Eduard Paul Tratz

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Eduard Paul Tratz (born September 25, 1888 in Salzburg as Paul Eduard Tratz ; † January 5, 1977 there ) was an Austrian zoologist and SS-Obersturmbannführer .

Life

In memory of Eduard Paul Tratz in Salzburg, Bergstrasse 10

Paul Eduard Tratz comes from a bourgeois family in Salzburg. He initially studied for six semesters at the Zoological Institute of the University of Innsbruck without completing his studies. He then volunteered at various European museums, including 1910 in Sarajevo and 1911 in Berlin. In 1912 he became an assistant at the Heligoland ornithological station . He is the founder of the Austrian Ornithological Institute Hellbrunn (1914) and the Museum Haus der Natur in Salzburg (1924), of which he was henceforth director.

Tratz has published several hundred scientific papers in the field of zoology. He taught at the University of Innsbruck.

time of the nationalsocialism

At the latest at the time of National Socialism , Tratz became a member of the NSDAP (membership number 6.346.820). He joined the SS and rose to become SS-Hauptsturmführer . As a deserving member, Heinrich Himmler awarded him the SS skull ring . Rumors that Tratz also wore the NSDAP blood order, d. H. Any injuries or reprisals suffered during the " fighting time " are not confirmed by his personal files in the Federal Archives . The House of Nature was at that time to the department "research facility for the Performing and Applied Natural History Museum of Natural History" in the " Ahnenerbe e. V. ”, which was founded at Himmler's instigation in 1935 in order to“ explore the space, spirit and action of Nordic Indo-Europeanism, to bring the research results to life and to convey them to the German people; to call on every national comrade to participate ”, as the association's statutes prescribed.

The following important information is missing from this article or section:
There are no sources for the claim that “serious research” was carried out by the Ahnenerbe Research Association.
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The Ahnenerbe did a lot of pseudoscience in the beginning , but later more and more serious research, for example by the Germanist Joseph Otto Plassmann , the rector of the University of Munich Walther Wüst or the historian Herbert Jankuhn .

In many "scientific" activities of the Ahnenerbe, but also in conferences, Tratz was repeatedly involved by Ahnenerbe Reich manager Wolfram Sievers . These included the research institute for plant genetics under Heinz Brücher or the entomological institute of the institute for military scientific research into the genetics under the entomologist and after the war Eduard May , who was active as a natural philosopher . From 1942 Tratz was a member of the advisory board of the Entomological Institute of Ahnenerbes in the Dachau concentration camp. Tratz is the author of the little book Natur ist alles , which was published in 1943 by the publishing house of the Ahnenerbe Foundation and distributed to all SS leaders on Himmler's orders.

During the Nazi era, Tratz made the following statement in the sense of Social Darwinism : “In the wild, such cripples and freak births are ruthlessly exterminated - many original tribes also hold on to this natural selection. [...] But a people can only stay healthy and strong in body and soul if it also subordinates itself to this natural law at least to a limited extent over emotional impulses. "

After the end of the Third Reich , Tratz was relieved of management of the museum as part of the denazification process and was interned in the Glasenbach , Moosburg and Pupping camps from June 30, 1945 to August 12, 1947 . After his release, with the support of Austrian politicians from almost all parties, he successfully achieved his rehabilitation and was able to continue his career, which was interrupted in 1945, almost seamlessly. As early as June 1, 1949, he was given back management of the House of Nature in Salzburg.

On the occasion of the 80th birthday of its president in 1969, the Austrian Nature Conservation Union donated the Eduard-Paul-Tratz-Medal to deserving persons for achievements in nature protection in the forms gold, silver and bronze.

Honors

  • Because of his fundamental research in the field of ornithology, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Innsbruck in 1923.
  • The Republic of Austria awarded him the title of professor in 1935 for the tenth anniversary of the Haus der Natur .
  • In 1963 he was made an honorary citizen of the city. In the official report of December 4, 2014, Salzburg Mayor Heinz Schaden (SPÖ) called for the posthumous revocation of honorary citizenship because of Tratz's Nazi past. The Greens had already called for this step in 2007, but at that time it was argued that honorary citizenship expires with death anyway.
  • He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Salzburg on June 20, 1973, which was revoked by resolution of the University Senate on October 14, 2014.

Publications (selection)

  • Attempt to process the autumn migration of the woodcock on Heligoland using historical and modern material , Neudamm 1913 (64 pages).
  • Alpenländisches Vogelmerkbüchlein , Salzburg 1919 (43 pages).
  • From the life of the lively , Leipzig 1923 (233 pages).
  • Alpine birds - A handbook for finding and observing birds in the Austrian Alpine countries , Salzburg 1930 (51 pages).
  • From the car - observations and considerations , 1931 (236 p.).
  • Alpenwild in the past and present , Salzburg 1934 (91 pages).
  • Nature is everything. A book to read, look at and think about , Berlin 1943 (123 pages).
  • Animals of the Mountains , Seebruck am Chiemsee 1953 (203 pages).
  • KWA HERI! East African Safari ; Salzburg 1966 (188 pages).
  • The great book of the Eastern Alps , Vienna / Munich 1969.
  • 45 years House of Nature , 1969.
  • The future task of natural history museums , 1970.

literature

  • Eduard Paul Tratz. Festschrift on the occasion of his 70th birthday on September 25, 1958 (J. Klaus, A. Bäck and A. Schemel, eds.), Salzburg 1958. (With a detailed bibliography and a portrait of the jubilee.)
  • Eduard Paul Tratz (Ed.): Guide through the House of Nature in Salzburg. Salzburg 1980 (67 pages).
  • Gert Kerschbaumer: The German House of Nature. In: Herbert Posch, Gottfried Fliedl (Hrsg.): Politics of presentation. Museum and exhibition in Austria 1918–1945. Vienna 1996, pp. 180-212.
  • Robert Hoffmann: A Museum for Himmler. Eduard Paul Tratz and the integration of the Salzburg “House of Nature” into the “Ahnenerbe” of the SS. In: Zeitgeschichte, 35 (2008), no. 3, 154–175.

Web links

Commons : Eduard Paul Tratz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ^ Kater, Michael: The "Ahnenerbe" of the SS 1935–1945, Munich 1997, p. 97 f.
  2. ^ District court Charlottenburg of Berlin: Register of associations, register file Ahnenerbe 95 VR 7996
  3. ^ Kater, Michael: The "Ahnenerbe" of the SS 1935–1945, Munich 1997.
  4. ↑ service diary Sievers, German Federal Archives NS 21/11, 12, 53, 127 and 927
  5. ^ Ernst Klee : German Medicine in the Third Reich. Careers before and after 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-10-039310-4 , p. 142 f.
  6. ↑ Bundesarchiv NS 21/11 Sievers' diary entry from January 21, 1944
  7. ↑ Anniversary Issue | NATURE & COUNTRY | 99th JG. - Issue 1 / 2-2013, page 19, chairperson after 1945
  8. ^ Salzburger Nachrichten - Eduard Paul Tratz: City revokes honorary citizenship . Article dated December 5, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014.
  9. ^ Salzburg.orf.at - House of Nature: Tratz loses honorary citizenship . Article dated December 5, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ University of Salzburg revokes honorary doctorate . Press release of October 14, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014.
  11. ^ Salzburg.orf.at - Nazi past: University revokes honorary doctorate . Article dated October 15, 2014, accessed December 5, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Tratz, Eduard Paul
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian zoologist and biologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 25, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Salzburg , Kronland Salzburg , Austria-Hungary
DATE OF DEATH 5th January 1977
Place of death Salzburg , State of Salzburg , Austria