Kurt Schwabe (archivist)

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Kurt Schwabe

Kurt Herbert Schwabe (born January 7, 1916 in Adorf / Vogtl. , † November 13, 2010 in Grimma ) was a German archivist and regional researcher .

For his commitment to the former Princely and State School in Grimma and for his commitment to preserving the cultural heritage in Saxony, Kurt Schwabe was honored with the Federal Cross of Merit in 1996 and honorary citizenship of the city of Grimma in 2000 .

Origin, school, Second World War, years of work during the GDR era

Kurt Schwabe comes from a humble background. He was born in Adorf in Vogtland and was the third of four children of Ernst and Elsa Schwabe. The father ran a small business printing company as a one-man business - he died at the age of 47. Kurt started school in 1922 and attended elementary school for eight years. At Palmarum 1930 he was confirmed in the Michaeliskirche Adorf. Because of his good academic performance, he was recommended for the Princely School in Grimma . After passing the entrance exam, Schwabe was able to attend this school free of charge from 1930 thanks to Freistelle, where he passed his Abitur in 1936.

This was followed by a brief activity in the district office, followed by the Reich Labor Service and military or military service from the beginning of the Second World War to the end of 1945. Schwabe was most of the time on the Eastern Front and suffered ten injuries. After brief US and five-year Soviet captivity, Kurt Schwabe returned to Grimma twelve years after he was ordered to leave.

After working in the administration of the health system - first in the Grimma health department, then in the Wurzen district - he was dismissed without notice in 1958 and was de facto banned from his profession because he had refused to join the SED as well as the Society for German-Soviet Friendship.

Out of necessity, Schwabe began working as a handyman at a private company in Brandis that specialized in acid protection linings and later belonged to VEB Spezialbau Magdeburg. He worked his way up to the position of construction manager and did not retire until he was 68 - at that point, he had had an assembly life of 26 years.

Archive maintainer from 1992

A new chapter in life and work began for Kurt Schwabe with the Peaceful Revolution in the GDR. As a member of the Association of Former Princely Students, he campaigned for the preservation and continuation of the tradition of his old school. From 1992 to autumn 2010 (shortly before his death) he was responsible for the archives of the association of former princely students, which has found its home in the former principal's apartment of today's St. Augustin high school in Grimma.

Kurt Schwabe won many supporters and friends with his friendly, humorous nature, and his voluntary work in the archive as a one-man business soon became a permanent point of contact with three volunteers.

The fact that there were contacts across the inner-German border between former princely students during the time of the German-German division is one of the merits of Kurt Schwabe and his wife Annelies. Since 1950 his wife had invited former teachers to Schwabes' home for coffee and dinner. All of them had been dismissed from school and found no employment. Dr. Ackermann, Dr. Warg, Dr. Reichert and Professor Pelz came to these meetings regularly and later gave the Schwabes their written memories of their old school as archival documents. Now they are part of the archive.

Further archival material found its way to Grimma at the annual unofficial Fürstenschülertreffen, which the Schwabe couple held in their apartment from 1950 in connection with the Leipzig spring fair, whereby visitors could use their fair ID for the trip to Grimma.

It was always important for Schwabe to emphasize the large part his wife Annelies played in his commitment to the archive: “It was she who reminded me of the Princely School and sent me to the Ratskelleraal in 1950, where the Grimma Princely School held the 400th Foundation Festival on September 14, former teachers including Rector Dr. Fraustadt and many former students had met. At first I didn't want to. I weighed 80 pounds and looked miserable after five years in Soviet captivity. But my wife insisted, and I am still grateful to her for it today. The meeting itself was uplifting. (...) My wife deliberately kept her back free for my work in the archive. Without your initiative, the archive and myself would not have turned out as I have been able to describe here. Thus, the “living” archive is also a memorial to her, and she supported my work for it through advice and action until her death. She was a master at planning and organizing. The fact that, as she often said to me, I was married to the archive next to me only worked because she always supported and encouraged this side marriage in addition to 70 years of her own marriage. "

Honors

Kurt Schwabe was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (1996) and honorary citizenship of the city of Grimma (September 14, 2000) for his services to the archive and the city of Grimma .

family

Kurt Schwabe and his wife Annelies (née Weigel) were married on December 1, 1939 in the Frauenkirche Grimma. They met in 1935 at the dance class ball. Annelies Schwabe died on July 21, 2009. The marriage had a son (* 1939) who practiced as an orthopedist.

Publications

  • Archive catalog of the Fürstenschüler Foundation, 2003
  • 8 contributions in: Gymnasium St. Augustin zu Grimma (ed.): From the electoral state school to the Gymnasium St. Augustin zu Grimma 1550 - 2000. Beucha 2000, ISBN 3930076993
  • Contribution “The Saxon Princely and State School St. Augustin zu Grimma 1550–1945” . In: “Sächsische Heimatblätter” 3 , 2008 - thematic issue for the 17th day of the Saxons with articles on the city of Grimma (magazine for Saxon history, preservation of monuments, nature and the environment), pp. 209–213
  • numerous articles in the "Augustiner Blätter" between 1991 and 2010

such as

  • Cornelia Braun: Princely treasure trove for resourceful researchers - Volker Beyrich and Martina Bloi keep the foundation archive in the Grimmaer Gymnasium / move planned . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , Muldental edition, April 14, 2015, p. 26

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Augustiner Blätter : Kurt Schwabe - Memory of an honorary citizen of Grimma. Published by the headmaster of the St. Augustin high school in Grimma. Special issue No. 7, Grimma 2011.
  2. ↑ Kurt Schwabe: The archive of the association of former princely students and his way from Dresden via the old Federal Republic to Grimma in the St. Augustin high school. Further development until 2010. A chronology (six-page typewriter manuscript, completed on April 4, 2010), pp. 5–6, in the archive of the Fürstenschüler Foundation, Grimma.
  3. ↑ http://www.grimma.de/buerger_rathaus_ehrenbuerger/?SHC=1 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Schwabe, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schwabe, Kurt Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German archivist and regional researcher
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1916
PLACE OF BIRTH Adorf / Vogtl.
DATE OF DEATH November 13, 2010
Place of death Grimma