Friedrich-Wilhelm Wentzlaff-Eggebert

Friedrich-Wilhelm Wentzlaff Eggebert (* 16th June 1905 in Freist , Stolp ; † 12. April 1999 in Wasserburg ) was a German specialist in German and university teachers .

Friedrich-Wilhelm Wentzlaff-Eggebert. Signature 1965

Life

Wentzlaff-Eggebert was born the seventh of nine children of a Protestant pastor in Pomerania. After attending the Marienstift high school in Stettin and graduating from high school in 1925, he studied German at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München . He was a fellow of studienstiftung and pupil of Julius Petersen . During his studies he met Richard Alewyn , Benno von Wiese , Erich Trunz , Wolfgang Kayser and Fritz Martini .

Wentzlaff-Eggebert received his doctorate in Berlin in 1931 . From 1932 he worked in the editorial department of the Deutsche Literaturzeitung for Critique of International Science and was its independent editor from 1934 to 1944. Following his habilitation in 1938, he taught as a private lecturer at the University of Berlin and from 1941 to 1944 as a full professor at the Reich University of Strasbourg . Then he was seconded to the University of Tübingen until the summer of 1945.

After the Second World War , Wentzlaff-Eggebert initially fell among those politically burdened during the Nazi era and was relieved of his offices. That is why he worked from 1945 to 1955 as a grammar school teacher for Latin and German at the two grammar schools in Lindau . In 1950 he became an adjunct professor at the University of Munich, in 1955 Professor of German Philology and Director of the German Institute at the University of Mainz . After his retirement in 1973, he took on a teaching position at the University of Konstanz .

Relationship to National Socialism

In May 1933, Wentzlaff-Eggebert was registered as a party candidate for the NSDAP . He was block leader in his place of residence Berlin-Lichterfelde , a member of the National Socialist German Lecturers' Association , the National Socialist People's Welfare , the Reich Air Protection Association , the NS Reich Warrior Association and the Reich Chamber of Culture . In 1947 Wentzlaff-Eggebert was classified as politically polluted. This judgment was overturned in the appeal proceedings. The Spruchkammer acknowledged that he did not hold any office in the Nazi organizations, that no National Socialist influences were discernible in his teaching or academic work, and that the line followed by Wentzlaff-Eggebert to maintain objective science in the Deutsche Literaturzeitung is part of the efforts and aims of National Socialism had been contrary. He maintained this line against instructions to the contrary, threats and accusations and in this way, despite personal disadvantages, contributed significantly to maintaining at least some of the trust abroad in German science.

Works (selection)

• The problem of death in 17th century German poetry. Mayer & Müller, Leipzig 1931.
• Sacrifice and fate in Hölderlin's “Hyperion” and “Empedocles”. Hüneburg, Strasbourg 1943.
• The seal of the Lake Constance area. Thorbecke, Lindau 1949.
• Medieval crusade poetry. Studies of their historical and poetic reality. De Gruyter, Berlin 1960.
• The Court Day of Jesus Christ 1188 in Mainz. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1962.
• Schiller's way to Goethe. 2nd, revised and expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 1963.
• Poetry and language of the young Gryphius. Overcoming the Latin tradition and developing towards the German style. 2nd, greatly expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 1966.
• German mysticism between the Middle Ages and modern times. Unity and change in their manifestations. 3rd, expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 1969.
• Instruction and proclamation. Writings on German literature from the Middle Ages to modern times. De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1975.
• The triumphant and the defeated death in the art of words and images of the baroque. De Gruyter, Berlin 1975.
• Andreas Gryphius 1616 - 1664. Scientific Book Society, Wiesbaden: 1983.

literature

• Rolf-Ulrich Kunze: The German National Academic Foundation since 1925. On the history of the promotion of gifted children in Germany (= Edition Education and Science. 8.) Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2001.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wentzlaff-Eggebert, Friedrich-Wilhelm 1905– in the bibliographic database WorldCat
• Wentzlaff-Eggebert, Friedrich Wilhelm. Culture portal west-east

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Christa Hempel-Küter: German studies between 1925 and 1955, studies on the world of science using the example of Hans Pyritz. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2000, p. 96.
2. ↑ Rolf-Ulrich Kunze: The German Academic Scholarship Foundation since 1925. On the history of the promotion of gifted students in Germany (= Edition Education and Science. 8.) Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2001, p. 259.
3. ^ Judgment of the investigative committee in the Lindau district, published in the official gazette there, no.15 of February 25, 1947.
4. ^ Spruchkammer VI of the State Commissariat for the pol. Purge / Land Württemberg-Hohenzollern, meeting on November 17, 1948 in Lindau. The annulment of the 1947 judgment and discharge of Wentzlaff-Eggebert became legally binding on April 4, 1949.