Claus Howitz

Claus Howitz (born March 1, 1927 in Hamburg ; † June 6, 1997 in Rostock ) was a full professor of agricultural economics at the University of Rostock . He was also a long-time member of the People's Chamber of the GDR for the Democratic Peasant Party of Germany (DBD) .

Life

Howitz was born in Hamburg on March 1, 1927, the son of a businessman and farmer. In 1929 his family moved to Barth to take over the grandparents' farm there. Howitz attended the boys' elementary school from 1933, later the local high school for boys. From 1943, the sixteen-year-old Howitz was initially deployed as a flak helper at the Air Force Air Base in Barther . In 1944 he switched to the Reich Labor Service in Swinoujscie , and shortly before the end of the war he was called up to the Navy on Sylt . Due to the near end of the war Howitz was no longer involved in active fighting. Only eighteen, Howitz was quickly released after the war.

He first found an apprenticeship in agriculture in Schleswig's Steinfeld in the British occupation zone. In the spring of 1946 Howitz was given the opportunity to take part in an Abitur course at the cathedral school in Schleswig . Then he went back to Barth in the Soviet occupation zone to help his parents set up a farm. In the winter semester 1946/47 to Howitz wrote to the Faculty of Agriculture one of the reopened University of Rostock, where he studied until 1949 and the final examination for agronomist with Distinction. During his studies, he was already working as an assistant at the Institute for Farm Management. After completing his studies, Howitz was able to remain at this institute as a scientific aspirant . In 1952, this aspiration resulted in a successful doctorate with a thesis on "The crop rotations in Mecklenburg depending on the cultivation plan", which received the title " magna cum laude ". Howitz joined the still young DBD in 1949 at the beginning of his research.

In September 1951 Howitz accepted a call to Berlin, where he initially worked as a senior consultant and later as a department head in the newly created State Secretariat for Higher Education. There he dealt with the agricultural, forestry and veterinary faculties of the GDR universities. As part of this activity, Howitz developed, among other things, a five-year study plan for studying agriculture. As a result of this work, Howitz was also appointed as a member of the scientific advisory board for agricultural studies.

In September 1956 he switched to the Ministry of Agriculture, Recording and Forestry as a research assistant and was simultaneously appointed Secretary of the GDR delegation of the Standing Commission for Agricultural and Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Field of Agriculture at the Council for Mutual Economic Aid (Comecon) . He held both functions until 1961. At the same time, Howitz held lectures on economic geography and agriculture in the socialist and capitalist countries from the 1956 summer semester at the University of Rostock and at times at the Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1961 Howitz went back to his home university in Rostock, where he initially taught agricultural economics until 1966. During this time he was already provisional head of the Institute for Farm Management. In 1965 Howitz was appointed vice dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, a position he held until 1968. In 1966 he completed his habilitation with the thesis "On the methodology of the level comparison of agricultural production between the member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Aid". Thereupon he was appointed professor with a teaching position for agricultural economics at the University of Rostock. In 1969 he was appointed full professor for the economics of agriculture and the food industry, which he held until his retirement in 1992.

In terms of party politics, Howitz initially represented his party in regional bodies. From 1957 to 1959 he was a member of the Königs Wusterhausen district assembly and from 1959 to 1967 a member of the Potsdam and Rostock district assembly . In 1967 Howitz, who had meanwhile been appointed professor, ran for the first time as a member of the People's Chamber. He held this mandate until March 1990. Howitz was from 1951 to 1953 and again from 1957 to 1990 member of the party executive committee of the DBD. At the 8th party congress of the DBD in May 1968, he was elected to the presidium of the party executive committee and held this position until 1990. Howitz took a leave of absence from his teaching position between 1974 and 1976 in order to pursue his full-time activity as secretary of the party executive committee of the DBD.

Honors

• 1961 Medal of Merit of the GDR
• 1974 Patriotic Order of Merit in silver
• 1984 Order of the Star of Friendship of Nations in silver

literature

• The People's Chamber of the German Democratic Republic, 9th electoral period, Staatsverlag der DDR, Berlin 1987, p. 352.
• Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 1: Abendroth - Lyr. KG Saur, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-598-11176-2 , p. 342 ( limited preview in the Google book search).
• Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, Andreas Herbst , Christine Krauss, Daniel Küchenmeister (eds.): The parties and organizations of the GDR: A manual, Dietz Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-320-01988-0 , p. 977.

Web links

• Entry on Claus Howitz in the Catalogus Professorum Rostochiensium