Friedrich J. Lucas

Friedrich J. Lucas (after 1960)
(picture archive of the University Library / Archive Gießen)

Friedrich J. (Jakob) Lucas (born May 10, 1927 in Schwelm , Westphalia; † November 16, 1974 in Königstein im Taunus ) was a German historian and history teacher . In 1961 he was the first historian in the Federal Republic to be appointed to a professorship for history didactics (didactics of history and social studies) at the University of Giessen . Lucas contributed significantly to the theoretical foundation of history didactics as an independent scientific discipline and had a school-building role. He also developed the concept of the history textbook “People in Their Time”, which was groundbreaking at the time and which Lucas published from 1964 onwards at Ernst Klett Verlag , Stuttgart.

life and work

Friedrich J. Lucas was born in Schwelm near Wuppertal in 1927 as the son of Heinrich A. Lucas. From spring 1937 he attended the Hindenburg-Realgymnasium in Elberfeld near Wuppertal, which Lucas left with a secondary school diploma in autumn 1944. As was customary at the time, he completed a short initial military training with the Reich Labor Service (RAD). Then he became a soldier in the Wehrmacht and in 1945 was still deployed in East Upper Silesia , from where he was able to make his way to the west of defeated Germany. He became a British prisoner of war.

In contrast to the historian Rolf Schörken of the same age , who was seriously injured while defending their hometown Wuppertal, Lucas survived the war unscathed. After his release from captivity, Lucas made up for the missing half year of school up to the Abitur, which he passed in the spring of 1946 in Wuppertal. His father Heinrich A. Lucas had been a reserve officer. As a Soviet prisoner of war Henry Lucas came in the Gulag - Forced Vorkutlag killed in northern Russia. Although Friedrich Lucas spoke very little about his experiences during the Nazi era, the years of the National Socialist dictatorship were evidently formative and contributed significantly to his demand to democratize history teaching.

In autumn 1946, after completing a crash course, Lucas became a school helper - a kind of substitute teacher - at a Wuppertal elementary school. In the winter semester of 1947/48 he began studying elementary school teaching at the Pedagogical Academy in Essen , which Lucas completed after two years with the first state examination. After his preparatory service, he passed the second state examination in 1952 and continued to work as a primary school teacher.

Since September 1953, Lucas was on leave from school to participate in a six-month "Teacher Training Program" in the United States of America. During this visit he studied for three months at Washington State College , Pullman . After returning from the USA, Lucas completed a second degree in history and English studies for the grammar school teaching post at the University of Bonn in the summer semester of 1954 , which he completed in July 1958. A year later, Lucas received his doctorate with a contemporary history dissertation on "Hindenburg as Reich President" - more precisely: on Hindenburg's contribution to Hitler's rise - at the University of Bonn. His doctoral supervisor was the historian Max Braubach .

After completing his preparatory service, Lucas passed his second state examination in October 1959 and taught at high schools in Bonn and Bad Godesberg. In November 1960, Lucas finally left school. After he briefly as a lecturer at the Pedagogical Institute Weilburg had worked, Lucas was in January 1961 Extraordinary Professor of "Teaching of civics and history, especially the 20th Century" at the College of Education at the University of Giessen appointed. Since the end of 1961, Lucas, together with the political didactic specialist Wolfgang Hilligen, has led the seminar for didactics of history and social studies at the HfE, which later became part of the Justus Liebig University as a department for educational sciences. In August 1967, the Hessian minister of education, Ernst Schütte, appointed Lucas full professor for history didactics and social studies. The appointment committee had drawn up a so-called Unico loco list, partly because of the applicant's qualifications, which was proven not least by his textbook work, and partly because of “the difficulty of finding suitable scholars for a chair in history didactics”. This was only institutionalized on a broader basis at West German universities in the next decade.

Even during his second degree at the University of Bonn, Lucas was in contact with a team of authors from Ernst Klett Verlag, led by Gunter Thiele, editor-in-chief, who wanted to bring a new history textbook to the market for secondary schools. The conception of the multi-volume work, which finally appeared from 1964, and its title "People in Their Time" were largely due to Lucas. The teachers were provided with detailed explanations and additions in “Handouts for the Teacher”. In an approval report obtained from the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Culture, the last volume, mainly written by Lucas ("In our time", 1966), was recognized as " by far the best teaching work on the history of the 20th century " and its introduction as a compulsory book for the 6th Secondary school classes recommended. Because of the sales success of the textbook, Klett Verlag also published a four-volume edition for high schools from 1968 onwards. The planned edition for secondary schools, which Lucas was very interested in, did not materialize because of his untimely death.

Friedrich Lucas was the founder and editor of the academic book series “Notes and Arguments on Historical and Political Education” published by Klett Verlag, which began in 1972 with a collection of articles on history teaching and history didactics. It was later continued by the political scientist Paul Ackermann and the history educator Rolf Schörken . The series made a name for itself as a discussion forum for current problems in history didactics. In volume 9 of this series, Friedrich J. Lucas himself published the last work of the French historian and resistance fighter Marc Bloch (shot in 1944) for the first time in German translation: “Apology of history or the profession of the historian”, 1974. This book can be found the definition: " History is the science of man in time ". In the introduction, Lucas also gave information about the school of progressive structural historians in France, who named themselves after the specialist journal " Annales ".

Lucas was a sought-after speaker and section head, for example at a conference from which in 1973 the forerunner of the professional association “ Conference for History Didactics ” emerged.

Since 1957 Lucas was with Hilde Lucas, geb. Nolden, married. They had two children.

During a religious education conference in Königsstein , Hesse , Friedrich Lucas died of a nocturnal heart attack in November 1974. He was 47 years old.

History didactic position

In 1966, Friedrich J. Lucas warned against the repetition of earlier mistakes, which he viewed as an inevitable consequence of the inadequate historical reappraisal of National Socialism. Instead of working out the fundamental openness of history to the future, practical history lessons practice "adapting to the existing". Instead, every present must account for itself in the medium of judging the past in order to be able to shape the future in a way that is saturated with experience and guided by reason. Therefore, “ the reduction of historical consciousness to the immediate aftermath […] should not remain mere regret among historians, but must actively correct itself in the openness of historical orientation. "

In these few sentences, Lucas' historical didactic positions are pointedly summarized. History lessons must convey knowledge about human coexistence in times of change, relate this to current problems in order to broaden the experience of the present through comparisons with earlier attempts at solutions, and ultimately develop qualifications for coping with current life situations. For Lucas, history was inextricably linked to the present and future tasks of society.

On the other hand, he distinguished himself from a shortened understanding of the reference to the present by pointing with the historians of the French Annales School to historical structures of long duration and delimiting the intrinsic logic of the school subject history from political science. Ultimately, he shared the conviction of many contemporary historians that the structural history of the “technical-industrial age” must be researched and communicated through teaching. The head of German structural historiography, Werner Conze , praised “People in their Time” at the end of 1967 as “very well done” and “very didactically and visually remarkable”.

Lucas was ahead of his time. He anticipated the later didactic discussion of the term “ historical awareness ” in essential respects, emphasized the importance of problem orientation in historical learning and developed the basics of the reference to the present in history lessons. He was also one of the first German historians to draw attention to the importance of language in historical learning, here with a special focus on the school history book.

The lecture “Outline of History Didactics”, which Lucas gave several times since 1964 - initially under the title “General Didactics and Methodology of History Lessons” - was not published during his lifetime. This contributed to the fact that Lucas' services to German history didactics were largely forgotten.

His academic students were Ursula AJ Becher , Klaus Bergmann , Ulrich Mayer and Hans-Jürgen Pandel .

Fonts (selection)

• Hindenburg as President of the Reich, in: Bonner historical research, Volume 14, Bonn 1959.
• People in their time. History for secondary schools, conception: Friedrich J. Lucas with the assistance of Wolfgang Hilligen, Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1964.
  • Vol. 1 by secondary school teacher Willy Kühn: Tales from history (for propaedeutic history lessons) , Stuttgart, 1964
  • Vol. 2 In antiquity . By Richard Freyh and realteacher Joachim Volkmer, Stuttgart, 1965
  • Vol. 3 In the Middle Ages . By Wolfgang Hug and Erhard Rumpf, Stuttgart, 1966
  • Vol. 4 In the early modern period . By Joist Grolle, Erhard Rumpf, Stuttgart, 1966
  • Vol. 5 In the previous century . By Gunter Thiele, Erhard Rumpf, Joist Grolle, Fredrich J. Lucas, Stuttgart, 1967
  • Vol. 6 In our time . By Friedrich J. Lucas, Heinrich Bodensieck, Erhard Rumpf, Stuttgart, 1966.
• People in their time , 2nd edition, 4 volumes: Concept of the complete works: Friedrich J. Lucas, with the participation of Wolfgang Hilligen, 1968/1969:
  • Vol. 1 In antiquity and the early Middle Ages . By Richard Feyh †, Wolfgang Hilligen, Friedrich Jahr, Siemer Oppermann, Erhard Rumpf, Joachim Volkmer, Helmut G. Walter, Stuttgart
  • Vol. 2 In the Middle Ages and Modern Times . By Joist Grolle, Erhard Rumpf, HG. Walther, Stuttgart, 1968
  • Vol. 3 In the previous century . By Joist Grolle, Erhard Rumpf, Gunter Thiele, Stuttgart, 1969
  • Vol. 4 In our time . By Friedrich J. Lucas, Heinrich Bodensieck, Erhard Rumpf, Gunter Thiele, Stuttgart, 1975.
• People in their time , revised and expanded edition B, 4 vols. With the same authors (1978–1982).
• First German translation by: Marc Bloch: Apologie der Geschichte or Der Beruf des Historikers , Stuttgart 1974.
• History as a committed science. On the theory of historical didactics , ed. v. Ursula AJ Becher / Klaus Bergmann / Ulrich Mayer / Hans-Jürgen Pandel / Walter Petzinger, (comments and arguments on historical and political education), Stuttgart 1985.

literature

• Ursula AJ Becher among others: The historical location of Friedrich J. Lucas , in: Lucas: History as a committed science (see under writings), pp. 7-15.
• Klaus Bergmann: Funeral speech for Friedrich J. Lucas (1927–1974) on November 22, 1974 , ibid. Pp. 203–206.
• Thomas Sandkühler : Thinking about historical learning. Conversations with history educators born between 1928–1947 , Göttingen 2014. In it, interesting impressions from fellow survivors about the personality of Friedrich J. Lucas.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Introduction by the editors to: Lucas, History as committed science (see literature), p. 15.
   People in their time , history work for Realschulen, 6 volumes. Conception of the complete works: Friedrich J. Lucas, with the assistance of Wolfgang Hilligen, Stuttgart 1964 ff. (See under writings).
   Memories of the collaboration with Lucas at Klett Verlag at Gunter Thiele's: 1945 - After the fall: Captivity in the Soviet Union: Outlook into my post-war period . Norderstedt 2016, ISBN 978-3-7412-6887-8 , pp. 213, 217, 221, 223 . Lucas was also the main author of the contemporary history volume of "People in their time": Vol. 6: In our time . By Friedrich J. Lucas, Heinrich Bodensieck, Erhard Rumpf, Stuttgart 1966.
2. ^ Copied curriculum vitae of Friedrich J. Lucas, University Archives Gießen, appointment files.
3. ↑ Autobiographical notes from Friedrich J. Lucas: Drei acute questions about history lessons , in: History in Science and Teaching (GWU), 21 (1970), pp. 390-406, - reprint in: Friedrich J. Lucas: History as committed science , 1985, (see at Schriften), here p. 21f.
4. ↑ Thomas Sandkühler (Ed.): Thinking about historical learning: Conversations with history didacticians born between 1928–1947. With a documentation for the Historikertag 1976. Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-8353-2544-9 , p. 37-60 ( eblib.com [accessed March 28, 2017]).
5. ↑ See the autobiographical example in: Rolf Schörken: Defeat as a generation experience: Young people after the collapse of Nazi rule . In: Materials on historical youth research . Juventa, Weinheim 2004, ISBN 3-7799-1134-5 .
6. ↑ In his essay: "Three acute questions about history lessons", Lucas FJ reports that his father was sentenced to 25 years in a prison camp on false accusations. See note 4.
7. ↑ See note 4.
8. ^ Friedrich J Lucas: Hindenburg as President of the Reich (=  Bonn historical research . Volume 14 ). 1959, OCLC 312555194 (new edition, Goldbach: Keip, 1995).
9. ↑ Appointment proposal from the Department of Educational Sciences at the University of Giessen for the professorship for didactics of history v. November 24, 1966, p. 1, University Archives Gießen, signature: Appeal files 3rd delivery, box 11.
10. ↑ See Menschen in their time , 1st edition in 6 volumes, Stuttgart (1962).
11. ↑ See: Note 1.
12. ↑ See note 9.
13. ↑ An expanded and revised Edition B of "People in their Time", again with four volumes, appeared 1978–1982.
14. ↑ History lessons without a future? On the status of the discussion of historical didactics in the Federal Republic of Germany , ed. v. Hans Süssmuth, 2 vol., Stuttgart 1972 (= comments and arguments on historical and political education, vol. 1.1–1.2). 25 volumes appeared by 1979. In consecutive numbering; since then the series continued without counting until the late 1980s.
15. ↑ Marc Bloch: Apology of History or the Profession of the Historian , Stuttgart 1974 , ISBN 978-3-423-04438-7 . The original French edition was edited by Lucien Febvre in 1949. Peter Schöttler reissued the book in 2002 on the basis of expanded sources. 3rd edition Stuttgart 2016, ISBN 978-3-608-96114-0 , under the new title: Apology of History or The Profession of the Historian .
16. ↑ Cf. Lucas' forewords to the last volume of "People in their Time": Realschulausgabe Vol. 6 (1966) and Gymnasialausgabe, Vol. 4 (1969).
17. ↑ See note 15.
18. ^ Conze to the first responsible editor at Klett Verlag and later author, Gunter Thiele, December 23, 1967, private property Gunter Thiele.
19. ↑ See note 8.
20. ↑ Friedrich J Lucas: People in their time [main volume] Klett, Stuttgart January 1, 1966.
21. ↑ Marc Bloch, Lucien Febvre: Apology of history or the profession of the historian . Klett-Cotta in Deutsches Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-423-04438-1 .
22. ↑ History as a committed science: on the theory of historical didactics . Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-12-920292-7 .