Josef Bick

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Josef Bick (born May 22, 1880 at Wildeck Castle near Abstatt ; † April 5, 1952 in Vienna ) was a German philologist, general director of the Austrian National Library and prisoner in the Dachau concentration camp .

Life

Josef Bick was born in 1880 as the son of a forester at Wildeck Castle near Heilbronn . Bick studied classical philology at the German Charles University in Prague . There he became a member of the Catholic student fraternity KDStV Ferdinandea Prague (today in Heidelberg) in the CV , later on several other CV connections. There he was also involved in the founding of the KDStV Vandalia Prague (now in Munich). He graduated with doctorate to Dr. phil. from. In 1907 he acquired Austrian citizenship. He moved to Vienna and worked at the Vienna court library. He completed his habilitation at the University of Vienna and became an associate professor for classical philology there in 1914.

In 1918 he was appointed deputy to the then director of the court library, Josef Donabaum . On December 3, 1921 Josef Bick was in the box "progress" of the Grand Lodge received from Vienna. In 1923 he became head of the renamed, new National Library (previously: Vienna Court Library). Bick converted the former court library into a scientific utility library. He also assigned them to international interlibrary loan and reorganized the entire Austrian library system as general inspector. In 1934 he also became the responsible director of the state Albertina collection in Vienna.

In 1931 Bick was awarded the Great Decoration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria , and he was also appointed a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. He also received numerous German honors.

A few days after the occupation of Austria on March 16, 1938 by Hitler's Germany , Josef Bick was arrested from his desk by the Gestapo . First he was put in the Gestapo prison in Vienna, a short time later he was first sent to the Dachau concentration camp and then to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Josef Bick was incarcerated in solitary confinement for weeks without giving reasons and without interrogation. After an interrogation, he was accused of collecting manuscripts from the National Library in Vienna from Pope Pius XII. to have given. He was surprisingly released on August 28th. Bick was dismissed from civil service without a pension, and Nazi loyal Paul Heigl took up his post. Bick had to leave his place of residence in Vienna and look for a place of residence in Piesting in Lower Austria. He was not allowed to leave this new residence without the permission of the Gestapo, nor was he allowed to make or receive visits.

After the end of the Second World War , Josef Bick was reinstated on June 30, 1945 in his previous position as Director General of the National Library. One of his first acts was the submission to the ministry to rename the house the "Austrian National Library", which was also granted in November 1945.

The former Dachau prisoner Josef Bick was appointed chairman of the Austrian Central Commission for Combating Nazi Literature in 1947 at the behest of the Federal Minister for Education, Felix Hurdes .

In 1949 Josef Bick retired. He died in a Viennese clinic in 1952 of complications from a heart condition and stroke.

In Austria, the awarding of the Dr. Josef Bick Medal of Honor by the Association of Austrian Librarians (VÖB) and, since 1952, the Bickgasse in Vienna-Liesing commemorate Josef Bick.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The honorary members, old men and students of the CV Vienna 1925, p. 541.
  2. ↑ Günter K. Kodek: Our building blocks are the people. The members of the Viennese Masonic lodges 1869–1938. Vienna 2009, ISBN 978-3-85409-512-5 , p. 42.
  3. ↑ From day to day. (...) The former head of the National Library has died . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna April 8, 1952, p. 4 , column 2 middle ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Bick, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian philologist, general director of the Austrian National Library and Dachau prisoner
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH Wildeck Castle near Abstatt
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1952
Place of death Vienna