Hans Rasp

Hans Rasp (born July 25, 1895 in Monsheim , † March 30, 1966 in Freiburg im Breisgau ) was a German librarian .

Life

Hans Rasp was born in Monsheim near Worms in 1895. He spent his childhood and school days in Darmstadt . After graduating from high school in 1913, he studied history, Semitic philology and religious studies in Giessen and Berlin . After a period of military service, he resumed his studies and completed it in 1920/21 with the state examination and doctorate. His dissertation dealt with Flavius ​​Josephus . He then worked briefly in the school service. In 1922 he switched to library service and became a volunteer at the university library in Giessen. From 1926 he was a regular librarian there. In 1933 Rasp had to give up his post and was forcibly employed at the Augustinian School in Friedberg. In 1943 he was transferred to the Hessian State Library in Darmstadt.

In 1946 Rasp took over the management of the Hessian State Library, which was merged with the university library of the TH Darmstadt in July 1948 by decree of the Ministry of Culture under Erwin Stein . As a result of the Darmstadt fire night of September 11, 1944, both libraries suffered considerable losses in their holdings. The Hessian State Library had to record a loss of approx. 400,000 of the approx. 720,000 volumes. The university library had shrunk from around 165,000 volumes to 35,000 volumes.

Rasp succeeded in rebuilding the new Hessian State and University Library , which was initially housed in the basement of the burned-out Darmstadt residential palace , and gradually improved the spatial and library conditions. Rasp provided important impulses and suggestions here. On his initiative, rooms for exhibitions as well as a lecture and music hall were created. The exhibitions and cultural events organized in these rooms have had a major impact on Darmstadt's cultural life after the Second World War. At the end of his tenure, the holdings of the Hessian State and University Library had risen to a new high of around 800,000 volumes.

Hans Rasp was a long-time employee of the historical journal and has published numerous articles. After his retirement at the end of July 1961, Hans Rasp moved to Freiburg im Breisgau, where he died in March 1966 at the age of 70. He was buried in the Darmstadt forest cemetery (grave site: L 8a 100a).

Honors

• 1960: Honorary Senator of the TH Darmstadt
• 1961: Silver plaque of merit from the city of Darmstadt.

Publications

• 1959: The manuscripts of the Hessian State and University Library, Darmstadt.
• 1960: The Hessian State and University Library, Darmstadt.

literature

• Erich Zimmermann: Hans Rasp in memory, in: Zeitschrift für Bibliothekswesen und Bibliographie, Volume 18, 1966, pp. 299–300.
• Gerhard Schutt: Awareness of an obligatory tradition. Library Director Dr. Hans Rasp is 65 years old, in: Darmstädter Echo, 16, 25 July 1960.
• University and State Library Darmstadt (Ed.): Neue Mitte (n). The library buildings of the Technical University of Darmstadt, Darmstadt 2014.
• Carlo Schneider: The cemeteries in Darmstadt, Darmstadt 1991.