Arthur Heidenhain

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Arthur Heidenhain (born February 14, 1862 in Breslau , † February 13, 1941 in Tübingen ) was a German historian, librarian and u. a. as director of the reading hall Bremen one of the leading figures of the German reading hall movement in the 20th century.

biography

Arthur Heidenhain was born in Breslau . His parents were Rudolf Heidenhain , Professor of Physiology and Histology and Director of the Physiological Laboratory in Breslau, and his wife Fanny, the daughter of the physiologist Alfred Wilhelm Volkmann; his brothers were the scientists Lothar and Martin Heidenhain . Arthur Heidenhain studied history in Breslau , Berlin and Marburg . After completing his dissertation , he lived in Rome for six years , where he worked as a research assistant at the Prussian Historical Station , which later became the German Historical Institute (DHI), in basic historical research, especially in the field of nunciature reports .

Professional activity

From 1897 he worked as a librarian in the library of the Carl Zeiss Foundation in Jena . There he compiled the first systematic inventory of a public library . Heidenhain advocated the professional management of public libraries and is considered one of the pioneers of public librarianship. Together with Walter Hofmann , he advocated a critical examination and selection of the holdings, which should preferably be done in a division of labor in the merger of several libraries.

In 1900, as one of the leading figures in the reading hall movement in Germany, he was appointed head of the Bremen reading hall, which was under construction . Under his leadership, the first reading room in Bremen , one of the forerunner libraries of today's Bremen City Library , was opened at Ansgarikirchhof no.11 on May 15, 1902 .

The reading hall in Bremen developed under Heidenhain's direction into one of the most modern public libraries in Germany. The number of readers increased steadily and the number of books increased from 7,000 volumes at the opening by 1906 to 17,000 volumes as well as numerous magazines, lexicons and encyclopedias, which were the novelty of the first public reading room. Around 8,000 registered readers were registered in 1902 who had to pay lending fees from 1905. In 1907 the first branch with the name Lesehalle was opened in the west on Nordstrasse (today Hans-Böckler-Strasse ).

The economic development of the sponsoring association declined in view of the rapid inflation. In 1920 the reading hall, run as an association, made losses for the first time; the association's board had made the wrong decision to invest a large part of its assets in securities. In times of need, donors were sought after. In 1921 the reading room was closed for the first time for financial reasons. Heidenhain had long called for the city of Bremen to support the reading room - similar to what Hamburg did with the local book rooms - but the association's board had always opposed it; he wanted to remain independent and independent. On May 1, 1922, the Bremen reading hall in the basement of the State Library on Breitenweg was reopened. The branch in the west of Bremen also resumed operations in 1925, and from 1932 the unemployed could borrow books free of charge. But financially, the reading hall continued to scrape along the subsistence level for the next few years. On May 19, 1933, the association was dissolved by the general meeting

The National Socialist book burnings of May 10, 1933 also had an impact on the public libraries, whose holdings were "cleared" of literature "of un-German spirit" and which, in their entirety, were to be used politically as a propaganda instrument - as was the case in Bremen. In July 1933, the "Reading Hall in Bremen" was renamed the "Volksbüchereien Bremen" and was under the provisional management of the director of the Bremen State Library (today: State and University Library Bremen) Hinrich Knittermeyer . Knittermeyer "cleaned up" the inventory by 25% from 29,000 to 22,000 volumes in accordance with National Socialist ideology.

Dr. Arthur Heidenhain retired at the end of 1933 after almost 33 years of dedicated service after the association's board had found a solution with the city of Bremen to pay him a pension. In Heidenhain's employment contract with the association's board, nothing was regulated for illness or retirement. In the winter of 1933 Heidenhain moved to Tübingen, where he died in 1941 after a long illness.

Arthur Heidenhain's achievements have stood the test of time - both his research work as a historian and his work as a librarian in the development of the public librarianship in Germany and the public librarianship.

A selection of writings by Arthur Heidenhain

  • On the question of training for the service of popular libraries: In addition an appendix: Guidelines for the training of volunteers at the reading hall in Bremen , zs. with E. Jaeschke, W. Hofmann., Berlin, Heymann 1911
  • Public libraries for everyone Special Abdr. from: Weser newspaper from 24.-26. June 1903
  • Reading room Jena. In: Sheets for public libraries and reading halls; Jg. (1900) 7/8, [Leipzig], 1900, pp. 132-137
  • First book index of the public reading hall in Jena , completed. d. September 1, 1899. Jena, Lesehallenver. 1899
  • 12 [Twelve] French folk songs  : from: Les plus jolies chansons du pays de France (Ger.), Chansons tendres, choisies / par Catulle Mendès. With the notation of the print edition. and with German replicas as Ms. f. his friends reproduced by the translator Arthur Heidenhain, Paris, Plon 1899
  • The Union policy of Landgrave Philip of Hesse 1557-1562 . Archival inserts. Hall <a. S.>, M. Niemeyer 1890
  • The union policy of Landgrave Philipp the Generous of Hesse and the support of the Huguenots in the first religious wars , Breslau, Köbner 1886. (University publication: Breslau, Phil. Fak., Diss., 1886)

A selection of literature on Arthur Heidenhain

  • Erwin Miedtke: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation. In: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79-101
  • Jewish life in Jena: memories, fragments, traces , ed. from the Jena City Archives in cooperation with the Jena Judaism Working Group; Jena, Stadtmuseum, Städtische Museen Jena 2015, p. 287f. (Biographical Article)
  • Hermann Kieser: Arthur Heidenhain. In: Lexicon of the entire book industry online; Leiden, Koninklijke Brill 2014, ISBN 9789004337862 (lexicon article)
  • Erwin Miedtke: For a culture of reading and learning. From the “Reading Hall Association” to the “Friends of the Bremen City Library e. V. " . In: With a little help from my friends: circles of friends and support associations for libraries; a manual. Bad Honnef: Bock + Herchen, 2005
  • Werner Mevissen : Arthur Heidenhain, in: Bremische Biographie 1912–1962, Bremen, Hauschild 1969, p. 216f.
  • Hans Joachim Kuhlmann: Beginnings of the dispute over direction: Arthur Heidenhain as mediator in the disputes between 1909 and 1914 . In: Library and Education, Supplement, Reutlingen 1961.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.bibliotheksverband.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Mitglieder/Handbuch_ParxisA_Miedtke.pdf
  2. ↑ German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE). 2., revised. u. exp. Ed. By Rudolf Vierhaus. Munich: Saur 2006, p. 564f.
  3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 18, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.forgottenbooks.com
  4. ↑ Joseph Walk (ed.): Short biographies on the history of the Jews 1918–1945. Edited by the Leo Baeck Institute, Jerusalem. Saur, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-598-10477-4 , p. 143.
  5. ^ The union policy of Landgrave Philipp des Generous von Hessen and the support of the Huguenots in the first religious wars / Arthur Heidenhain. Breslau: Köbner, 1886. University thesis: Breslau, Phil. Fac., Diss., 1886.
  6. ↑ http://dhi-roma.it/nuntiaturberichte.html
  7. ↑ s. a. http://194.242.233.150/archiv/xml/inhalt/midosa/R1/xml/inhalt/pdf/R1_teilI.pdf
  8. ^ Miedtke, Erwin: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79–101
  9. ^ Otto-Rudolf Rothbart: Lektoratkooperation: Idea and Reality. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1995, p. 3 ff.
  10. ^ Wolfgang Thauer and Peter Vodosek: History of the public library in Germany. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 1990; P. 79ff.
  11. ^ Miedtke, Erwin: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79–101
  12. ^ Miedtke, Erwin: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79–101
  13. ^ Miedtke, Erwin: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79–101
  14. ↑ Christoph Köster: The whole world of the media - a century of Bremen city library. Edition Temmen, Bremen 2002, ISBN 3-86108-673-5 ; Pp. 13-51.
  15. ^ Miedtke, Erwin: Arthur Heidenhain, the first librarian of the "Reading Hall in Bremen" from 1901-1933. An appreciation, in: Bremisches Jahrbuch, Vol. 96, 2017, pp. 79–101
  16. ↑ http://www.ib.hu-berlin.de/buchidee/buch4/content/Miedtke10.pdf
personal data
SURNAME Heidenhain, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German librarian
DATE OF BIRTH February 14, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH February 13, 1941
Place of death Tübingen