Historic Commission for Nassau

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Historic Commission for Nassau
purpose Research into the history of Hessen in the area of ​​the former Duchy of Nassau
Chair: Klaus Eiler
Establishment date: 1897
Number of members: approx. 130
Seat : Mosbacher Str. 55
65187 Wiesbaden
Website: Commission website

The Historical Commission for Nassau is the history commission for the area of ​​the Duchy of Nassau , the Nassau part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau and for the House of Nassau . It is located in the Hessian Main State Archives in Wiesbaden .

The Historical Commission for Nassau has existed since 1897 and emerged from the " Section for Middle and Modern History " set up in 1895 by the Association for Nassau Antiquity and Historical Research .

tasks

Publications are at the heart of the Commission's work. These include source editions , biographies , reference works and monographs from the Middle Ages to the most recent . Since there was never a university in Nassau, scientific contacts exist mainly with neighboring universities, the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz , the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and the Justus Liebig University Gießen . Archivists at the Hessian Main State Archives have emerged as the authors of standard works, B. Otto Renkhoff with the Nassau biography , Wolf-Heino Struck with the multi-volume regesta work on monasteries and monasteries on the Lahn or Karl Ernst Demandt with the first comprehensive bibliography of historical literature in Hesse. With the seat of the commission in the state capital, there is now a special focus on the publication of works on contemporary Hessian history.

The organization of book presentations, mostly at locations with relevant content in the state, help to make the work of the commission known beyond the Wiesbaden catchment area. This is also the task of the annual general meetings, which take place at different locations and which also address the general public with a public lecture.

history

With the support of Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck , Heinrich von Sybel , the newly appointed director of the Prussian State Archives, established regular publications of source material from these archives from 1875 onwards. In response to this impetus, the provincial parliaments of the Prussian provinces installed commissions in the following years, which promoted projects for the respective area. In the province of Hessen-Nassau this progressed only slowly, also because of the small financial strength of the small province.

In 1895 a section for middle and modern history was formed within the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research , which was initially only intended to give more weight to historical research than the archeology that had dominated the association until then. Reinhold Koser , Sybel's successor who had recently taken office, also began to promote the publication of archival material from the provinces in 1895 and offered financial support for this purpose. On March 18, 1897, the Historical Commission for Nassau was finally constituted in Wiesbaden from the Section for Middle and Modern History. The archivist Otto Meinardus was decisive in driving this step forward on site. The first president was Friedrich Otto chosen, which was previously been Chairman of the ancient association.

In 1902, at the insistence of the district president, the commission had to change its statutes in order to be less closely intertwined with the antiquity association.

In the first decades of its existence, the publications of the commission lagged far behind their announcements, from 1914 to 1920 their work ceased entirely. Until the end of the Second World War, only eleven volumes had appeared in their editorial team. From the mid-1950s there was at least one publication per year.

As part of the " Gleichschaltung " in the "Third Reich", the commission was again connected closer to the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research in 1933. The commission no longer filled its offices by election itself. Rather, their owners were appointed by the chairman of the antiquity association.

In the final phase of the Second World War, the Historical Commission for Nassau ceased its work, but resumed its work in August 1946, after the Antiquities Association had previously been active again with the approval of the American military government. In the two years that followed, the commission restored its extensive independence as in the period before 1933. In 1949 the commission took part in the establishment of the working group of historical commissions in Hesse, the aim of which was not least to achieve joint funding from the state budget.

Chairperson

Friedrich Otto - March 18, 1897 to January 1902 Major a. D. Richard Kolb (deputy) - January 1902 to June 28, 1902 State Archives Director Paul Wagner - June 28, 1902 to September 2, 1936 Rudolf Vaupel - September 16, 1936 to August 31, 1938 State Archives Director Wilhelm Smidt - April 1, 1939 to May 1948 Professor Karl Wolf - May 1948 to May 7, 1949 Georg Wilhelm Sante - May 7, 1949 to October 1, 1975 Wolf-Heino Struck - October 1, 1975 to 1990

literature

  • Wolf-Heino Struck: Ninety Years of the Historical Commission for Nassau . In: Nassauische Annalen , Volume 98, 1987. pp. 251-272

Web links

See also