Franz Schriewer

Franz Wilhelm Heinrich Schriewer (born May 11, 1893 in Rendsburg , † May 10, 1966 in Flensburg ) was a German librarian and head of the Sankelmark Border Academy .

Childhood, youth and education

Franz Schriewer was a son of the Rendsburg carpenter Carl Heinrich Franz Schriewer (born June 29, 1865 in Bredenfelde ; † March 14, 1949 in Rendsburg) and his wife Charlotte Maria Johanna , née Dunker (born January 26, 1862 in Sprenge ; † 10. March 1942). The maternal grandfather named Johann Friedrich Dunker (1823–1870) worked as a builder in Stampe .

Schriewer grew up in a small and narrow carpentry shop in Rendsburg, where he learned manual skills. This time shaped his later life. From 1899 to 1906 he studied at an elementary school. With the urgent recommendation of his teachers, he switched to a grammar school in Rendsburg, which he left in 1913 with the Abitur. In the same year he began studying German and art history at universities in Kiel and Berlin. From August 1914 to December 1918 he did military service. He finished his time in the army as a lieutenant in the reserve and the Iron Cross 1st class. Then he continued his studies.

In May 1921, Schriewer's doctorate followed with a doctorate in philosophy. He wrote about "Klaus Groth and pictorial vision". His college friend Wilhelm Schuster , whom he had met in Kiel, recommended that he work as a librarian. From January to August 1921 Schuster helped his former fellow student to get a job as a scientific assistant at the Stettin City Library under the direction of Erwin Ackerknecht . This led a hard dispute with the Leipzig librarian Walter Hofmann (1879–1952) about the orientation of the librarians.

Work in Flensburg

In June 1921, the “Welfare and School Association for Northern Germany”, headed by District Administrator Anton Wallroth, gave the post of head of the “ Central for Northern Mark Libraries ”. With the position financed by the Prussian government, a library system was to be created in Flensburg in the second voting zone. The warring librarians Ackerknecht and Hofmann submitted reports on this. Schriewer received this position despite a different recommendation from the Prussian Ministry of Science, Art and Education. From September 1921 to December 1933 he worked here as a librarian and head of the library headquarters. In April 1924 he was also employed by the city as civil servant and as the city librarian.

Schriewer took on suggestions in his work that he had received from the library system in Denmark. He had city libraries set up in the border districts of Flensburg-Land and Südtondern . Teachers took over the management of the village libraries on a part-time basis. In addition, there were main libraries with full-time staff and a central library in the large cities. The “Welfare and School Association” signed private law contracts in 1926/27, which are still considered exemplary today. According to these agreements, the municipality, district and head office each assumed a third of the current expenses and guaranteed not to charge any fees. The technical management was transferred to the library headquarters. Schriewer took care of all the details of construction and equipment himself. The library center was opened in 1930 in the library wing of the new German House .

time of the nationalsocialism

After the seizure of power , the city of Flensburg banned Schriewer from his profession. He was politically denounced and defamatory accused. Nevertheless, in January 1934 he was able to start a new job as the city librarian of Frankfurt / Oder . Here he reorganized the city library in a short time and oriented himself to his approach in Schleswig. In the Frankfurt / Oder administrative district he set up libraries in villages, small towns and schools. The Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education considered the system to be exemplary and introduced it generally.

Schriewer, who never joined the NSDAP, was on leave from work in Frankfurt / Oder and appointed to the Reich Office for the Public Libraries. Under the head of department Heinz Dähnhardt , he worked in the department for adult education and public libraries. He emphasized that the librarians are people educators and the state should lead the people's libraries more strongly. Public libraries are no longer a liberal institution, but should focus on leading to and through the nation's literature.

Schriewer was able to improve the organization of the public library system and soften censorship measures by several state organs. The libraries in his area of ​​responsibility nevertheless promoted the propaganda of the National Socialists, who were able to consolidate their position. In 1937 Schriewer went back to his previous position in Frankfurt / Oder at his own request. From 1939 he also did military service. He expanded the city libraries to include scientific works and was able to complete his project before the end of the war.

Return to Flensburg

At the end of World War II Schriewer was a prisoner of war. In August he came back to Flensburg. The management of the city library was held by his successor, Hans Peter Johannsen , who, however, was in North Schleswig and could not be reached. Schriewer took over the provisional management of the facility and the headquarters of the German library system. The districts of Schleswig, Husum, Südtondern and, from 1949, Eckernförde came under the responsibility of the headquarters. Schriewer gave numerous literary lectures with which he wanted to contribute to a spiritual change in the post-war period. In 1947 he co-founded the German Cultural Society in Flensburg . He was committed to the new approval of the "welfare and school association", which began its work in September 1946 as an association for adult education and libraries . Schriewer was a member of its board of directors under the direction of Friedrich Wilhelm Lübke until 1958 .

In 1947, Schriewer left the management of the Flensburg city library as an official and librarian for the state of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1952 he was appointed senior library councilor and four years later library director. He expanded the “Schleswig library landscape”, which offered everything from small school libraries to a central library. This integrated organization of public libraries enabled a complete interlibrary loan, offered a centralized administration, which was based on Schriewer's mindset.

Schriewer's period of service ended in February 1959. At that time he was considered a renowned and important organizer of the public library system in Germany, who had created the best-designed rural library system in the country. The University of Kiel awarded him the University Medal in 1953 for his services. In 1959 he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

family

Schriewer was married to Anna Elisabeth Lilli Dahl (born September 15, 1892 in Kastel ; † April 12, 1973 in Rendsburg) since his marriage on October 29, 1921 in Rendsburg . Her father was the Rendsburg garrison director Friedrich Dahl (1856-1946). The Schriewers had two daughters and a son.

literature

• Volker Weimar: Franz Schriewer 1893 - 1966 (= dbv [Hrsg.]: Bibliographien . Volume 3 ). German Library Association; Arbeitsstelle für das Bibliothekwesen, Berlin 1976, ISBN 3-87068-382-1 (bibliography pp. 33–53).

• Dietmar Albrecht: Schriewer, Franz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, pp. 323-326.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dietmar Albrecht: Schriewer, Franz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, p. 323.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Dietmar Albrecht: Schriewer, Franz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, p. 324.
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Dietmar Albrecht: Schriewer, Franz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, p. 325.
4. ^ Dietmar Albrecht: Schriewer, Franz . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 8. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1987, p. 326.