist)

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Friedrich Neumann (around 1930)

Friedrich Neumann (born March 2, 1889 in Wilhelmshöhe ( Kassel ), † December 12, 1978 in Göttingen ) was a German Germanic Medievalist .

Studies and professorship

From 1907 to 1913 Neumann studied Classical Philology , German Philology and Philosophy in Marburg , Munich and Göttingen . In 1907 he became a member of the Alemannia Marburg fraternity . In 1914 Neumann received his doctorate in Göttingen. In the First World War he served as a volunteer on the Western Front, most recently as a lieutenant and company commander. After two years of teaching , he qualified as a professor in 1921 in philology at the Georg-August University in Göttingen . After a first professorship at the University of Leipzig , Neumann taught from 1927 to 1945 as full professor for German philology in Göttingen. Hans Butzmann , Gottfried Höfer and Karl Brethauer were among his students . From 1943 to 1945 he was a full member of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences .

In the Nazi state

During the time of National Socialism , Neumann's academic work took a back seat to his university-political and ideological activities. Neumann had been a member of the NSDAP since May 1, 1933 (membership number 2,376,877). From May 1933 to March 1938 he was rector and from 1938 to 1943 vice rector of the University of Göttingen. "Neumann was a member of the university management from 1933 to 1943 and was thus involved in the administrative implementation of many injustice measures. His university-political writings as well as his scientific publications during the Nazi era show that Neumann was more than ready in both fields to adapt them to the National Socialist ideology . "

The book burning on May 10, 1933 in Göttingen was opened by Neumann as rector of the University of Göttingen. In his speech he particularly criticized Erich Maria Remarque's work Nothing New in the West . According to the Göttinger Tageblatt , during his speech in the overcrowded auditorium , Neumann demanded that “we have to work incessantly to ensure that our people maintain their healthy growth and perfect their inner character”. After a fiery speech by the Germanist Gerhard Fricke , the student groups moved from the Weender Tor to Adolf-Hitler-Platz, today's Albaniplatz, to burn the books.

On November 11, 1933, Neumann gave the ceremonial speech at the event in Leipzig on the professors' commitment to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist state at German universities and colleges , in which he said, among other things: “We reject all humanism that affects all peoples imposes the same way of life ". Then, like many other professors, he signed the appeal. In 1937 he wrote in an article in: People and University in Transition : "The German people unfolded in the National Socialist movement as a political fact out of the Germanic-German basic forces".

Neumann had since 1933 sponsoring member of the SS , served as a member of the Nazi Dozentenbund and Nazi Teachers League faculty academies and directed the replacement of chairs strictly according to Nazi Preferences. He was actively involved in the revocation of doctoral degrees from politically unpopular scientists, such as Max Bachenheimer and Dietrich von Hildebrand . He also actively promoted the early retirement of colleagues such as the English Studies professor Hans Hecht .

denazification

In 1945 Neumann was relieved of his office, but in the denazification process in 1949 he was only classified as a follower . A year later he was considered "exonerated" and in 1954 was duly retired .

Award

In 1971 Neumann received the Brothers Grimm Prize from the Philipps University of Marburg .

literature

Web links

Commons : Friedrich Neumann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ernst Elsheimer (ed.): Directory of the old fraternity members according to the status of the winter semester 1927/28. Frankfurt am Main 1928, p. 359.
  2. ↑ Holger Krahnke: The members of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen 1751-2001 (= Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Philological-Historical Class. Volume 3, Vol. 246 = Treatises of the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Mathematical-Physical Class. Episode 3, vol. 50). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2001, ISBN 3-525-82516-1 , p. 178.
  3. ↑ The Georg August University under National Socialism. Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, November 2016, accessed on March 3, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Julius H. Schoeps , Werner Treß (ed.): Places of the book burnings in Germany 1933. Olms, Hildesheim 2008, p. 380 ff.
  5. ↑ a b Quotation from Ernst Klee : Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Second updated edition, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 , p. 433.
  6. ^ Uta Schäfer-Richter, Jörg Klein: The Jewish Citizens in the Göttingen District 1933–1945. A memorial book. Göttingen, Hann. Münden, Duderstadt . Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 1992. ISBN 978-3892440482 .
personal data
SURNAME Neumann, Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Germanist
DATE OF BIRTH March 2, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Wilhelmshöhe ( Kassel )
DATE OF DEATH December 12, 1978
Place of death Goettingen