Gustav Wais

Gustav Wais (born August 11, 1883 in Stuttgart , † June 26, 1961 ) was a German journalist , monument conservator and local history researcher .

Career

Gustav Wais worked for 33 years in Stuttgart as an editor for the "Stuttgarter Morgenpost" and the Neue Tagblatt as well as the editor of the "Württembergische Pressekorrespondenz" and as head of the Telegraphen-Union Stuttgart. In 1936 the National Socialists banned him from his profession because of his friendship with the militant Württemberg regional bishop Theophil Wurm . Despite the writing ban, some seemingly innocuous articles appeared, for example the Swabian Mercury published its forays into the history of the country in its Sunday supplement.

As a result of his professional ban in 1936, Gustav Wais devoted himself to an old hobby, the architectural and urban history of Stuttgart, and only five years later he brought a standard work on Old Stuttgart. The oldest buildings, views and city maps up to 1800 .

After the end of the Second World War , Gustav Wais was appointed chairman of the municipal commission for the preservation of buildings and art monuments by Lord Mayor Arnulf Klett and the then Minister of Culture Theodor Heuss appointed him director of the Württemberg State Office for Monument Preservation . He held this position until he reached the age limit in 1948. In retirement he devoted himself more to writing, almost every year a standard work on the history of Stuttgart was published. When he died in 1961, Lord Mayor Arnulf Klett said in his funeral speech: "He was a good citizen of Stuttgart".

Honors

• Appointment as professor
• 1952: Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany

Act

For the history of the city of Stuttgart, the books about the historical city of Stuttgart and the city maps and historical photos edited there are of inestimable value. As a monument conservator after the war, he saw his main task in securing destroyed buildings and pushing for their restoration. Together with the main curator Richard Schmidt , he saved numerous architectural monuments from permanent loss.

He made particular contributions to the restoration of the Castle Church in 1946 and the preservation of the Leonhard Church and its crucifixion group in 1947. He personally obtained cement and wood from the military government to secure the choir of the Hospital Church. To rebuild the collegiate church , a reconstruction committee was founded in 1949, which was able to win many private donations. In addition, he campaigned emphatically for the Old Castle , the Old Stone House, the Gustav-Siegle-House , the Hoppenlau Cemetery and the Liederhalle. The establishment of the municipal lapidarium in Mörikestrasse is largely due to him, in which architectural elements of significance from the ruins of destroyed buildings have been erected.

Publications

Books

• Old Stuttgart. The oldest buildings, views and city plans up to 1800; with urban history, architectural history and art history explanations . F. Krais, Stuttgart 1941.
  • New edition. German publishing house, Stuttgart 1954.
• Old Stuttgart buildings in the picture: 640 pictures, including 2 colored ones, with explanations of city history, architectural history and art history . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1951, reprint Weidlich, Frankfurt am Main 1977, ISBN 3-8035-8918-5 .
• Gustav Wais (editor); Adolf Diehl: The Stuttgart collegiate church. With a building history by Adolf Diehl . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1952.
• Stuttgart's art and cultural monuments. 25 pictures with city history, architectural history and art history explanations . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1954.
• The Schiller City of Stuttgart. A representation of the Schiller sites in Stuttgart . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1955.
• Stuttgart in the nineteenth century. 150 pictures with explanations of city history, architectural history and art history . German publishing company, Stuttgart 1955.
• The St. Leonhard Church and the Hospital Church in Stuttgart: a representation of the two Gothic churches with explanations of architectural and art history . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1956.
• Stuttgart before the destruction. 134 pictures with explanations of city history, architectural history and art history . Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1958, 2nd edition 1959.

Essays

See list of essays by Gustav Wais .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ g 1961 .
2. ^ Newspaper article on Gustav Wais: HStA J191 Wais, Gustav

literature

• Hans Walter Bähr: Prof. Gustav Wais, Stuttgart . In: Universitas 1955, pp. 755-757.
• g: chronicler, keeper and keeper. On the 75th birthday of Professor Gustav Wais - Stuttgart has a lot to thank this man . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung 1958, No. 181, p. 12.
• g: collector, city historian and keeper. Gustav Wais, one of the most loyal in Stuttgart, has died - he will live on in his works . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung 1961, No. 144, p. 17.
• Ißler: In memory of Gustav Wais . In: Evangelisches Gemeindeblatt für Württemberg 1961, issue 29, page 4.
• Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 1950 , Berlin 1950.
• Regional treasures: First spring auction at Dr. Fritz Nagel in Stuttgart . In: Artis 1982, p. 37.
• NN: connoisseur and caretaker of old Stuttgart. For Professor Gustav Wais' 70th birthday . In: Württemberger Land 1953, Issue 7, pp. 36–37.
• rz: "Faithful Eckehard of the collegiate church". History researcher and monument conservator Professor Wais is 75 years old . In: Stuttgarter Nachrichten 1958, No. 181, p. 11.
• Municipal Lapidarium [Stuttgart] . In: Württembergischer Museumsverband (publisher): Museums and collections in Württemberg and Hohenzollern , Stuttgart 1960, pp. 72–73 Fig. 92.
• Kathleen J. Nawyn: "Extermination of the 'fighting spirit!'": On the removal of militaristic monuments in the American-occupied Württemberg-Baden, 1945-1947 . In: Tanja Thomas (editor); Fabian Virchow (editor): Banal Militarism: on the everydayization of the military in civil , Bielefeld 2006, pp. 129–147, especially pp. 137–140.
• Walter Weber: Gustav Wais 75 years old . In: Schwäbische Heimat 1958, p. 153.
• Widmann: Gustav Wais: Alt-Stuttgart [review] . In: Blätter des Schwäbischer Albverein 1941, pp. 55–56 [1] .