August Wilhelm Fehling

August Wilhelm Fehling (born March 17, 1896 in Hamburg , † September 11, 1964 in Klappholttal ) was a curator at Kiel University and Ministerialrat.

Life and professional history

The father August Wilhelm Fehling named Wilhelm Fehling (born February 20, 1865 in Lübeck , † February 26, 1906 in Berlin ) came from the Fehling family . The mother Luisita, née Schierenberg (born June 16, 1871 in Puerto Cabello , † June 17, 1934 in Güstrow ) belonged to a Hamburg patrician family. One of his second cousins ​​was the director Jürgen Fehling .

After attending a preschool in his hometown, Fehling switched to the Fridericianum Schwerin . In 1910 he joined the Wandervogel . After graduating from high school in 1914, he served as a war volunteer from August of the same year. Promoted to lieutenant in the reserve in 1916, he held various positions. After the end of the First World War , he studied history, German and philosophy at the University of Rostock and the University of Berlin . During his studies he was involved in the German Academic Freischar . He finished his doctorate in 1922 on early socialism in Rostock with “summa cum laude”.

After completing his studies, Fehling got a position as a research assistant at the Berlin Central Office for Research into the Causes of War at the end of 1922 . From 1923 until the end of the Second World War he worked as a consultant for the emergency community of German science . His areas of expertise included scholarships, research trips, and excavations. Foreign relations were added in 1924. After the President Friedrich Schmidt-Ott had to leave the emergency community in 1934, Fehling had to hand over his presentations. In 1937 he got a job as budget officer again.

In addition to his work in the emergency community, Fehling represented the Rockefeller Foundation in the German Reich from 1924 to 1936 . Among other things, he dealt with the selection of the scholarship holders and the projects eligible for funding. In 1924, 1927 and 1924 he went on long study trips to the USA. From 1927 to 1939 he also managed the business of the German Cecil Rhodes Foundation and was responsible for the award of scholarships for the University of Oxford .

During the Second World War, Fehling did military service from 1939 to 1945 as a major and later as regimental commander. He spent four months in American captivity and then worked for a short time at the Rendsburg State Labor Office. In December 1945, Ober-President Theodor Steltzer made him head of the science department in the Office for Public Education, from which the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Education later emerged. Wilhelm Gülich had given the recommendation for this personnel decision . Fehling also took on the position of deputy curator of Kiel University, whose leadership was initially held by the senior president and later by the minister of education.

In 1946 Fehling began a civil service career as a senior government councilor and was promoted to government director in 1949. Appointed Ministerialrat in 1953, he was promoted to curator in 1958. On January 31, 1961, he retired.

Work at Kiel University

During his time in Kiel, Fehling dealt in particular with the material and personnel rebuilding of the educational institution, more than 60 percent of which had been destroyed due to the war. In addition, he had to meet the constantly growing demands of research and teaching, in which the interests of the various institutes and chairs often caused conflicts. This made his highest personal commitment necessary and required improvisational skills and the utmost thrift.

Fehrling had to take care of the smallest details himself. After the greatest initial difficulties had been resolved, together with the university he designed a program for the future expansion and expansion of the facility and coordinated the concepts with national plans. As a representative of Schleswig-Holstein, he participated intensively in the conclusion of the Königstein State Agreement and the Science Council and their implementation.

Working in national education policy

In addition to his work at Kiel University, which was his main task, Fehling endeavored to cooperate with other federal states, the federal government and quickly also on an international level.

In 1946 Fehling was a member of a committee of five in the British zone of occupation , which was supposed to draw up new university statutes. In the first years after the war he took part in joint meetings of rectors and ministries of education and helped to prepare the foundation of the conference of ministers of education and represented Schleswig-Holstein in its university expulsion, which he chaired for several years. He played a key role in the re-establishment of the DAAD , in which he took over the post of deputy chairman.

Fehling was also involved in founding the German Research Foundation and sat on its board of trustees and main committee until retirement. He advised the founding committee of the Free University of Berlin . In this context, the mayor of Berlin, Ernst Reuter, tried unsuccessfully to make Fehling permanent to work in Berlin. As a founding member, he was a member of the Fulbright Commission .

The Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the Foreign Office sent Fehling to many international bodies as a specialist in foreign affairs. Fehling attended three European rectors' conferences and was a member of a mixed commission for the German-Norwegian cultural agreement. In Ethiopia, he advised on the establishment of a university as a member of the commission and twice traveled with a delegation to Moscow to negotiate the German-Soviet cultural agreement. In addition, he worked in several committees of the Council of Europe , which started deliberations on the international comparability of academic degrees.

retirement

In his retirement, Fehling took on numerous honorary positions. He wanted to write his memoirs and about the system of his role model Friedrich Althoff , which he could no longer realize due to these obligations.

Fehling intended to present his basic attitudes towards higher education and science policy, in which, in his opinion, Wilhelm von Humboldt's “idea of ​​the university” should be withdrawn. He also wanted to point out the importance of non-university research institutions and the importance of the freedom of science and the limits of the autonomy of universities. Added to this were his views on the need for tensions between universities and the state, which produced fruitful results in terms of taxpayer responsibility. He also wanted to improve the position of non-ordinaries, especially in the area of ​​academic self-administration.

Fehling spoke to a group of friends on Sylt on some key points in these areas . He then died on the island in September 1964.

Fehling was married to Anna Margarete Bahr (born December 8, 1898 in Zehlendorf ), with whom he had two sons and two daughters.

personality

Fehling was seen as a personality with a particularly shaped character, who was extremely reliable and willing to sacrifice himself. These properties were due to his time with the Wandervogel and the military. In addition, there was the long-term work under the highly esteemed Schmitt-Ott and his references to Friedrich Althoff.

Fehling was not always considered a convenient employee and conversation partner. However, he was extremely knowledgeable, so that many even found this "overwhelming". Then there was his sense of duty, which he relentlessly obeyed. For these reasons, he received not only formal respect, but respect. He helpfully attended to every concern raised. During discussions in larger groups, he was cautious and occasionally commented snappy or humorous. When it came to crucial questions, however, he gave up his restraint and intervened spiritedly. He knew that just because of his presence he could influence decisions.

Fonts

• Karl Schapper and the beginnings of the labor movement up to the revolution of 1848: A contribution to the history of artisan communism. Rostock, Phil. Diss., 1922
• The United States of America: land and people under the stars and stripes. German book community 1933

Awards

• During the First World War, Fehling received the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class.
• During the Second World War, he received the repeat clasps of the Iron Cross 1st and 2nd class, the German Cross in Gold and the East Medal.
• In 1951 he received the university medal.
• In 1961 he received the Federal Cross of Merit.
• The Medical Faculty of the University of Kiel awarded him an honorary doctorate following a resolution on July 20, 1964.

literature

• Franz Kock: Fehling, August Wilhelm . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 4. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1976, pp. 65-68.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Entries in the Rostock matriculation portal