Justus Hashagen

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Justus Hashagen (born December 4, 1877 in Bremerhaven , † November 14, 1961 in Wyk auf Föhr ) was a German historian .

Life

1877 to 1933

As the son of the later Rostock professor of theology Friedrich Hashagen , who was pastor in Bremerhaven from 1871 to 1879, Justus Hashagen passed the Abitur examination in the Hanseatic city of Rostock . He then studied theology and philosophy at the universities in Tübingen , Kiel , Rostock , Leipzig and Cambridge . During his studies he became a member of the Association of German Students in Leipzig . In 1899, Hashagen submitted his dissertation on Otto von Freising in Leipzig. Karl Lamprecht initiated and reviewed the research. In 1900 Justus Hashagen passed the state examination . Activities as a librarian and tutor followed. From 1903 to 1906 he was a volunteer at the Historical Archives of the City of Cologne . In 1908 his habilitation thesis was published. This dealt with Rhenish liberalism . A publication on the history of the Hoesch family followed with the assistance of Fritz Brüggemann . In 1913, Hashagen received the title of professor. Until 1920 he worked as a private lecturer at the University of Bonn .

In the same year 1920, Hashagen was appointed full professor at the University of Cologne . Four years later, in 1924, according to Peter Borowsky , Justus Hashagen's probably most important book, The Rhenish Protestantism and the Development of Rhenish Culture, was published . This deals with the early industrialization in Germany and the political and social history of the Rhineland during this period.

Hashagen was called up for military service in the Koblenz War Office in 1917 and joined the Foreign Service of the German Reich in September 1918 . He was there until October 1919 with the so-called war guilt question. During and immediately after the end of the First World War , Hashagen published writings in which he tried to prove that Germany was not responsible for the beginning of the war. In addition, Hashagen turned against the Peace Treaty of Versailles and the revolution of 1918/19 in his publications . For a time he was a member of the Pan-German Association . From 1919 to 1933 he was a member of the German National People's Party .

In 1925, Justus Hashagen accepted an appointment at Hamburg University . He took over one of the two chairs for Middle and Modern History. In the same year the Theological Faculty of the University of Bonn awarded him an honorary doctorate .

1933 to 1945

In contrast to his Hamburg colleagues Adolf Rein and Otto Westphal , Justus Hashagen rejected the transfer of power to the National Socialists in 1933 . Hashagen stood up for the benefit of his discriminated and later dismissed Jewish colleagues. The commitment of German professors to Adolf Hitler he signed nor which also teaches in Hamburg Emil Wolff and Bruno Snell . Hashagen also urged his Jewish doctoral students to finish their work when the first restrictions on Jewish students were enforced in 1933. He accelerated the examination process so that they could complete their exams in the summer semester of 1933. Baruch Ophir was one of Hashagen's students .

In 1935, Hashagen was given a leave of absence with immediate effect after conflicts had previously arisen, in particular with Otto Westphal. The reason for his removal from service was a denunciation . On a Mediterranean cruise, he had aroused the displeasure of party members traveling with him through negative comments about the NSDAP , who complained about him to the Gestapo and thus obtained his dismissal in 1936 by cutting his salary by half. Charges have been brought against Hashagen. His mental sanity was called into question. An expert opinion commissioned by a commission, of which Hans Bürger-Prinz was a member, came to the conclusion that Hashagen suffered from a personality disorder and could therefore not be held criminally responsible for the statements made against him. The proceedings were discontinued and Hashagen was forced to apply for his retirement for health reasons . In 1938 he was retired due to incapacity for work. Justus Hashagen retired in 1939, not retired. He defended himself against this decision without success. He did not give up scientific work. Hashagen continued to publish papers in professional journals.

1945 to 1961

After the end of the Second World War he published monographs on the history of the Middle Ages. In the post-war period, Justus Hashagen tried to convert retirement into emeritus status. However, the university department of the Hamburg school authorities insisted that the forced retirement in 1939 was due to health reasons and was therefore legal. A lawsuit brought against the school authorities by Hashagen was dismissed by the Hamburg district court in 1949. In 1951, however, the retirement was converted into an emeritus status as part of a redress procedure . Hashagen was granted the remuneration of an emeritus retrospectively from 1950.

Peter Borowsky describes Justus Hashagen as a German national academic who opposed both the Weimar Republic and National Socialism . He personally stood up for discriminated colleagues and students. The cultural history of the Rhineland and Rhenish Protestantism formed the focus of his research and publications.

Works (selection)

  • Otto von Freising as a historical philosopher and church politician , Leipzig 1900
  • The Rhineland and French rule. Contributions to the characteristics of their opposites , Bonn 1908
  • Outlines of world politics , 2 vol., Leipzig 1916
  • Rhenish Protestantism and the development of Rhenish culture , Essen 1924
  • State and Church before the Reformation. An examination of the pre-Reformation significance of lay influence in the church , Essen 1931
  • Martin Luther and the German Reformation , Hamburg 1934
  • The Rhineland through the ages , Bonn 1940
  • as editor: The secret of history. Thoughts from Leopold von Ranke's works and letters , Berlin 1941
  • Cultural history of the Middle Ages. An introduction , Hamburg 1950
  • Europe in the Middle Ages , Munich 1951

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Louis Lange (Ed.): Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations. Address book 1931. Berlin 1931, p. 82.
personal data
SURNAME Hashages, Justus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian
DATE OF BIRTH 4th December 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremerhaven
DATE OF DEATH November 14, 1961
Place of death Wyk on Föhr