Helmut Holtzhauer

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Grave of Helmut Holtzhauer in the old cemetery in Weimar

Helmut Holtzhauer (born December 2, 1912 in Leipzig , † December 16, 1973 in Bad Berka near Weimar ) was a resistance fighter against National Socialism and a cultural politician in the GDR . Among other things, he was Minister for National Education in the State of Saxony from 1948 to 1951, Chairman of the State Commission for Art Affairs in Berlin from 1951 to 1954 and member of the Council of Ministers of the GDR with the rank of State Secretary and from 1954 to 1973 director or general director of the National Research and Memorial Sites of the Classical German literature (NFG).

Biography until 1945

He was born the fourth of five children to a law secretary and a housewife. The mother was strongly religious. He attended elementary school and secondary school in Leipzig and graduated from high school in 1932 . This was followed by an apprenticeship as a bookseller . Since 1928 he was a member of the SAJ , since 1930 in the KJVD and from 1933 in the KPD organized and active.

1934–1939 Helmut Holtzhauer was imprisoned in the Waldheim / Saxony penitentiary for “joint preparation for high treason” (his future wife Renate Scharsig (1915–1982) was sentenced to five years in prison together with Franz Ehrlich and Willi Ehrlich in 1934 for “preparing a treasonable company” sentenced). In 1941 the People's Court sentenced him to 2 years in prison “for failing to report his friend, whose hostility to National Socialism he must have known” and he was imprisoned in Zwickau prison . Since he was "permanently unworthy of defense", he was not drafted into military service. In 1944/45 he was involved in setting up a group for the “ National Committee Free Germany ” in Leipzig.

Helmut Holtzhauer in the GDR

From 1945 to 1946 he was initially city councilor for popular education in Leipzig. He initiated the founding of the Volk und Wissen publishing house , at that time Berlin and Leipzig, and the founding of the Fackel Verlag - later Franz-Mehring-Buchhandlung -, ensured the revitalization and supervision of the University of Leipzig , and promoted the founding of the sports and youth committees in Leipzig. He was one of the co-founders of the Kulturbund in Leipzig.

After that he was mayor for economy in Leipzig until 1948. The focus was on the reconstruction of the Leipzig trade fair and the Leipzig industry as well as the economic supply of the city by initiating an open- cast lignite mine in Polenz near Leipzig to supply the people of Leipzig.

From 1948 to 1951, the SED member Holtzhauer was Minister for National Education in Saxony. The main focus of work was school reform, the establishment of workers and farmers faculties to promote workers and farmers among the students, establishment of state folk music schools, promotion of museum work, and art exhibitions in Dresden. Among other things, during this time, under his leadership, the Saxon Academy of Sciences was reopened and the construction of the Leipzig Central Stadium began .

From 1951 to 1954 he was chairman of the State Commission for Art Affairs in Berlin and a member of the GDR Council of Ministers with the rank of State Secretary. He tried to enforce the concept of socialist realism , but failed due to the resistance of leading artists of the GDR and their allies as well as his own weaknesses in theory and practice. He was responsible for setting up regional cultural orchestras, reforming visitor operations at the theaters, reforming the museum system, founding folkloric singing and dance ensembles and founding the Central House for Folk Art in Leipzig. He was responsible for the first cultural agreement with Poland and the Czechoslovak Republic.

From 1954 to 1973 he was director or general director of the National Research and Memorial Centers for Classical German Literature (NFG), now the “ Klassik Stiftung Weimar ” in Weimar. Under his leadership, the NFG were divided into subject and historical complexes (8 divisions: Goethe National Museum , Institute for Culture and Education (public relations), Goethe and Schiller Archive , Central Library of German Classics (today Duchess Anna Amalia Library ), Research institute for German literature (1750-1850), garden and park management, institute for monument preservation, administration). During this time, for example, the Goethe National Museum was redesigned in 1960, the Dornburg castles were restored in 1962, the Goethehaus Stützerbach was reconstructed in 1962, the “Workers' Movement and Classics” exhibition in 1964, and the spa facilities and the Goethe Theater in Bad Lauchstädt were reconstructed in 1968 , to take over the Weimarer Parke with guidelines for their restoration in 1969 and Schloss Kochberg since 1970. He was a co-founder of the " Bibliothek deutscher Klassiker (Reihe, DDR) " (BDK), since 1955 first in Volksverlag Weimar, then in Aufbau-Verlag Berlin- Weimar (own BDK editions: Heine's works in 5 volumes, Heine Lutetia, Goethe's works in 12 volumes, Goethe letters, Winckelmann's works) and has been co-editor of the articles on German classical music since 1955 , initiated the magazine Weimarer Posts , the teacher holiday courses, the Weimar Youth Days, the Thursday lectures.

From 1955 he was Vice President and 1971–1973 President of the Goethe Society in Weimar. Holtzhauer was chairman of the GDR Museum Council and representative of the GDR at the ICOM ( International Council of Museums ), a subdivision of the UN .

Honors

literature

  • H. Holtzhauer (2017): Literary Revolution. Essays on the literature of the German classical period. tredition, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-7439-0884-0
  • H. Holtzhauer (2017): Weimarer Tagesnotizen 1958 - 1973 fredition, Hamburg, ISBN 978-3-7439-3898-4
  • H. Holtzhauer (1969): Goethe Museum. Work, life and time of Goethe in documents. Construction publishing house in Berlin and Weimar.
  • Bernd-Rainer Barth :  Holtzhauer, Helmut . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 1. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .
  • L. Ehrlich (2012) in: H. Kieser, G. Schlenker (ed.) Central German Yearbook for Culture and History , Vol. 19/2012. Bonn: German Foundation for Monument Protection - monument publications, p. 182ff. ISBN 978-3-86795-065-7
  • P. Raabe (2005) in: L. Ehrlich (Ed.) Forschen und Bilden. The national research and memorial centers for classical German literature in Weimar 1953–1991. Böhlau Verlag Cologne, Weimar, Vienna, ISBN 3-412-22705-6 , pp. 186ff.
  • G. Schmid (2001) in: G. Bollerbeck, J. Golz, M. Knoche, U. Steierwald (eds.) WEIMAR. Archeology of a place. Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachf., Weimar, ISBN 3-7400-1159-9 , p. 196ff.

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Holtzhauer, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German politician (SED) and literary historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Leipzig
DATE OF DEATH 16th December 1973
Place of death Bad Berka