Friedrich Graef

Gravestone for Fritz Graef in the mill cemetery in Flensburg

Friedrich (Fritz) Karl Wilhelm Graef (born July 14, 1860 in Schlotheim , † July 24, 1936 in Karkeln ) was a German high school teacher and city archivist.

education

Friedrich Graef was a son of the doctor Karl Ernst Albert Graef (* May 2, 1833 in Rudolstadt ; † October 12, 1922 in Frankenhausen) and his wife Ottilie Caroline Wilhelmine Seyfahrt (* October 6, 1836 in Hohenbergen ; † November 25, 1903 in Frankenhausen). After attending the Sondershausen grammar school from 1874 to 1877, he moved to the Vitzthum grammar school in Dresden in 1878 , which he left with the Abitur in 1880. Since he was considered unfit, he did not have to do military service. In 1880/81 he attended the University of Jena, where he studied medicine and natural sciences. He then moved to the University of Munich and studied history there. He also attended lectures on art history with Adolf Furtwängler .

Graef continued his studies in Berlin and belonged to the inner circle of students around Wilhelm Dilthey . He later said that Dilthey was his main teacher. He also heard from Dietrich Schäfer and Classical Philology from Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf . In February 1887 he passed the state examination for higher teaching post. Also in 1887 he did his doctorate with Dietrich Schäfer on "The foundation of Alessandria in Northern Italy".

Since 1885, Graef has been teaching on the recommendation of Dilthey as a private tutor on an estate in Klein Öls . The philosopher Count Paul Yorck von Wartenburg lived here . Since there were only a few vacant apprenticeships available, Graef moved to Stuttgart for a year after completing his doctorate with a family related to von York. There he got to know the artists Leopold Graf von Kalckreuth , Alexander Eckener , Adolf Donndorf and other artists. During this time a lifelong friendship developed with Hans Peter Feddersen .

At the end of October 1888, Graef began his legal clerkship at his former school in Dresden. He completed training in German, history, geography, French, Latin and gymnastics. He then worked at a secondary school in Bonn as a scientific assistant teacher. Graef belonged to the Academic Gymnastics Association and attended a six-month course for gymnastics teachers in Berlin, exempt from teaching. Since he did not enjoy working in Bochum, he took on an apprenticeship at a secondary school in Flensburg in 1893, where his younger brother already had an apprenticeship.

Work as a teacher in Flensburg

Graef certainly changed his position because of his family's ties to Schleswig-Holstein. Two of his father's brothers fought in the Schleswig-Holstein uprising . He himself wanted to work in the border area of Germany and Denmark beyond pure teaching.

Graef remained a teacher at the Flensburg secondary school until his retirement in 1925. He mostly taught German, history and gymnastics. He was considered a very committed teacher with an exceptionally extensive knowledge. As a pedagogue, he knew how to credibly convey to his students the values of German idealism from whose tradition he came. Following the example of his teacher Dilthey, he had an Art Nouveau house built where active and former students could meet.

Graef quickly developed into a central figure in Flensburg's cultural life. In 1905 he organized the first Schiller celebration in the city . He headed the German Language Association and the "Association of History Teachers". He helped initiate the Schleswig-Holstein University Society, which was founded in 1918. From 1921 to 1933 he headed the local Flensburg branch of the society. Shortly after moving to Flensburg, he joined the local men's gymnastics club and chaired it from 1895 to 1912.

Where possible, Graef taught history in Schleswig-Holstein's history. Normally, the history of Brandenburg and Prussia was the focus of lessons at that time. In 1927 he published two source booklets on the history of Schleswig-Holstein, which could be used for teaching.

Act as an archivist

In the year of retirement, Graef took over the maintenance of the city archives on behalf of the city, the holdings of which had been in the school office until then. Graef made it possible for the general public to have access to the so-called "Old Archive", which reached back to 1864, to archived manuscripts and the so-called Flensburgensien until 1864. In addition, he created finding aids and finding aids for the first time and evaluated archive materials for work on the history of the city. Together with Fritz Fuglsang , the director of the Museum of Applied Arts , he founded the Society for Flensburg City History in 1928 and wrote its first contribution on the "History of the City Archives".

Graef quickly compiled the historical holdings of the archive and the historical collections of the Flensburg city archive. Together with the newly founded Association for the History of the City of Flensburg, he provided the citizens with increasing knowledge about the history of the city. The institutions also found supraregional recognition. Together with the Kiel city archive, he also took care of the archive in fishing on a voluntary basis .

During his time as archivist, Graef wrote several essays on border politics and history. In 1926 he published the "History of the Holy Spirit Church and the Danish Congregation in Flensburg". His last work on Jews in Flensburg appeared after his death in 1941. This work differed significantly from other works on this subject that appeared at the time. German and Danish experts judged the works to be of high quality.

Graef, who had been appointed professor in 1905, died unexpectedly during a hike in East Prussia.

family

Graef married Elisabeth Adelheid Anastasia Rump on December 28, 1904 in Osnabrück (born March 21, 1855 in Fürstenau ; † April 22, 1981 in Flensburg ). Her father August Rump (1841–1920) worked as a pharmacist in Osnabrück and was married to Marie Wilhelmine, née Seippel (1851–1916), who came from Schnathorst . The Graef couple had two daughters and two sons.

literature

Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . In: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 139-142.

Individual evidence

^ Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 139-140.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 140.
^ Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 140-141.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 141.
^ Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 139.

personal data
SURNAME	Graef, Friedrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Graef, Friedrich Karl Wilhelm (full name); Graef, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German high school teacher and city archivist
DATE OF BIRTH	July 14, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH	Schlotheim
DATE OF DEATH	July 24, 1936
Place of death	Karkeln

[1] Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 139-140.

[:0-2] Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 140.

[3] Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, pp. 140-141.

[:1-4] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 141.

[5] Hans-Friedrich Schütt: Graef, Friedrich (Fritz) . in: Biographical Lexicon for Schleswig-Holstein and Lübeck . Volume 10. Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1994, p. 139.