Ernst Posner

Ernst Posner

Ernst Maximilian Posner (born August 9, 1892 in Berlin , † April 18, 1980 in Wiesbaden ) was a Prussian state archivist and professor of history and archives at the American University in Washington .

Live and act

Posner grew up as the son of a professor of medicine in Berlin. After passing the school leaving examination at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium , he first studied political science from 1910 to 1914 , then history and historical auxiliary sciences in Berlin, Bonn and Strasbourg. He was promoted to Dr. phil. doctorate and found his first job as a trainee at the Prussian Secret State Archives (today: GStA PK). In 1921 he passed the archivist examination and was appointed archival assistant, in 1922 he was appointed to the State Archives Council. During his time at the Secret State Archives he edited, among other things, several volumes of the Acta Borussica on the organization of authorities.

Because of his Jewish origins Posner was forced to retire in November 1935, in early 1936 he hoped for a job in Illinois, as archival science should be taught at the university and Prof. Theodor C. Pease, Professor of History (1926-48) and Head of the Department of History (1942-48), had asked him to send him his application. In 1938 Posner was sent to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. After his release he emigrated to the USA via Sweden in 1939. There he received a teaching position and later a full professorship at the American University in Washington DC. In addition, he played a key role in the development of the US National Archives , headed the archive courses there from 1942 to 1961 and founded the Institute for Records Management in 1954. From 1955 to 1956 he was president of the American professional association of archivists, the Society of American Archivists. In 1961 he was adopted into retirement. In 1972 he went back to Europe and settled first in Switzerland , later in Wiesbaden , where he died in 1980.

Honors

• The new building of the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde is named Ernst-Posner-Bau .
• The professional association of archivists in the USA has awarded the Ernst Posner Prize since 1983 .

literature

• Botho Brachmann: Ernst Posner (1892–1992) - stimulator and role model. In: Der Archivar, vol. 46, 1993, issue 2, pp. 254-258.
• Eckhart G. Franz :  Posner, Ernst Maximilian. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 20, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-428-00201-6 , p. 652 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Dagmar Giesecke, Rico Quaschny, Dieter Posner, and Christian Giesecke: Ernst Posner 1892–1980: Archivist in Germany and America. A biographical sketch. Publisher: Fachhochschule Potsdam Presse- u. Information Point (November 1997), ISBN 3-9805768-0-9 .
• Wolfgang Leesch : The German archivists 1500–1945. Volume 2: Biographical Lexicon. Saur, Munich a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-598-10605-X , pp. 461-462.
• Wolfgang A. Mommsen: Ernst Posner, mediator between German and American archives. For his 75th birthday. In: Der Archivar, Vol. 20, 1967, Issue 3, Col. 217–230.
• Stephan Skalweit: Ernst Posner †. In: Der Archivar, Vol. 34, 1981, Issue 3, pp. 447-451.
• Archives and the Public Interest. Selected essays by Ernst Posner , edited by Ken Munden, Chicago 1967, with a new Introduction by Angelika Menne-Haritz, Chicago 2006.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Secret State Archives of Prussian Cultural Heritage, VI. Main department, Brackmann estate No. 93/2, pages 23 and 28: Posner's personal letters to the former director general of the Prussian archives Brackmann, January and March 1936.
2. ↑ Handover of the keys for the Ernst Posner Building to the Federal Archives ( Memento of the original from November 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.