Curt Wormann

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Curt David Wormann ( Hebrew קורט דוד וורמן January 5, 1900 in Berlin - July 21, 1991 in Jerusalem ) was a German-Israeli librarian , main librarian and director of the Jewish National and University Library (JNUB) (1947–1968) in Jerusalem, founding director of the Kreuzberg city library in Berlin (1926– 1933), founder of the College of Librarianship and Archives at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and one of the central figures in shaping the public and academic librarianship in Israel and the academization of the librarianship in Israel .

Life

Wormann was the son of David and Sophie Wormann, b. Friedland. From 1918 to 1920 Wormann studied literary history, philosophy, history, sociology and library science at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin and then at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität in Freiburg im Breisgau , where he in 1923 with his work Der deutsche Bauernroman bis Gotthelf received his doctorate.

As recently as 1923, Wormann entered the service of the Berlin City Library , which at that time still formed a two-tier library system with all those public libraries (also known as public libraries, especially before 1918) that were located in the area of ​​the old city area, as it was until the Greater Berlin Act of Had existed in 1920. The city library performed certain services centrally for these public libraries (purchase of books and materials, inventory maintenance, bookbinding, personnel administration and training, cataloging, etc.).

In addition to his work, Wormann attended librarianship courses at the Prussian State Library in Berlin , which he successfully completed in 1926. On September 7, 1926, the city ​​council of Berlin decided to transfer responsibility for the public libraries in the old city area from the city library to the district offices of the inner six Berlin districts ( I. Mitte , II. Tiergarten , III. Wedding , IV. Prenzlauer Berg , V. Friedrichshain and VI. Kreuzberg ). From November 9, 1926, each district formed its own library system , now known as the city library. Wormann was appointed head of the new Kreuzberg city library , which was initially responsible for the seven public libraries I, V (children's library), IX, XIV, XXII and XXIV in the district.

In 1928, Wormann formed the Kreuzberg main library from the 14th Volksbücherei (alias Volksbibliothek XIV), until then Baruther Straße, and the 3rd reading hall , until then Wilmsstraße , in which Wormann also had his office and which was now the Belle-Alliance-Straße 80 (after being destroyed in the war in 1943, renaming and re-numbering in 1947, the new Mehringdamm  59 building is located there ). A separate building for the main library in Kreuzberg could not be realized until 1964 after further provisional measures (then called Wilhelm Liebknecht library, now central library).

Wormann also worked as a consultant for public libraries and school libraries . Over time, he specialized in library science and adult education . In 1931 he married the doctor Dr. Carola Gottheil. Wormann worked as head of the Kreuzberg City Library until April 1933, when he was dismissed along with three other Jewish librarians from the Kreuzberg City Library Association in accordance with Section 3 of the anti-Semitic law to restore the civil service .

In 1934 he and his wife emigrated to the British Mandate area of Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv . In 1937 he was finally able to begin as an academic librarian at Tel Aviv's public library Scha'ar-Zion (ספריית שער־ציון) , headed by Heinrich Loewe . After the death of Jakob Sandbanks (1897–1939), Wormann and Hans Tramer took over the management of the Tel Aviv Adult Education Center of the Hitachduth Olej Germania (HOG) culture commission , the Hebrew and German-language seminars on Palestine studies, Jewish history and literature and until the end of its existence in 1947 also organized discussion evenings in Hebrew. When Gotthold Weil retired in 1946 after 11 years as director of the Jewish National and University Library (since 2010 called the National Library of Israel ), the directorate initially remained vacant. In August 1947, a highly staffed search committee appointed Wormann to be the main librarian, but not to be the chief librarian. With the beginning of the war for Israel's independence , the library - which was on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem - had to close. All of the library's holdings and catalogs, along with general equipment, were on the scopus, which from 1948 to 1967 formed an Israeli enclave in the Jordanian part of Jerusalem that was extremely limited to reach .

After the armistice, the national and university library initially took over the academic library of the Jeschurun ​​Synagogue in Jerusalem as well as various private collections from professors and students (including the large library of Joseph Klausner ). With the help of his staff, Wormann merged these holdings into a new library. On March 8, 1949, Wormann was finally appointed director of the national and university library and a member of the Senate of the Hebrew University . Then the Wormanns moved to Jerusalem. In 1950 he went to Great Britain and the United States to organize the work of the library's foreign friends and patrons, as well as to raise more funds for rebuilding the library, buying books and running it.

He also visited libraries to learn about the foreign development of librarianship and librarianship schools, with the aim of preparing the establishment of such a school in Jerusalem itself. Up until Wormann's emigration, training for librarians had gradually been institutionalized in Germany, with two parties arguing with each other, the Stettin direction around Erwin Ackerknecht (emphasis on similarities in training for public and academic libraries) and the Leipzig direction (separate training for public libraries and scientific libraries) led by Walter Hofmann , Wormann tended more towards the former, which also corresponded to his career.

View 1950 over the Kikkar Paris to the Collège Terra Sancta , 1926 by Antonio Barluzzi

In March 1951 he was invited to the magazine, editor Libri: International Journal of Libraries and Information Services of Walter de Gruyter to be. He won the support of the Rockefeller Foundation for a new library building on Giv'at Ram , the new campus of the Hebrew University. In the meantime, the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land rented the building of the former Collège Terra Sancta to the national and university library, where it then resumed its operations.

In November 1952 Wormann was appointed full professor. In 1955, UNESCO approved funds with which Wormann was able to open the Hebrew University's College of Libraries and Archives in 1956. In 1957 he went on a long trip to Europe and established working relationships with the world's major libraries, and was able to acquire hundreds of thousands of books looted during the Nazi persecution of Jews for the national and university libraries.

The Binjan Lady Davis (Lady Davis Building) of the National Library

When he took office, the National and University Library was a small, provincial institution, even cut off from the original holdings and construction in the Israeli enclave on Scopus. After ten years in office, the Israeli National and University Library was recognized among its peers and at the same time the largest Jewish library ever. With the construction of the Lady Davis building initiated by Wormann on Giv'at Ram in 1960, all library holdings could be brought together in one of the largest and most modern library buildings in the world at the time.

On Konrad Adenauer's visit to Jerusalem in May 1966, Vice President of the Hebrew University David Amiran (née Horst Kelner) asked Wormann to receive the Chancellor on a visit to the National and University Library. Wormann agreed, but had stipulated that the Hebrew University should acquire Jewish manuscripts in Germany for the national and university library. As part of the German deliveries of goods and services to Israel for which the federal government paid (the program of German exports called reparation ), the national and university library then had the opportunity to purchase Jewish manuscripts at auctions in Germany.

Wormann also wrote entries for the Encyclopaedia Hebraica /האנצקלופדיה העברית, u. a. the one to Wolfgang Goethe . In 1968 he retired as director of the National and University Library. His wife Carola died in 1973, both of them remained childless.

In 1976 he initiated the establishment of the Council for Public Libraries at the Israeli Ministry of Education and served as its chairman, and the establishment of the Center of Books and Libraries in Israel ( Hebrew מרכז הספר והספריות בישראל/ English Israel Center for Libraries ), which shaped the professional profile of the librarian and librarianship in Israel . Wormann was one of the initiators of the Public Libraries Act (1975; Hebrew חוק הספריות הציבוריות), which, among other things, regulates the delivery of deposit copies to libraries.

Works

  • The German farmer's novel to Gotthelf , Freiburg im Breisgau: typescript, 1924, plus Albert-Ludwigs-Univ., Phil. Diss. April 15, 1924.
  • The modern Russian novel and its readership . In: Bücherei und Bildungspflege: Journal for all extracurricular educational resources , No. 11 (1931), pp. 395-409 (lecture given at the 1931 annual meeting of the Association of German People's Librarians in Braunschweig).
  • Russia . Sieben-Rod Verlag, Berlin 1931, (= contemporary world literature, 1890–1931; Vol. 3).
  • Authority and Family in German Fiction After the World War. Literature reviews . In: Max Horkheimer (Ed.): Studies on Authority and Family . Félix Alcan, Paris 1936, pp. 726-734.
  • with Jakob Sandbank: Chinuch: Guide through the Hebrew school system in Palestine . Palestine Office Berlin of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and theהתאחדות עולי גרמניה(Hith'achduth Olej Germania), Tel Aviv (ed.): Zionist Association for Germany , Berlin 1937
  • לנדאואר מורה הדרך בספרות ובחיים( Landauer moreh ha-derech ba-siphruth weba-chajim). In: Jakob Sandbank (Ed.): Studies (יעקב זנדבנק), גוסטב לנדאואר: במלאת עשרים שנה להרצחו, Tel Aviv:המרכז לתרבות של הסתדרות העובדים העברים הכללית בארץ ישראל, 1939
  • בעיות הספרייה בישראל(Be'ajoth ha-siphriah be-Jisra'el). In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Vol. 2 (ב; 1950), p. 1 (א).
  • Impressions on American libraries . Washington DC 1952 (= Library of Congress .; Information bulletin).
  • The scientific libraries of Israel . In: UNESCO bulletin for libraries , 1954, vol. 8, no.1.
  • בעיית הספרייה והספרנות בימינו(Be'ajoth ha-siphriah weha-saphranuth be-jamejnu). In:יד לקורא (Yad laq-Qôre '), Vol. 5 (ה; 1958), p. 1 (א).
  • על חינוך ספרנים בישראל ('Al chinuch spharim be-Jisra'el), in: יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Vol. 5 (ה; 1958), pp. 2–3 (ב — ג).
  • National libraries in our time: the UNESCO Symposium on National Libraries in Europe . E. Munksgaard, Copenhagen 1959.
  • National libraries in our time: the UNESCO Symposium on National Libraries in Europe . In: Libri , Vol. 9, no. 1-4 (1959): pp. 273-307
  • Cultural problems and tasks of the Jews from Germany in Israel since 1933 . In: In two worlds: Siegfried Moses on his 75th birthday , Hans Tramer (Ed.): בטאון (Bitaon), 1962, pp. 280–329.
  • Co-operation of national libraries with other libraries in the same country and in other countries . Paris: without publisher (UNESCO), 1963.
  • [Education for librarianship abroad:] Israel . Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois Press, Urbana IL 1963.
  • Cooperación de las bibliotecas nacionales con otras bibliotecas del mismo país y con las de otros países . UNESCO, Paris 1964.
  • La coopération des bibliothèques nationales avec d'autres bibliothèques dans leur pays et à l'étranger . UNESCO, Paris 1964.
  • Aspects of international library co-operation, historical and contemporary . In: The Library Quarterly , vol. 38, No. 4 (1968/1001): pp. 338-351
  • German Jews in Israel: their cultural situation since 1933 . In: Leo Baeck Institute Yearbook (1970), vol. 15 (1), pp. 73-103.

literature

  • Mal'achi Beit-Arjeh (מלאכי בית-אריה): לזכרו של פרופ 'קורט וורמן. In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Vol. 25 (1991), p. 144.
  • Mal'achi Beit-Arjeh (מלאכי בית-אריה), יוסף מכמן-מלקמן (Josseph Michman-Melkman): פרופ 'קורט ד' וורמן הגיע לגבורות. In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre ') 19: 101-102 (1980).
  • Hugo Bergmann : (הוגו ברגמן), קורט וורמן (ליום הולדתו הששים). In: דבר (Davar) , February 12, 1960; accessed on September 16, 2014
  • Petra Hätscher: The Public Library System of Berlin from 1961 to 1989 . In: Library: Research and Practice , Vol. 19 (1995), No. 2, pp. 155–188
  • Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen: 150 years: from the Berlin public libraries to the Kreuzberg city library; a chronicle , Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / library office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg art office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg Museum as well as the association for research and presentation of the history of Kreuzberg; District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, Berlin 2000
  • Mordechai Nadav (מרדכי נדב): שנות המאבק וההתבססות של ד"ר ק"ד וורמן בתפקיד מנהל בית הספרים הלאומי והאוניברסיטאי (1947–1957). In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), 27: 7-13 (1993).
  • Mordechai Nadav (מרדכי נדב), Ja'aqov Rothschild (יעקב רוטשילד) (Ed.): מסות ומחקרים בספרנות: מוגשים לקורט דוד וורמן במלאת לו שבעים וחמש שנה, Jerusalem: מאגנסֶֶ(Magnes), 1975. ( Festschrift with articles in German, English, French and Hebrew)
  • Blumah Peres (בלומה פרס): מחקרים בספרנות, ארכיונאות ומדע לזכר קורט דוד וורמן/ Library, archive and information studies dedicated to the memory of Curt D. Wormann. Jerusalem 1993 (= Jad la-Qôre '/יד לקורא; Vol. 27).
  • Ernst Simon (ארנסט סימון): דרכו של קורט דוד וורמן לירושלים. In:מסות ומחקרים בספרנות: מוגשים לקורט דוד וורמן במלאת לו שבעים וחמש שנה, Mordechai Nadav (מרדכי נדב) and Ja'aqov Rothschild (יעקב רוטשילד) (Ed.), Jerusalem: מאגנסֶֶ (Magnes), 1975, pp. 1-10.
  • Abraham Wilner (אברהם וילנר), פרופ 'קורט וורמן ז"ל כפי שהכרתיו - קוים לאישיותו. In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), 27: 68-69 (1993).
  • Herbert Zafren: Book Review: Essays and Studies in Librarianship Presented to Curt David Wormann on His Seventy-Fifth Birthday . In: The Library Quarterly , vol. 48, no. 1 (197801): pp. 94-95

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen, 150 years: From the Berlin People's Libraries to the Kreuzberg City Library; a chronicle , Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / library office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg art office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg Museum as well as the association for research and presentation of the history of Kreuzberg; District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, Berlin 2000, p. 18.
  2. ↑ a b Mal'achi Beit-Arjeh (מלאכי בית-אריה), Josseph Michman-Melkman (יוסף מכמן-מלקמן): פרופ 'קורט ד' וורמן הגיע לגבורות. In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Volume 19, 1980, p. 101.
  3. ^ Petra Hätscher: The Berlin Public Library System from 1961 to 1989 . In: Library: Research and Practice , Volume 19, 1995, No. 2, pp. 155–188, here p. 156
  4. ↑ From 1922 to 1928 the State Library organized librarianship courses. Peter Vodosek : The library education in Germany from its beginnings to 1970 . In: Lifelong education and libraries (2002), No. 2 (March): pp. 1–28, here pp. 7f.
  5. ^ Petra Hätscher: The Berlin Public Library System from 1961 to 1989 . In: Library: Research and Practice , Vol. 19 (1995), No. 2, pp. 155–188, here p. 158.
  6. ↑ Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen: 150 Years: From the Berlin People's Libraries to the Kreuzberg City Library; a chronicle , Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / library office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg art office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg Museum as well as the association for research and presentation of the history of Kreuzberg; District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, Berlin 2000, p. 17.
  7. ^ Petra Hätscher: The Berlin Public Library System from 1961 to 1989 . In: Library: Research and Practice , Vol. 19 (1995), No. 2, pp. 155–188, here p. 180.
  8. ↑ a b Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen: 150 Years: From the Berlin People's Libraries to the Kreuzberg City Library; a chronicle , Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / library office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg art office, Kreuzberg district office of Berlin / Kreuzberg Museum as well as the association for research and presentation of the history of Kreuzberg; District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, Berlin 2000, p. 20.
  9. ^ Petra Hätscher: The Berlin Public Library System from 1961 to 1989 . In: Library: Research and Practice , Volume 19 (1995), No. 2, pp. 155–188, here p. 168.
  10. ↑ Frauke Mahrt-Thomsen, 150 years old: From the Berlin People's Libraries to the Kreuzberg City Library; a chronicle , District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Art Office Kreuzberg, District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Kreuzberg Museum and Association for Research and Presentation of the History of Kreuzberg (publisher), Berlin: District Office Kreuzberg of Berlin / Library Office, 2000, P. 22.
  11. ↑ The name in Latin letters from 1932 to 1939 was Hitachduth Olej Germania ( Hebrew הִתְאַחְדוּת עוֹלֵי גֶּרְמַנְיָה Hit'achdūt ʿŌlej Germanjah , German 'Vereinigung der Olim Deutschlands' , HOG; as in the title of Hitachduth Olej Germania's bulletin ), between 1940 and 1942 Hitachdut Olej Germania we Austria ( Hebrew הִתְאַחְדוּת עוֹלֵי גֶּרְמַנְיָה וְאוֹסְטְרִיָה Hit'achdūt ʿŌlej Germanjah we-Ōsṭrijah , German 'Association of Olim Germany and Austria' , acronym: HOGoA; see. Bulletin of Hitachdut Olej Germania we Austria ), then from 1943 to 2006 Irgun Olej Merkas Europa ( Hebrew אִרְגּוּן עוֹלֵי מֶרְכַּז אֵירוֹפָּה Irgūn ʿŌlej Merkaz Ejrōpah , German 'Organization of the Olim Central Europe' ; as in their organ: MB - weekly newspaper of Irgun Olej Merkas Europe ), since then the association has been called the Association of Israelis of Central European Origin ( Hebrew אִרְגּוּן יוֹצְאֵי מֶרְכַּז אֵירוֹפָּה Irgūn Jōtz'ej Merkaz Ejrōpah , German 'Organization of those from Central Europe' ; see. Title of the Yakinton / MB journal: Bulletin of the Association of Israelis of Central European Origin ).
  12. ↑ Paul A. Aisberg, "On the History: The Organization of Central European Immigrants in Israel" : 3 parts, on: haGalil.com Jewish Life Today , here Part III 'On the History of the Organization of Central European Immigrants in Israel: Hebrew Cultural Work' , accessed on December 30, 2019.
  13. ↑ ד"ר וורמן - ספרן ראשי בספריה הלאומית. In:דבר(Davar) , September 23, 1947, accessed September 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ Peter Vodosek: The library training in Germany from its beginnings to 1970 . In: Lifelong education and libraries (2002), No. 2 (March): pp. 1–28, here p. 6.
  15. ^ The Hebrew university, Jerusalem Graduate library school, Announcement for the year 1956–57 .ֻֻמפעל השכפול, Jerusalem 1956.
  16. ↑ מרדכי נדב (Mordechai Nadav): שנות המאבק וההתבססות של ד"ר ק"ד וורמן בתפקיד מנהל בית הספרים הלאומי והאוניברסיטאי (1947–1957). In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Vol. 27 (1993), p. 12.
  17. ↑ a b Mal'achi Beit-Arjeh (מלאכי בית-אריה), Josseph Michman-Melkman (יוסף מכמן-מלקמן): פרופ 'קורט ד' וורמן הגיע לגבורות. In:יד לקורא (Jad la-Qôre '), Vol. 19, 1980, p. 102.
personal data
SURNAME Wormann, Curt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wormann, Curt David (full name); קורט דוד וורמן (Hebrew)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Israeli main librarian and director of the Jewish National and University Library
DATE OF BIRTH January 5, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Berlin
DATE OF DEATH July 21, 1991
Place of death Jerusalem