Hugo Andres Krüß

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Hugo Andres Krüß (also Krüss ; born January 11, 1879 in Hamburg , † April 27, 1945 in Berlin ) was a German ministerial official and librarian .

Life

Born into a Hamburg family that ran the "Optical-Mechanical Institute A. Krüss", Hugo Andres Krüß did not join the company. After studying physics and completing his doctorate in 1903 at the University of Jena , he did a thesis on optical glasses active in the Prussian Ministry of Culture . He headed the “Scientific Instruments” division and was also on the preparatory committee for the 1904/05 World Exhibition in St. Louis / Missouri, where he spent a year. In 1907 he was finally taken on as an unskilled laborer in the ministry. After the First World War (1915 captain of the reserve) he made a career up to ministerial director (1922). During this time he was instrumental in building up the emergency community of German science . In addition, he tried to improve national and international scientific cooperation.

As head of the university department, Krüß was also responsible for the academic libraries until he was appointed general director of the Prussian State Library by Minister Carl Heinrich Becker as successor to Fritz Milkau . There was resistance to this from the profession, since he was neither trained as a librarian nor, unlike previous directors, especially since his predecessor Adolf von Harnack , was recognized as an excellent scientist. The objections, however, came more from outside, from general political considerations, rather than from within, and they did not last long. After the seizure of power , with the support of Rudolf Kummer , the head of the library department in the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education , whom he had recommended for the post, he saw the chance to finally establish his house at the top of the German library system and become one make formal national library. This did not succeed and he did not become a "Reich Librarian", but during this time and under his leadership, the Prussian State Library became one of the leading libraries in the world beyond Germany. From 1925 until his death he was a member of the Senate of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society .

At the same time, Krüß held the first position in German library affairs as a "consultant for academic librarianship" in the ministry and as chairman of the "Reichsbeirat für Bibliothekangelände" (formed in 1936 from the former "Prussian advisory board"). During his tenure in 1931 the first volume of the complete catalog of the Prussian libraries was published , which was then expanded to become the “German complete catalog”; by the beginning of the war 13 more could appear. However, he did not emerge as an author.

His services to international cooperation are significant. He was instrumental in founding the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in 1927, which two years later made him an honorary vice-presidency, and at the 1st World Library and Bibliography Congress in Rome and Venice (1929). The same applies to his work in bodies of the League of Nations while this was still possible. In all functions he benefited from his diplomatic skills and fluency in several foreign languages. His efforts in this area and for the introduction of technical innovations in the library system (applications of film, photo and microcopy) were recognized in 1932 by the award of the Goethe Medal for Art and Science .

Politically, Krüß, like most of his colleagues at work, was close to the political right . A few weeks after being appointed general director, he joined the national liberal German People's Party , of which he was a member until shortly before it was dissolved in 1933. In 1934 he signed the election call for German scientists behind Adolf Hitler in the Völkischer Beobachter . Even if he did not apply for party membership in the NSDAP before 1937 and this did not take effect until 1941, the promotion of Rudolf Kummer, who was designated as a National Socialist from the very beginning, is hardly in the interests of the library or the entire library system, although the associated reputation is in The party and the ministry should have been useful to both. One will not be able to give him negative credit for the strict implementation of the imposed restrictions on use than for his behavior on the question of the book burning in 1933. On the other hand, there are reports that he was able to maintain freedom (for example in caring for French officers in captivity, the he used it adequately in the library). He was evidently integrated into the political system, not just since joining the party, and has come to terms with it. As part of the task force Reichsleiter Rosenberg , Krüß was responsible for the procurement of books from the occupied territories (robbery books).

His last merit lies in the relocation of library holdings to around 30 "refugee locations", which he has organized since September 1941, which ultimately resulted in three quarters of the total holdings of three million books surviving the war. At the end of April 1945 he returned from a relocation site to enclosed Berlin, and on April 27th he committed suicide in the ruins of his library. He was given a temporary grave in the courtyard of the house, and later he was buried in the south-west cemetery in Stahnsdorf .

Fonts (selection)

  • The permeability of a number of optical devices from Jena to ultraviolet rays . Berlin 1903 (dissertation).
  • From my ancestors , Issues 1-8. Hamburg 1913–1921.
  • The Berlin State Library as the central library . SD Berlin 1928.
  • On the history of the Berlin State Library over the past thirty years . Leipzig 1929.
  • Adolf Harnack. Director General of the State Library. October 1, 1905 - March 31, 1921 † June 10, 1930. Address at the memorial service in Harnackhaus on June 15, 1930, Berlin 1930.
  • League of Nations and Libraries II. In: Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen , Vol. 48, 1931, pp. 26–36.
  • League of Nations and Libraries III . In: Zentralblatt für Bibliothekswesen, vol. 49, 1932, pp. 51–56.

literature

  • Alexandra Habermann, Rainer Klemmt, Frauke Siefkes: Lexicon of German Scientific Librarians (= Journal for Libraries and Bibliography, Special Issue 42). Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-465-01664-5 , pp. 175-176.
  • Bärbel Holtz (Editing / Editing): The Protocols of the Prussian State Ministry 1925–1938 / 38. Vol. 12 / II. (1925–1938) (= Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences (Hrsg.): Acta Borussica . New series .). Olms-Weidmann, Hildesheim 2004, ISBN 3-487-12704-0 .
  • Antonius Jammers: Hugo Andres Krüss and the Association of Friends of the Prussian State Library in the time of National Socialism . In: Michael Knoche, Wolfgang Schmitz (eds.): Scientific librarians in National Socialism (= Wolfenbüttel writings on the history of the book industry 46). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2011, ISBN 978-3-447-06407-1 , pp. 309-323.
  • Werner Schochow: Hugo Andres Krüß and the Prussian State Library . In: library. Research and Practice 19, 1995, No. 1, pp. 7-19 ( PDF ). Revised version: Hugo Andres Krüß - General Director from 1925 to 1945 . In: ders .: The Berlin State Library and its environment (= magazine for libraries and bibliography, special issue 87). Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-465-03442-2 , pp. 191-218.
  • Gerd Zörner:  Krüss, Hugo Andres. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 13, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1982, ISBN 3-428-00194-X , p. 111 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Peter Wackernagel : From the happy times of the Prussian State Library. Memories of colleagues and friends of yore, in: Festschrift for Friedrich Smend on his 70th birthday, offered by friends and students . Berlin 1963

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Die Neue Deutsche Biographie erroneously writes April 28th
  2. ^ H. Bohrmann: Lexicon of the entire book system , Volume 2. Hiersemann, Stuttgart, 2nd edition, 1989, ISBN 3-7772-8911-6 , p. 268.
  3. ^ At the Librarian 's Day in Gdansk in 1934 he inaugurated a resolution against the establishment of the German Freedom Library in Paris. So Yorck Alexander Haase: The library days in the time of National Socialism. In: Engelbert Plassmann, Ludger Syré (ed.): Association of German Librarians 1900–2000. Festschrift. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2000, ISBN 3-447-04247-8 , p. 87 with notes 19 and 20.
personal data
SURNAME Krüß, Hugo Andres
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German librarian
DATE OF BIRTH January 11, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH April 27, 1945
Place of death Berlin