Franz Heinrich Weissbach

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Franz Heinrich Weißbach (born November 25, 1865 in Chemnitz , † February 20, 1944 in Markkleeberg ) was a German ancient orientalist who worked at the University of Leipzig from 1888 to 1935 .

Life

He was the eldest of seven children of the silk hat maker Franz Robert Weißbach and his wife Clara Auguste, b. Leonhardt from Chemnitz. He spent his youth in Glauchau from 1879 onwards, because his parents had moved, attended the community school here and later the grammar school in Zwickau. After passing the school leaving examination, he studied theology , ancient history , classical philology and oriental languages at the University of Leipzig from 1885 . In 1888 he became a member of the Corps Staufia Leipzig. In 1889 he completed his studies with a doctorate . He wrote his doctoral thesis on the Achaemenid inscriptions of the second kind . Weissbach found his first job in 1888 at the Leipzig University Library , he was promoted to library assistant in 1891, librarian in 1900 and senior librarian in 1917, he worked at the library until 1929.

In 1897 , Weissbach qualified as a professor at the Assyriology Chair at the Institute for Semitic Studies with the text The Sumerian Question "for ancient history and cuneiform ". Since the summer semester of 1898, he has held lectures and courses on cuneiform script, ancient oriental languages, and the history, culture and geography of the ancient Orient as a private lecturer . From 1901 to 1903 he was on leave to take part in the German excavations in Babylon . In 1908 Weissbach was appointed non-civil servant extraordinary professor for cuneiform writing research and ancient history, in 1930 he was appointed full honorary professor with the same teaching description.

After the seizure of power by the National Socialists Weissbach signed in November 1933, the commitment of the professors to Adolf Hitler . Also in 1933 he applied to the NSDAP for membership . The application was rejected because Weißbach belonged to a Masonic lodge . Thereupon Weissbach presented the positive relationship between Freemasonry and National Socialism in a petition to Adolf Hitler . However, the petition was unsuccessful. In 1935, Weissbach's license to teach was revoked. The basis for this was § 6 of the law for the restoration of the professional civil service (via former members of a Masonic lodge) and his commitment to Freemasonry.

Weissbach spent his retirement in Markkleeberg, where he was killed in a bomb attack on February 20, 1944. He was buried in the basement of his own house. His wife Carola, his daughter Irmgard, son-in-law Rudolf Synnatzschke and granddaughter Adelheid (* 1943) survived this attack. The son-in-law Rudolf Synnatzschke was one of his last students who was still learning cuneiform. He gave various tips on how to correct the cuneiform translations to the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

As a researcher, Weißbach was particularly concerned with the transliteration and translation of cuneiform script, with the grammar of Old Persian as well as with the inscription and architectural monuments of the Old Orient. In the 1920s in particular, he wrote various writings on the excavations in Babylon and advocated the preservation of the finds. As one of the few experts in Persian geography and history, he wrote articles for the Realencyclopedia of Classical Ancient Studies since 1894 .

literature

  • German Biographical Encyclopedia . Volume 10 (1999), pp. 411-412
  • Ronald Lambrecht: Political dismissals in the Nazi era . Leipzig 2006, pp. 185-186

Web links

Wikisource: Franz Heinrich Weißbach  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Erwin Willmann (Ed.): Directory of the old Rudolstädter Corps students. (AH. List of the RSC.) , 1928 edition, No. 5289
personal data
SURNAME Weissbach, Franz Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Weissbach, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ancient orientalist
DATE OF BIRTH November 25, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Chemnitz
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1944
Place of death Markkleeberg