Gerda Kruger

This article deals with the historian, librarian and lawyer Gerda Krüger (1900–1979). For the lawyer (1910–2000) see Gerda Krüger-Nieland .

Gerda Krüger (born April 3, 1900 in Hanover , † May 24, 1979 in Starnberg ) was a German historian , librarian and legal scholar .

Gerda Krüger was the daughter of the Chief Postal Secretary Adolf Krüger. She had a rather unsteady school education and attended schools in Braunschweig , Hildesheim , Wernigerode and Celle until she finally passed her Abitur in 1919 after private preparation at the Städtisches Realgymnasium Hannover . In the same year she began studying Catholic theology , law , philosophy and history as well as the oriental languages Akkadian , Egyptian , Hebrew , Arabic and Turkish, initially at the University of Münster , then in Munich and Berlin . In 1923 the doctorate to Dr. phil. with the work The Münster Archdeacon Friesland in its origin and its legal historical development up to the end of the Middle Ages . In 1925 she passed the first state examination for teaching at secondary schools , and in 1928 the library specialist examination.

From 1926 Krüger worked as a librarian in Marburg , Münster , Königsberg and finally as the successor to the dismissed Alfred Hessel as a librarian at the University Library in Göttingen . In 1931/32 she continued her studies. In 1934 she passed the first state examination in law . In 1937 she submitted her habilitation thesis The Legal Status of the Pre-Constantinian Churches , the standard work was reprinted several times until the 1960s. The exam in the context of the habilitation colloquium was organized by the ancient historian Ulrich Kahrstedt , who was loyal to the regime , while Krüger was not considered politically reliable due to her research on early Christianity , Judaism and canon law . In addition, the Nazi ideology did not provide for women to complete their habilitation. During the exam, Kahrstedt made sure that Krüger could not pass it in any case. Had it passed, the venia legendi would definitely have been denied as a woman . So she withdrew the habilitation application under pressure. The doctorate to Dr. jur. nevertheless reached Krüger in 1939.

In 1940, after the compulsory retirement, she changed from her position as a librarian at the Göttingen university library as a legal assistant to a lawyer in Munich. In 1944 she passed the second state examination in law . After the end of the Nazi dictatorship, Krüger applied for retrospective recognition of the habilitation process in 1945, which Kahrstedt again thwarted. In 1946 she received the title of Dr. phil. habil. , The license to teach was still withheld. In 1948 she was admitted to the Munich bar. In 1952, Krüger applied for redress. This was initially rejected, but Krüger continued to operate up to the Lüneburg Higher Administrative Court , where it finally won in 1962.

Fonts

• The Münster archdeaconate Friesland in its origin and its legal historical development up to the end of the Middle Ages. (= Historical accounts and sources 6), F. Borgmeyer, Hildesheim 1925 (new edition: Schippers, Amsterdam 1962)
• The legal status of the pre-Constantine churches. (= Canon law treatises, issue 115/116), Enke, Stuttgart 1935 (new editions: Schippers, Amsterdam 1961; Rodopi, Amsterdam 1969)