Declaration by the university teachers of the German Reich

The declaration of the university professors of the German Reich of October 16, 1914 was a declaration that had been signed by over 3,000 German university professors, i.e. almost all of the lecturers at the 53 universities and technical colleges in Germany. It followed the Manifesto of 93 and similarly justified the First World War as a defense of German culture. The initiator and author was the classical philologist Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff .

Original text of the declaration (without signatures)

“We teachers at Germany's universities and colleges serve science and do a work of peace. But it fills us with indignation that the enemies of Germany, England at the head, allegedly want to make a contradiction in our favor between the spirit of German science and what they call Prussian militarism. In the German army there is no other spirit than in the German people, for both are one, and we also belong to them. Our army also cultivates science and thanks it not least for its achievements. Service in the army makes our youth fit for all works of peace, including science. Because he educates her to self-denying loyalty to duty and gives her the self-confidence and the sense of honor of a truly free man who willingly subordinates himself to the whole. This spirit lives not only in Prussia, but is the same in all countries of the German Empire. He is the same in war and peace. Now our army stands in the fight for Germany's freedom and thus for all goods of peace and morality not only in Germany. Our belief is that salvation for the entire culture of Europe depends on the victory that German " militarism " will fight for, discipline, loyalty, and the self-sacrifice of the free German people. "

reaction

Over 100 scholars from abroad responded to the positions of the German university faculty with a response to the German professors that appeared in the New York Times on October 21, 1914.

Signatory (selection)

The complete list of signatories can be found after the text of the declaration on Wikisource, sorted according to scientific institutions (see below under web links)

literature

Hermann Kellermann: The War of the Spirits: A selection of German and foreign voices on the World War 1914. Verlag Vereinigung Heimat und Welt, 1915.

Web links

Wikisource: Declaration by the university professors of the German Reich - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

↑ Jörn Leonhard : Pandora's box. History of the First World War. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66191-4 , p. 243.
↑ Gerhard Hirschfeld , Gerd Krumeich, Irina Renz in connection with Markus Pöhlmann (ed.): Encyclopedia First World War. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2014, ISBN 978-3-8252-8551-7 , p. 172.
^ Steffen Bruendel: Volksgemeinschaft or Volksstaat. The "Ideas of 1914" and the reorganization of Germany in the First World War. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-05-003745-8 .
↑ Harald Müller: Knowledge Cultures: Conditions for Scientific Innovation , p. 160.

[1] Jörn Leonhard : Pandora's box. History of the First World War. Verlag CH Beck, Munich 2014, ISBN 978-3-406-66191-4 , p. 243.

[2] Gerhard Hirschfeld , Gerd Krumeich, Irina Renz in connection with Markus Pöhlmann (ed.): Encyclopedia First World War. Ferdinand Schöningh, Paderborn 2014, ISBN 978-3-8252-8551-7 , p. 172.

[3] Steffen Bruendel: Volksgemeinschaft or Volksstaat. The "Ideas of 1914" and the reorganization of Germany in the First World War. Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-05-003745-8 .

[4] Harald Müller: Knowledge Cultures: Conditions for Scientific Innovation , p. 160.