Günther Gieraths

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Günther Gieraths (born September 28, 1898 in Jüterbog , † August 2, 1967 in Potsdam ) was a German librarian and military historian .

Life

Gieraths grew up in Gnesen and, when the war broke out in 1914 , aspired to become an officer. Due to a serious injury in the first days of the war, which led to the amputation of a leg in 1916 and which also impaired him for life, he was unable to achieve his first professional goal immediately.

After the hospital had left, he studied pharmacy and earned 1924 the approval for pharmacists . At the same time he did his doctorate at Hasenclever with the dissertation on Benjamin Raule for Dr. phil. With the examination for the higher library service in 1928 he laid the foundation stone for his further career as well as for his passion , the military historical research.

Until 1936 he was employed at the University Library in Halle and the Prussian State Library in Berlin . Also in 1928, in direct connection with these positions, he was commissioned to manage the Wroclaw military district library. From 1936 until the end of the Second World War in May 1945 he was director of the Heeresbücherei Berlin. As a member of the military, he advanced in this position to colonel (since November 1, 1943).

During this time he is said to have committed himself to the ethos of the Prussian army , without sparing himself or his position, for those around him who appeared to be threatened or endangered by the National Socialists . On the other hand, he was not only a participant in the regime, but also a perpetrator. He is held responsible for the looting of the library of the Prague Military Academy.

After the war, he did not take up a public employment relationship, but made his living again as a pharmacist, but devoted himself mainly to his military-historical research. Twenty years of research resulted in his much-noticed and cited main work, The Combat Operations of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army.

Gieraths was a close friend of Hans Herzfeld and a member of the Historical Commission in Berlin .

Works

  • Benjamin Raule, his life and especially his economic views. University of Halle 1924 (dissertation)
  • The pharmacy "zum Blaue Hirsch" in Halle an der Saale. In: Thuringian-Saxon magazine for history and art. Volume 16, Issue 1, Halle 1927, pp. 95-102
  • On the history of the pharmacy in Zahna. In: Thuringian-Saxon magazine for history and art. Volume 17, Issue 1, Halle 1928, pp. 59–66
  • History of the Res. Infantry Regiment No. 210 and its border guard formations (1914–1920). Stalling, Oldenburg 1928
  • Foreword to Gerhard Siegert's Until the Bitter End. Four years of trench warfare. Koehler, Leipzig 1930
  • Friderician Military Libraries. In: Communications from the German Army Library. Volume 11, 1930, pp. 37-40, 69-72; Volume 12, 1931, pp. 1-4
  • Breslau as garrison and fortress 1241–1941. Schulz, Hamburg 1961
  • The fighting of the Brandenburg-Prussian Army 1626–1807. A source manual . Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1964 ( digitized on Google Books )

literature

  • Hans Herzfeld : Günther Gieraths †. In: Yearbook for the history of Central and Eastern Germany. Volume 16/17, Walter de Gruyter , Berlin 1968, pp. 720-721

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gieraths, Günther in the Lost Art Internet Database
  2. ^ Gerhard Krause , Gerhard Müller : Theologische Realenzyklopädie . Volume 20, Walter de Gruyter , Berlin 1990, p. 152f.
personal data
SURNAME Gieraths, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German librarian and military historian
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Jueterbog
DATE OF DEATH 2nd August 1967
Place of death Potsdam