Ferdinand Hermens

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Ferdinand A loys (ius) Hermens (born December 20, 1906 in Nieheim , Krs. Höxter; died February 2, 1998 in Rockville , Maryland , USA) was a German- American political scientist and economist . His most important books Democracy or Anarchy? (1941) and The Representative Republic (1958) have been translated into German , Italian and Hebrew .

Studies and professional life

Hermens studied at the Universities of Münster, Freiburg, Berlin and Bonn. In 1928 he completed his studies at the University of Bonn with a degree in economics. He was there in 1930 with a thesis on What is Capitalism? to the Dr. rer. pole. PhD. His doctoral supervisor was Joseph A. Schumpeter. After completing his doctorate, Hermens continued his studies in economic theory at the Universities of Paris and Kiel.

Hermens was politically committed to the Center Party and was involved in journalism in the Catholic magazine Hochland . Against this background he was unable to continue his university career in the Third Reich.

Hermens emigrated to Great Britain in 1934 and to the USA in 1935, where he worked as an Assistant Professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. In 1945 he moved to the University of Notre Dame as a full professor of political science . In July 1950, Hermens was a participant in the Königstein Conference, which was an important cornerstone for the university establishment of political science in the Federal Republic.

In 1959 Hermens temporarily returned to Germany, where he was appointed to the chair of political science at the University of Cologne as the successor to the former Chancellor Brüning .

Here he became the first director of the Research Institute for Political Science and European Issues, established on June 25, 1960, and was editor of the series “Kölner Schriften zur Politischen Wissenschaft”, “Democratic Existence Today” and “Democracy and Peace” as well as the yearbook “ Constitution and Constitutional Reality ”. During his work in Cologne, Hermens supervised post-doctoral and doctoral students who were later appointed as professors of political science at German universities: u. a. Rudolf Wildenmann ( University of Mannheim ), Gerda Zellentin ( University of Wuppertal ), Werner Kaltefleiter ( University of Kiel ), Hans Kammler ( University of Hohenheim ), Norbert Konegen and Paul Kevenhörster ( University of Münster ). In late 1971, Hermens retired and returned to the United States, where he lived in the Washington, DC area.

Hermens founded the Cologne School of Political Science .

Honors

Fonts (selection)

The complete scientific work of Ferdinand A. Hermens includes a wealth of books and numerous articles in magazines and compilations. The German National Library has 31 titles, the Library of Congress holds 25 books. Not all of them are listed here.

Hermens' work "The Representative Republic" (English title: "Verfassungslehre") has been translated into numerous languages.
  • What is capitalism. Altenburg: Pierer, 1931 (also Univ. Bonn, rer. Pol. Diss,)
  • Democracy and capitalism. An attempt at the sociology of the forms of government. Munich: Duncker & Humblot, 1931.
  • Democracy and the right to vote. An election-sociological study on the crisis of parliamentary government formation. Paderborn: Schöningh, 1933.
  • Majority or proportional representation? Berlin: Duncker & Humblot , 1949.
  • Parties, people and state. Karlsruhe: CF Müller, 1960.
  • Ethics, politics and power. Frankfurt / Main: Athenäum Verlag, 1961.
  • The East-West Conflict. Frankfurt / Main: Athenäum Verlag , 1961.
  • Constitutional theory . Frankfurt / Main: Athenäum Verlag, 1964; 2nd edition, Cologne and Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1968.
  • Economic and state stability. Frankfurt / Main: Athenäum Verlag, 1964.
  • Democracy or anarchy. Frankfurt / Main: Athenäum Verlag, 1951; 2nd edition, Cologne and Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1968.
  • Between politics and reason. Essays from three worlds. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1969, ISBN 3-428-01950-4
  • From Dictatorship to Democracy: The Example of Spain and Portugal. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1976, ISBN 3-428-03755-3

Festschriften and honors

  • Kaltefleiter-Gemmecke, Vera (Ed.), In the fight for peace and freedom - Ferdinand A. Hermens 65 years . The speeches, a bibliography by FA Hermens and the publications of the Research Institute for Political Science and European Issues at the University of Cologne. Cologne: Heymanns Verlag, 1972.
  • Wildenmann, Rudolf (Ed.), Form and Experience - A Life for Democracy . For Ferdinand A. Hermens' 70th birthday. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1976.
  • Thümmler, Ellen: Ferdinand A. Hermens and the formula of democracy, in: Shell, Frank et al .: Intellectual emigrants. On the topicality of a historical phenomenon , Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, 2012, pp. 155–184.
  • Detjen, Joachim: Ferdinand A. Hermens (1906–1998), in: Jesse, Eckhard / Liebold, Sebastian (ed.): German political scientists - work and effect. From Abendroth to Zellentin , Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2014, pp. 347-360.

literature

Web links

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  1. ↑ Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 1976, 12th edition, Berlin and New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1976, p. 1214.
  2. ↑ http://archives.lib.cua.edu/findingaid/hermens.cfm
  3. ^ Wilhelm Bleek : History of Political Science in Germany, Munich 2001, p. 247f.
  4. ↑ Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 1976, 12th edition, Berlin and New York: 1976, p. 1214.
  5. ^ Wilhelm Bleek: History of Political Science in Germany, p. 275.
  6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 10, 2009 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.politik.uni-koeln.de
  7. ↑ Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 1976, 12th edition, Berlin and New York: 1976, p. 1214.
  8. ^ Research Institute for Political Science and European Questions, Annual Report 1989/90 , Cologne, p. 5.
  9. ↑ Vera Kaltefleiter-Gemmecke (Hrsg.): In the fight for Frioeden and freedom - Ferdinand A. Hermens 65 years. The speeches, a bibliography by FA Hermens and the publications of the Research Institute for Political Science and European Issues at the University of Cologne, Cologne: Heymanns Verlag, 1972.
  10. ↑ Kürschner's German Scholarly Calendar 1976, 12th edition, Berlin and New York: 1976, p. 1214.
  11. ↑ For a comprehensive list of all publications compiled by Hayo Uthoff s. Kaltefleiter-Gemmecke, Vera (Ed.), In the fight for peace and freedom - Ferdinand A. Hermens 65 years . Cologne: Heymanns Verlag, 1972, pp. 29–42.
personal data
SURNAME Hermens, Ferdinand
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hermens, Ferdinand Aloys; Hermens, Ferdinand Aloysius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American political scientist and economist
DATE OF BIRTH December 20, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Nieheim , Germany
DATE OF DEATH February 2, 1998
Place of death Rockville , Maryland , USA