Leipzig History Association

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The Leipziger Geschichtsverein eV is an association of citizens interested in regional history in Leipzig . The association sees itself as the successor to the Association for the History of Leipzig founded in 1867 . It has about 300 members. The Leipzig History Association is a member of the general association of German history and antiquity associations

Goals and club work

According to the statutes of the Leipzig History Association, this pursues the purpose

  • "To research, present and disseminate the history of Leipzig and the Leipziger Land from the earliest times to the present, taking into account the interaction between national, regional and state history,
  • to promote the sense of local history and monument preservation and
  • to stand up for the identity of Leipzig and the Leipziger Land and, in particular, to influence the preservation, preservation and careful redesign of the Leipzig cityscape and the Leipzig region, as well as the preservation of urban structures and objects worth preserving ".

As part of the association's work, there are monthly public lectures by association members or guest speakers on regional history topics. Several excursions to the Leipzig area are carried out every year. Working groups can be formed in the association to deal with specific problems, the work of which generally leads to a publication.

Since 2009, at the suggestion of the Leipzig History Association and in cooperation with other Leipzig institutions, an annual event lasting several days has been held as “City History Day” in November. Each year a different topic is examined: City and University of Leipzig (2009), Leipzig School History (2010), Leipzig's Economy Past and Present (2011), City and Faith (2012), City in War and Peace (2013). The presentations are each summarized in a conference proceedings.

Every year the association publishes a “Yearbook of Leipzig City History” with over 200 pages, which contains various essays on the history of the city and which is paid for in the annual fee for members.

Every two years, the board of the association is elected by the general assembly, which otherwise takes place annually.

history

Association for the history of Leipzig

The reflection on regional history that began in Germany in the second half of the 19th century also led to the formation of a history society in Leipzig. This was founded on the initiative of the architect and art historian Oscar Mothes and a few other personalities on December 17, 1867. It was the 49th in Germany. Two sections were formed, one literary and one artistic, which dealt with the creation of historical memorial plaques in the city and the collection of historically significant objects. Heinrich Wuttke headed the literary section . Until his untimely death Heinrich Wuttke was only able to publish the first volume of the series of publications of the Verein für die Geschichte Leipzigs, in which he himself contributed the largest part.

The association's collection was made accessible to the public from 1870 and in 1873 moved to a floor of the Old Johannis Hospital , which had become vacant after the construction of the New Johannis Hospital, with 5,600 items, most of which came from donations . Although a second floor was added in the Johannishospital in 1890, the lack of space became more and more noticeable, and the presentation of such a large exhibition overwhelmed the association's strengths. It was therefore decided to donate the collection to the city of Leipzig. The Johannishospital was cleared in November and from December 11, 1911 the collection was presented as a city ​​history museum in the old town hall. As a condition of the donation, the members of the association agreed to visit the museum freely. That agreement is still in place today. Lecturing, excursions and publication were now the main fields of work of the association.

The number of members of the association was subject to fluctuations. In 1869 the number of members was 182, doubled by 1876 and reached the 1869 level again in 1890. The maximum number of 806 was recorded in 1925, while shortly before the start of the Second World War (1937) only 442 members were counted.

When the National Socialists seized power in 1933, a new situation arose for the club, which they initially tried to cover up with a certain adjustment. The influence of state circles on the association became more massive and its chairman Friedrich Schulze was finally urged to resign in 1938. The head of the city's cultural office, Friedrich August Hauptmann, took over. In addition, the management of the association was provided with an advisory board that was enforced by the Nazis. A new association statute of 1938 stipulated that “non-Aryans” would no longer be admitted as members of the association, which meant that Jews were excluded from the association. The association was divided into a “research department” and a “local history folk education department”. After the end of the Second World War, the association was officially dissolved on December 14, 1948 by a resolution of the Saxon state government.

GDR time

Since it was not possible to run a club in the previous sense after the Second World War in the Soviet occupation zone and later in the GDR, the Leipzigers, interested in history, tried other ways to pursue their interests. As early as December 1947, a "working group for city and cultural history" was formed under the authority of the city's public education committee. This initially joined the Kulturbund in 1949 and became a basic unit of the Kulturbund in 1955 as the “Department of City History”.

The specialist group was headed by museum director Heinz Füßler (1950–1965), teacher Karlheinz Kretzschmar (1965–1979) and Wolfgang Grundmann (1979–1990). In the course of its 40-year existence, the specialist group had 223 members. Public lectures were held, as well as excursions and city tours. The city's history was mainly popularized orally, as paper contingents and printing permits were given in preference to propagating the history of the labor movement.

Start-up

On December 17, 1990, exactly 123 years to the day after the founding of the Society for the History of Leipzig, 43 interested parties founded the Leipziger Geschichtsverein eV in the ballroom of the Old Town Hall. Katrin Keller became the first chairwoman of the new society. The number of members of the association increased rapidly. In April 1992 there were already 208. Lecturing began in February 1991, and the first excursion took place in April 1991 to Schkeuditz .

The CEOs

Publications

After initial differences in the Association for the History of Leipzig over the direction of a series of publications, the first volume appeared in 1872. Then, however, six years passed until the second and another seven years until the third. This was designed by Gustav Wustmann alone under the title “From Leipzig's Past”. From 1892 (volume 4) until 1939 a total of 23 volumes with up to ten articles each appeared in irregular succession.

After the association was re-established, the tradition of association publications was resumed. A volume “Leipziger Stadtgeschichte” appears annually, up to 2004 it was even several volumes per year. In addition, the “Leipziger Hefte” (so far 18) also take up special topics. A working group of the association has developed a two-volume work "Leipzig Monuments".

literature

  • Walter Fellmann : 125 years of the Leipzig History Association 1867–1992 . Sax-Verlag Beucha 1992, ISBN 978-3-9802997-3-2
  • Horst Riedel: Stadtlexikon Leipzig from A to Z . PRO LEIPZIG, Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-936508-03-8 , pp. 340–341
  • Thomas Krzenck: "... for joy and satisfaction, but for the city of Leipzig to honor and benefit". 1867–2017: 150 years of the Leipzig History Society. Sax-Verlag Markkleeberg 2017. ISBN 978-3-86729-209-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ General Association of German Antiquities ( Memento from February 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ^ Statutes of the historical society
  3. ↑ City History Day. In: leipzig.de. City of Leipzig, accessed on August 30, 2015 .
  4. ^ Writings of the Society for the History of Leipzig, Vol. 1, Leipzig 1872.
  5. ^ Horst Riedel: Stadtlexikon
  6. ↑ Leipziger Hefte
  7. ↑ Leipzig monuments