Elisabeth von Harnack

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Elisabet von Harnack (born January 1, 1892 in Wilmersdorf ; † July 24, 1976 in Berlin ) was a pioneer of social work in Germany.

family

She was the fourth of seven children of the theologian Adolf von Harnack and his wife Amalie Thiersch, the granddaughter of the chemist Justus von Liebig . Her grandfather was the important Luther researcher Theodosius Harnack . The father was raised to hereditary nobility in 1914 in recognition of his services to science. The children grew up in the educated middle class in West Berlin. Those frequented by Harnacks u. a. with the Bonhoeffer, Delbrück, Dryander, Lüders and Mommsen families. Her older sister, Agnes von Zahn-Harnack , was an important writer and suffragette, her younger brother Axel von Harnack was a historian and philologist, the older brotherErnst von Harnack was executed in 1945 as a resistance fighter against National Socialism, as was her cousin Arvid Harnack and his wife Mildred .

Live and act

She graduated from secondary school, after which she attended the social pedagogical seminar of the youth home association , founded by Anna von Gierke . Then, on the advice of Alice Salomon , from 1914 to 1918 she studied political economy, political science, church and dogma history at the Berlin University. Elisabet von Harnack completed her studies with a doctorate. The subject of her dissertation was care for school-age children in day care centers . She then worked as a consultant for questions of welfare in the women's office in occupied Belgium, then as a school caretaker in Charlottenburg. In 1921 Elisabet von Harnack took over the management of the Berlin Welfare Association. She was also the managing director of the Berlin Women's Association, the German Association for Social Workers and the German Association for School Child Care. For the latter institution, Elisabet von Harnack u. a. ensure that guidelines for the supervision of children in commercial work have been issued. In addition, they were involved in the prohibition of corporal punishment in public child and youth welfare institutions.

With the beginning of the National Socialist dictatorship , she had to retire from all offices because some of her family members belonged to the SPD . Their activity was limited to quiet work within the Inner Mission . As a senior welfare worker, her commitment was to persecuted Jews, among others. With her sister Agnes, Elly Coler , Anna von Gierke, Isa Gruner , Alice Salomon, Elisabeth Zinn a . a. Elizabeth von Harnack joined the Confessing Church . The women mentioned often attended church services in Dahlem , where Pastor Martin Niemöller preached, as well as the open evenings initiated by the clergyman, during which the Berlin internal church opposition met every two weeks.

After 1945, Elisabet von Harnack took an active part in building social work in Berlin. In 1949 she was appointed to the Berlin Senate Department for Labor and Social Affairs. There she was responsible in particular for refugee and displaced persons, for the welfare of returnees and for the welfare of politically, racially or religiously persecuted during the years 1933-1944. Together with Ernst Reuter , she founded the journal Soziale Arbeit in 1951 , for which she wrote many articles. After her retirement, Elisabet von Harnack still worked as a volunteer. a. for the Inner Mission, the Lette-Verein and for the neighborhood home Urbanstraße eV

Works

  • Care for school-age children in day care centers. Berlin 1918.
  • From social work in America. In: Messages from the German Association for Social Workers. 1927 / H. 1, pp. 12-16.
  • Provisional reorganization of social education in Berlin. In: Social Work. 1955 / H. 2, pp. 69-71.
  • Ancestors of the spirit. Wilhelm von Humboldt exhibition in the Märkisches Museum. Life pictures from the history of the Berlin University. Berlin, April 9th ​​- May 15th, Berlin 1935.

literature

  • Manfred Berger : Harnack, Elisabet von In: Hugo Maier (Ed.): Who is who of social work. Frankfurt / Main 1998, pp. 229-231
  • Irmgard Dernburg: Elisabet von Harnack - a forgotten woman in the history of social work in Berlin. Berlin 2006 (unpublished diploma thesis).

Individual evidence

  1. Elisabet von Harnack worked from the age of 14 onwards in the girls and women groups for social aid work led by Alice Salomon . a. as a helper in facilities of the youth home association.
  2. Manfred Gailus: With heart and mind - Protestant women in resistance against Nazi racial politics . Ed .: Manfred Gailus, Clemens Vollnhals. Edition 65 of Reports and Studies, Hannah Arendt Institute for Research on Totalitarianism. V&R unipress GmbH, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8471-0173-4 ( Google Books, page 38 ).
  3. Dernburg 2006, p. 35 ff.