Georg Mayer (Rector)

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Georg Mayer during the ceremony for the renaming of the University of Leipzig to the Karl Marx University of Leipzig (1953)

Georg Mayer (born December 26, 1892 in Horb am Neckar , † June 21, 1973 in Leipzig ) was a German economist and long-time rector of the University of Leipzig .

Life

Georg Mayer studied from 1911 to 1921 (interrupted by military service from 1914 to 1918) at the universities of Tübingen , Halle , Würzburg and Gießen, modern philology, economics, political science and law . At his study locations he joined the fraternities in the ADB Palatia Tübingen (1911) and Arminia Gießen (1919). As a student he was known by the nickname Saber-Mayer because of his fencing skills .

Until 1933 he worked at the University of Giessen, where he was awarded a Dr. rer. pole. his doctorate was in 1928 with the work of the free trade doctrine in Germany habilitation and then as a lecturer worked. In 1933 Mayer was dismissed for political reasons. He then worked in various positions in Munich and Berlin . Since 1941 he was a military officer. After returning from captivity, he worked as a scientific advisor to the state government of Hesse .

On October 1, 1947, Mayer was appointed professor with a chair for world economics at the University of Leipzig . Here he became a member of the SED in 1948 . In 1948 he became director of the World Economic Institute at Leipzig University and prorector of the university, and in 1950 he became rector . He held this office until his retirement on September 1, 1964.

From 1950 to 1967 Mayer was a member of the People's Chamber of the GDR. He was also chairman of the Rectors' Conference of the GDR from 1956 to 1963 and president of the German-French Society of the GDR from 1962 to 1964.

Georg Mayer is buried in the honorary grove of the Leipzig South Cemetery.

Honors

  • Patriotic Order of Merit of the GDR (1957 and 1959)
  • Gold medal for the Patriotic Order of Merit (1968)
  • Karl Marx Order of the GDR
  • Dr. hc mult. of the University of Leipzig (since December 26, 1962: Dr. vet.med. hc, since January 10, 1968: Dr. rer. oec. hc)

Trivia

Georg Mayer was portrayed in 1971 by the Leipzig painter Heinz Wagner . Wagner initially made the picture “on his own account” and thus initiated a series of portraits of the rectors, which today are among the art treasures of the University of Leipzig. Wagner himself portrayed the rectors Julius Lips , Lothar Rathmann , Hans-Georg Gadamer and Cornelius Weiss .

Georg Mayer is also in the picture working class and intelligentsia of Werner Tübke to see.

Georg Mayer was also portrayed by the Dölitz painter Erich Otto. It showed Prof. Georg Mayer together with a bust of Karl Marx and was exposed to partisan criticism that the head of the rector was shown above that of Marx in the depiction. Until 1989/90 the picture hung in the entrance of the rectorate in the Leipziger Ritterstrasse, since then the picture is no longer found.

Georg Mayer was mostly called Schorsch by his colleagues . In social gatherings, such as those that regularly took place in the University's House of Scientists and at the regulars' table in the Leipzig coffee tree , he had no objection to students addressing him in this respectful way.

literature

  • Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume I: Politicians. Volume 8: Supplement L – Z. Winter, Heidelberg 2014, ISBN 978-3-8253-6051-1 , pp. 69-72.
  • Georg Mayer, Wolfgang Heinke: The way to the socialist university. Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1958. (Leipziger Universitätsreden, NF, No. 1).
  • Walter Ulbricht, Georg Mayer: Origin and perspectives of the socialist university. Speeches at the ceremony of the Academic Senate for the 550th anniversary of Karl Marx University on October 12, 1959. Verlag Enzyklopädie, Leipzig 1959. (Leipziger Universitätsreden, NF, no.11).
  • Elmar Faber , Rudolf Gehrke, Heinz Thiemig (eds.): Science from national responsibility. Contributions to the national cultural model of the German Democratic Republic in the field of science. Cordially dedicated to the rector of the Karl Marx University Leipzig, Georg Mayer, on his 70th birthday. Karl Marx University, Leipzig 1963.
  • In memoriam Georg Mayer. Karl Marx University, Leipzig 1974. (Leipziger Universitätsreden, NF, no. 35). Contains: Hans-Joachim Böhme : Commemorative speech in the main chapel of the Leipzig South Cemetery. and Gerhard Winkler: Commemorative speech at the funeral ceremony of Karl Marx University in the Leipziger Schauspielhaus.
  • Memories of Georg Mayer. Memories from contemporaries and anecdotes about Georg Mayer. Offizin Andersen Nexö Leipzig , 1984. (miniature book) With contributions a. a. by Walter Markov , Kurt Schwabe , Manfred von Ardenne , Anton Arland , Max Burghardt , Horst Kunze , Dietmar Keller .
  • Jan Wielgohs:  Mayer, Georg . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • Leipzig University Archives, Personal File PA 3649 (194 sheets)

Web links

Commons : Georg Mayer  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gernot Schäfer: The forgotten fraternity: Arminia Giessen and the ADB. (PDF; 6.2 MB) Lecture. P. 23 ff. , Accessed on February 16, 2020 .
  2. ↑ New picture in the Rector Portraits Gallery. Press release 1999/057 from the University of Leipzig. October 1, 1999, archived from the original on January 6, 2013 ; accessed on February 16, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Friedrich Dieckmann: What to do with the monster? , Berliner Zeitung , May 19, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Mayer, Georg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German economist, university professor and politician (SED), MdV
DATE OF BIRTH December 26, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Horb am Neckar
DATE OF DEATH June 21, 1973
Place of death Leipzig