Seriously behind

Former home of Dr. Over there in ice field

Ernst Dahinten (born April 10, 1885 in Jüchsen ; † June 1, 1969 in Eisfeld ) was a German teacher, city ​​archivist , museum director and author.

Life

Ernst Dahinten was born on April 10, 1885 as the son of a farmer in Jüchsen in what was then the Duchy of Saxony-Meiningen. He was too weak for agriculture, but showed above-average intellectual abilities, which led to the fact that his musical talent was particularly encouraged by his teachers and the pastor of the village. On the recommendation of the teachers, contrary to the ideas of his father, who actually could not finance a higher education, he was sent to the teachers' college in Hildburghausen at the age of 15 .

Ernst Dahinten was an ambitious and talented pupil, both in the natural history and mathematical subjects as well as in the linguistic and literary subjects. But his special love was music and history. In 1904 he passed the seminar exit exams with good results and was sent to the Thuringian Forest village of Gießübel as a school authority candidate . There he first taught the lower school students, after completing the state examination in the second degree, he took over teaching in the upper class from 1907. He took an active part in the life of the village, founded and directed the local men's choir.

He applied to the community school in Eisfeld, where he started his service in 1908. With his musical talents, Ernst Dahinten quickly got involved in the social life of the Eisfeld bourgeoisie, took over the musical direction of the church choir and led the performance of Ludwig's singspiel "Die Geschwister" at the centenary of the poet Otto Ludwig (1813-1865) in 1913 . Due to his musical activities, the city of Eisfeld appointed him the city's music officer. He directed the amateur orchestra of the small town on the Werra and was one of the founding members of the Otto Ludwig Association. Professionally, he developed to the head of the comprehensive school in Eisfeld and turned more and more to local history research. As a result of his research and research, he published the four-volume work Geschichte der Heimat from 1932 to 1938 .

After Hitler came to power, he joined the NSDAP in 1933 and developed from a nationally-minded democrat to a brown-hued public servant. Because of his poor health, he was released from military service and continued to teach at the Eisfelder Schule, at the end with the title of rector. After the end of the war and the occupation of Eisfeld by US troops, he was arrested and interned for a few weeks. He then settled in Coburg , because he feared that the Soviet military authorities would arrest him again. After his denazification he went back to Eisfeld at the insistence of his wife. He was initially employed in the archives of the city of Eisfeld. After the Soviet military administration and the Thuringian State Office for National Education ordered the establishment of a local history museum and an Otto Ludwig memorial in 1946, he devoted himself to this task with all his might. He won volunteer workers among the Eisfeld population, especially among craftsmen, so that after extensive security and order work, an exhibition room on the Eisfeld town history and the life and work of the poet Otto Ludwig could be set up as early as 1948. The museum was officially opened in October 1949 in the rooms of the Eisfelder Schloss. The premises were constantly expanded and in 1961 Ernst Dahinten and his museum collective succeeded in restoring the Otto Ludwig Memorial in the historic garden house and making it accessible to the public with an exhibition on the life and work of the Eisfeld-born poet.

Grave of Dr. Over there in Eisfeld, tomb saying: "And if it was delicious, it was labor and work."

In 1960 Ernst Dahinten was given honorary citizenship of the city of Eisfeld on the occasion of his 75th birthday. In the same year he received an honorary doctorate from the Philosophical Faculty of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena . He headed the museum until he was 79 in 1964. He died on June 1, 1969 at the age of 84 in his house on Eisfelder Bahnhofstrasse, which he had lived in since he married his wife. He was buried next to his wife in the town's cemetery.

literature

• Renate Gauss: «Dr. H. c. Ernst Dahinten (1885–1969) ». In: Kloster Veßra (Ed.): Yearbook 2008 of the Hennebergisch-Franconian History Association. 23, 2008, p. 201 ff.
• Ernst Dahinten: "History of the homeland. (City and Office Eisfeld)" Part 1–4, Eisfeld 1932–1938