Fred Schwind

Fred Schwind (born March 3, 1929 in Bad Vilbel , † April 18, 2004 in Marburg ) was a German historian and honorary professor with a research focus on Hessian and Thuringian national history. His second major area of interest and research was the time from the Carolingians to the Staufers. From 1974 to 1991 he headed the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies in Marburg . His works on the history of Hesse as well as on the German Middle Ages have achieved great scientific importance.

Youth and Studies

Fred Schwind was born in Bad Vilbel in 1929 and grew up in the Wetterau . At first he worked as a master butcher in his parents' workshop and passed the external Abitur in 1957. He then studied history, Latin and education at the University of Frankfurt am Main . During his studies he worked for the ancient historian Hermann Strasburger . In 1966 he was there with Walter Schlesinger with the work Die Landvogtei in the Wetterau. PhD studies on the rule and politics of the Hohenstaufen and late medieval kings . From the summer semester of 1966, he assisted Josef Fleckenstein, Professor of Medieval History , at the Albert Ludwig University in Freiburg im Breisgau for two years .

In 1968 he returned to Hessen . Schlesinger, who was appointed from Frankfurt to Marburg in 1964, brought Schwind to work as a research assistant in the Hessian State Office for Regional History, which he headed. In 1974 he took over its management.

Create

Head of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies

City fortifications of Frankfurt under the Carolingians, Staufers and Ottonians projected onto today's cityscape.

Until his retirement in the spring of 1991, Fred Schwind headed the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies, whose profile he shaped over the years. In 1984 he not only succeeded in completing the interdisciplinary “Historical Atlas of Hesse”, which had been developed by numerous researchers for decades, with the long-awaited volume of texts and explanations, and as a further basic project the “Historical Local Lexicon of the State of Hesse” begun by Walter Schlesinger “To move forward quickly with the processing of five volumes. Rather, he suggested, continuing the close connection between historical studies and cartography that had existed since the beginning of the State Office , as a new major project, the "Hessian City Atlas", the planning and development of which he intensively promoted in his last years of service and accompanied in further discussions after his retirement Has. Probably the most important individual project in addition to numerous, mostly interdisciplinary conferences organized by him as part of the State Office, he involved the institute in the highly regarded state exhibition “Sankt Elisabeth. Fürstin - Dienerin - Heilige ”, which took place in 1981 on the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Elisabeth of Thuringia at the Marburg Landgrave Palace. The scientific conception and the preparation of this exhibition, which was carried out jointly with the Philipps University of Marburg , were largely under his leadership, as was the catalog and accompanying volume of the exhibition, which is still a standard work today.

Self-published by the State Office

As the publisher of the publications self-published by the State Office, Fred Schwind continued the institute series “Writings of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies” with the supervision of several volumes and he continued to give historians, but also archaeologists, the opportunity to share their research - u. a. also dissertations and qualification theses - to be published in the smaller series he founded, “Studies and materials on constitutional and national history”. His great care as the editor of the selection of manuscripts until the completion of printing was the "Hessian Yearbook of History" benefit, jointly run by the State Office and the Association of Historical commissions in a very special way Darmstadt , Frankfurt , Marburg and Wiesbaden published becomes. In the years 1970 to 1987 he wrote 17 volumes, which he carried out together with Karl E. Demandt and then with Thomas Klein until the mid-1970s . During these years, Fred Schwind shaped the “Hessian Yearbook” and established its position as one of the leading regional historical magazines in the German-speaking area. Fred Schwind's last contribution was published in Volume 53 in 2003, a detailed critical appraisal of the “Monument Topography of the Federal Republic of Germany. Cultural monuments in Hessen ”to the Wetteraukreis.

Author of historical writings

Fred Schwind was not only a sponsor of the basic projects and was the editor of the two series and the "Hessian Yearbook". In the same way, this institution, as a non-university research institute, benefited from the fact that, in addition to his participation in the Hessian historical commissions, several advisory boards, the monument council and in scientific committees and associations, it was able to establish contacts with scholars from outside Hesse, regional history companies and university and non-university research institutions to knot. Particular mention should be made of the Konstanz Working Group for Medieval History, the Institute for Comparative Urban Research, the Max Planck Institute for History and the Commission for Classical Studies in Central and Northern Europe of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences.

The fact that Fred Schwind was able to establish these diverse and important relationships for the State Office was primarily due to his high reputation as a researcher and his scientific work. His numerous works, which have a great temporal, content and spatial breadth, range from the early to the late Middle Ages and deal with constitutional, social and economic-historical questions as well as topics of urban and local history. Even if the spatial focus is mainly in the areas that belong to today's Hesse, Fred Schwind, who felt strongly committed to the principle of comparative national history and at the same time had a strong interest in overarching questions about medieval constitutional and economic history, also had topics Thuringia , the southwest and other regions. In all his research, he also placed the utmost importance on interdisciplinarity, in particular on the inclusion of the results of archeology and settlement geography, of which several in-depth studies bear testimony. In the foreground of his interest were the medieval formation of rule, its structure and change under the respective specific local and regional conditions, the foundations of royal rule, here not least the imperial castles and royal palaces, rural conditions, the urban constitutional and social history, but also aspects of monasticism Economic history, the development of the country, the aristocratic way of life and everyday culture.

Professor at the Philipps University of Marburg

In addition to his duties as director of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and his research activities, academic teaching was another central area of his work. Fred Schwind taught almost without interruption from the winter semester 1969/70 to 1997 at the Philipps University of Marburg and offered exercises in regional history as well as advanced and advanced seminars on medieval history. Following the example of his teacher Walter Schlesinger, he focused on intensive source work and sought to deepen and expand the insights gained here on numerous excursions through direct observation on site. The Philipps University of Marburg recognized his services to academic teaching by awarding him an honorary professorship in January 1980.

Providing historical knowledge to the interested public

Another area in which Fred Schwind was very interested was the communication of his research results to the public interested in history and local history. He took this task very seriously and developed a wide range of lecturing activities in the country. With great dedication, he succeeded in making his listeners in history associations, at anniversaries or other public events clearly understandable on a scientific basis, familiarizing them with the past of their homeland and giving them deeper historical insights.

He has accepted many invitations to give lectures and, not least, in this way has made a significant contribution to the increased awareness of Hessian regional historical research in the state itself and to the regional historical culture in Hesse.

Publications (examples)

Monographs

The Landvogtei in the Wetterau. Studies on the rule and politics of the Hohenstaufen and late medieval kings (writings of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies, Vol. 35). Marburg 1972. (also Phil. Diss. Frankfurt / Main 1966).

Activity as editor and editor

Saint Elisabeth. Princess, servant, saint: essays, documentation, catalog. Exhibition on the 750th anniversary of the death of St. Elisabeth, ed. v. of the Philipps University of Marburg in conjunction with the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies. Sigmaringen, 1981.
Homberg at the Ohm. An Upper Hessian city from its beginnings to the present (1234–1984. Festschrift for the 750th return of Homberg's first mention as a city). Sigmaringen, 1984.
Historical atlas of Hessen. Text and explanatory volume, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies. Marburg 1984.

Articles in magazines and compilations

Status, problems and tasks of the regional history of the Middle Ages in Hesse and in the Rhine-Main area. In: Rheinische Vierteljahrsblätter 34, 1970, pp. 88–110.
On the state order of the Wetterau from Rudolf von Habsburg to Karl IV. In: The German territorial state in the 14th century. Edited by Hans Patze, Vol. 2 (Lectures and Research 14). Sigmaringen 1971, pp. 199-228.
Fritzlar at the time of Boniface and his students. In: Fritzlar in the Middle Ages. Commemorative publication for the 1250th anniversary. Edited by Magistrate of the city of Fritzlar in connection with the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies, Marburg. Fritzlar 1974, pp. 69-88.

Contributions to atlases and reference works

Historical atlas of Hessen. Justified and prepared by Edmund E. Stengel, arr. v. Friedrich Uhlhorn, Lief. 12/3, Marburg 1978, map 34 A: Frankfurt from the early Middle Ages to the middle of the 17th century. 1: 5,000 (edited together with Marianne Schalles-Fischer).
Dictionnaire d'Histoire et de Gèographie ecclèsiastiques. Sous la direction de R (oger) Aubert, article Fritzlar, l'abbaye (tom. 19, 1981), col. 120-123.
Major work of historiography. Edited by Volker Reinhardt (Kröner's pocket edition 435). Stuttgart 1997, article: Tilemann Elhen von Wolfhagen, Limburger Chronik, pp. 163–166.

Reports on scientific endeavors / literature reports

Reports on the activities of the Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies in Marburg for the years 1967/68 to 1990. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte 18–40, 1968–1990.
Persistence and change in settlement areas: Report on the 2nd workshop of the working group for genetic settlement research in Central Europe from June 19 to 21 in Münster. In: Zeitschrift für Archäologie des Mittelalters 4, 1976, pp. 83-100.
Bibliography on the archeology of the Middle Ages in Hesse 1945–1975. In: Ibid., Pp. 131–179 (together with Christa Bär-Palmié).

Obituaries

Friedrich Uhlhorn †. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte Vol. 28, 1978, pp. IX-XI.
Karl E. Demandt †. In: Ibid. Vol. 40, 1990, pp. XV-XVI.

literature

Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann (ed.): Castle, village, monastery, city. Contributions to the Hessian state history and to the medieval constitutional history. Selected essays by Fred Schwind, commemorative for his 70th birthday . Investigations and materials on constitutional and regional history, Vol. 17, Marburg 1999 (pp. 579–585 Bibliography Fred Schwind).
Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte Vol. 54 (2004), pp. XV-XVIII.
Aloys Schwersmann: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Fred Schwind. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies Vol. 110 (2005), pp. XIII-XIV.

Web links

Fred Schwind's publications in the Opac of the Regesta Imperii

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XVIII.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Schwersmann, Aloys: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Fred Schwind. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, ed. v. Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies Kassel, vol. 110 (2005), p. XIII.
↑ Fred Schwind: Frankfurt from the early Middle Ages to the middle of the 17th century, in: Hessisches Landesamt für geschichtliche Landeskunde (Hrsg.): Geschichtlicher Atlas von Hessen, text and explanatory volume, Sigmaringen 1984.
↑ Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XV.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XVI.
↑ Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, vol. 54 (2004), p. XVII.
↑ ^a ^b Schwersmann, Aloys: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Fred Schwind. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, ed. v. Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies Kassel, vol. 110 (2005), p. XIV.
↑ Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XXI.

personal data
SURNAME	Schwind, Fred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German historian
DATE OF BIRTH	March 3, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH	Bad Vilbel
DATE OF DEATH	April 18, 2004
Place of death	Marburg

[LSH-1] Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XVIII.

[LHH-2] Schwersmann, Aloys: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Fred Schwind. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, ed. v. Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies Kassel, vol. 110 (2005), p. XIII.

[3] Fred Schwind: Frankfurt from the early Middle Ages to the middle of the 17th century, in: Hessisches Landesamt für geschichtliche Landeskunde (Hrsg.): Geschichtlicher Atlas von Hessen, text and explanatory volume, Sigmaringen 1984.

[4] Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XV.

[LIH-5] Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XVI.

[6] Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, vol. 54 (2004), p. XVII.

[LEH-7] Schwersmann, Aloys: In memoriam Prof. Dr. Fred Schwind. In: Journal of the Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies, ed. v. Association for Hessian History and Regional Studies Kassel, vol. 110 (2005), p. XIV.

[8] Ursula Braasch-Schwersmann: Fred Schwind. In: Hessisches Jahrbuch für Landesgeschichte, ed. v. Hessian State Office for Historical Regional Studies and the Working Group of the Historical Commissions in Darmstadt, Frankfurt, Marburg and Wiesbaden, Vol. 54 (2004), p. XXI.