Arnold Sywottek

Arnold Sywottek (born February 1, 1942 in Insterburg ; † August 31, 2000 in Hamburg ) was a German historian .

Arnold Sywottek came from East Prussia and grew up in simple circumstances in Cuxhaven and then in Hamburg. After a few years of work, he began studying history, German and political science at the University of Hamburg via the second educational path in 1961/62. Friedrich-Karl Proehl is one of his academic teachers . In 1970 Sywottek received his doctorate with a thesis on the "Prehistory of the SED", which was supervised by Fritz Fischer . He then worked as a research officer for the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Bonn. In 1974 he took over a professorship at the History Department of the University of Hamburg . Under Sywottek, contemporary history became a separate area of work in Hamburg. In 1997 Sywottek became the first director of the Research Center for Contemporary History (formerly Research Center for the History of National Socialism). As director, he was significantly involved in the conception of a project on the history of Hamburg in the “Third Reich”. He died of a heart attack in 2000 at the Research Center for Contemporary History.

Sywottek was a recognized expert on the history of the Soviet Zone / GDR and the Federal Republic. His research results were still valid after the archives there were opened. Further research focuses were the history of Hamburg and Altona after 1945. He presented more than 100 publications. Sywottek dealt with the history of Hamburg after 1945 several times in essays. Sywottek focused on topics that were not particularly spectacular for his time, such as the world of work, living conditions or the integration of refugees. He was co-editor of several anthologies on the Hamburg labor force and labor movement. Sywottek was the head of several projects funded by the German Research Foundation and the Volkswagen Foundation. In 1980 he was a co-initiator and co-founder of the Hamburg working group for regional history. From 1993 to 1995 he was the spokesman for the Historical Peace Research Working Group, of which he was one of the founding members. As an academic teacher, he supervised almost 30 doctoral theses. Sywottek took on numerous offices in academic self-government. From 1977 to 1979 he was managing director of the historical seminar in Hamburg and from 1994 to 1996 vice president of the University of Hamburg.

Fonts

Monographs

German people's democracy. Studies on the political conception of the KPD 1935-1946 (= studies on modern history. Vol. 1). Bertelsmann, Düsseldorf 1971, ISBN 3-571-09191-4 (Also: Hamburg, University, dissertation, 1970)
History in the crisis of legitimation. An overview of the discussion about the theory and didactics of history in the Federal Republic of Germany 1969–1973 (= Archive for Social History . Supplement 1). Neue Gesellschaft, Bonn-Bad Godesberg 1974, ISBN 3-87831-180-X

Editorships

The other Altona. Contributions to everyday history (= results. Vol. 27, ZDB -ID 2473773-2 ). Results-Verlag, Hamburg 1984
with Arno Herzig , Dieter Langewiesche : Workers in Hamburg. Lower classes, workers and the labor movement since the late 18th century. Publishing house education and science, Hamburg 1983, ISBN 3-8103-0807-2
with Axel Schildt : mass apartment and home. Housing construction and living in the big city since the First World War . Campus research, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-593-33989-7

literature

Eckart Krause: People who made "history". Attempt to study history for almost a century at Hamburg University. In: The historical seminar of the University of Hamburg. Research report 2002–2004. Hamburg 2005, pp. 247-307.
Axel Schildt: Arnold Sywottek (obituary). In: Uni HH. Reports and opinions from the University of Hamburg. Vol. 31, No. 4, 2000, ZDB -ID 221155-5 , pp. 50-51.
Axel Schildt: Professor Dr. Arnold Sywottek (1942–2000), Professor of Modern History at the University of Hamburg and Director of the Research Center for Contemporary History in Hamburg, died suddenly at the FZH on August 31, 2000. In: German history. Vol. 19, No. 1, 2001, ISSN 0266-3554 , p. 75.
Axel Schildt: Arnold Sywottek. In: Franklin Kopitzsch , Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . Lexicon of persons. Volume 6. Wallstein-Verlag, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-8353-1025-4 , pp. 334-335.

Web links

Remarks

↑ Barbara Vogel: History in Hamburg since 1970. In: Rainer Nicolaysen, Axel Schildt (Hrsg.): 100 years of history in Hamburg. Berlin et al. 2011, pp. 295–330, here: p. 319.
↑ Axel Schildt: From academic marginal existence to the center of historical science. Contemporary history in Hamburg. In: Rainer Nicolaysen, Axel Schildt (ed.): 100 years of historical studies in Hamburg. Berlin et al. 2011, pp. 271–286, here: p. 284.

personal data
SURNAME	Sywottek, Arnold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German historian
DATE OF BIRTH	February 1, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH	Insterburg
DATE OF DEATH	August 31, 2000
Place of death	Hamburg

[1] Barbara Vogel: History in Hamburg since 1970. In: Rainer Nicolaysen, Axel Schildt (Hrsg.): 100 years of history in Hamburg. Berlin et al. 2011, pp. 295–330, here: p. 319.

[2] Axel Schildt: From academic marginal existence to the center of historical science. Contemporary history in Hamburg. In: Rainer Nicolaysen, Axel Schildt (ed.): 100 years of historical studies in Hamburg. Berlin et al. 2011, pp. 271–286, here: p. 284.