Lothar Mertens

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Lothar Mertens (born January 2, 1959 in Leverkusen ; † December 4, 2006 in Berlin ) was a German historian and social scientist .

life and work

Lothar Mertens studied history, Catholic theology and sociology at the Ruhr University in Bochum and at the University of Cologne . In Bochum he received his doctorate in 1990 with the thesis The development of women's studies in Germany in the subject of social sciences to become Dr. rer. soc., 1996 at the University of Potsdam with the work Tireless Fighters for Peace and Human Rights. Life and work of Kurt R. Grossmann in history as a Dr. phil.

The habilitation took place in Bochum in 1996 with the work Star of David under hammer and circle - The Jewish communities in the Soviet Zone / GDR and their treatment by the party and state 1945–1990 . He then taught in Bochum as a private lecturer . Together with Wilhelm Bleek he dealt with the dissertation system in the GDR. This led to an intensive preoccupation with several subject areas of primarily humanities research in the GDR, including GDR historians and the GDR Academy of Sciences . In these works he dealt very critically with the science produced in the GDR. Among other things, he adopted Arnulf Baring's view that the knowledge acquired in the GDR was "largely useless".

Mertens was a very prolific writer. Until his untimely death, the German National Library recorded 24 books in which he was involved as an author, co-author or editor. In addition to the history of the GDR and the country's academic education, he also dealt with the general history of education, the history of Jewish life in Germany in the 20th century and the relations between Germany and Israel.

criticism

Mertens' work on the history of science in the GDR has been criticized primarily by former GDR scientists. He was accused of improper work and all too one-sided conclusions. Mario Keßler criticized the fact that Mertens had failed to meet the demands of appropriate and self-critical reflection that he had placed on the history of the GDR in his own work on GDR history.

In addition, terms used by Mertens such as “red cadre” for GDR researchers and “red think tank” for the Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED were viewed critically by some authors. Eberhard Fromm criticized, for example, that Mertens described almost all employees of the Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED as interchangeable “like individual light bulbs in a long chain of lights”.

Fonts

  • Aliyah . The emigration of the Soviet Jews. Brockmeyer, Bochum 1991, ISBN 3-88339-940-X .
  • GDR dissertations. Doctoral practice and secrecy of doctoral theses in the SED state (with Wilhelm Bleek ). Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1994, ISBN 3-531-12614-8 .
  • Tireless fighter for peace and human rights. Life and work of Kurt R. Grossmann. Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-428-08914-6 (= contributions to political science, volume 97).
  • Star of David under hammer and compass. The Jewish communities in the Soviet Zone / GDR and their treatment by the party and the state 1945–1990. Olms, Hildesheim u. a. 1997, ISBN 3-487-10332-X (= Haskala, Volume 18).
  • with Dieter Voigt (ed.): Victims and perpetrators in the SED state (= series of publications by the Society for Germany Research. Volume 58). Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-428-09422-0
  • Against the socialist family norm. Divorces in the GDR 1950–1989. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen-Wiesbaden 1998, ISBN 3-531-13310-1 .
  • (Ed.): Social inequality in the GDR. A taboo structural feature of the SED dictatorship. Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-428-10523-0 (= series of publications of the Society for Germany Research. Vol. 82).
  • (Ed.): Under the lid of the dictatorship. Social and cultural aspects of everyday life in the GDR. Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11142-7 (= publication series of the Society for Germany Research. Vol. 84).
  • with Wilhelm Bleek (Ed.): Bibliography of the secret GDR dissertations. = Bibliography of secret dissertations in the German Democratic Republic. Saur, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-598-11209-2 .
  • "Only politically worthy". DFG research funding in the Third Reich 1933–1937. Academy, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-05-003877-2 .
  • Red think tank? The Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED. Lit, Münster 2004, ISBN 3-8258-8034-6 (= studies on GDR society. Volume 10).
  • Lexicon of GDR historians. Biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X .
  • (Ed.): Balance sheet and perspectives of the German unification process. Duncker and Humblot, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-428-12149-X ( publication series of the Society for Germany Research. Vol. 90).
  • Priests of the Klio or court chroniclers of the party? Collective biographical analyzes of the GDR historians. V and R Unipress, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-89971-307-9 ( Hannah Arendt Institute for Totalitarism Research eV at the TU Dresden. Reports and studies. No. 52), review by H-Soz-u-Kult .
  • Religion and politics. The eventful 130-year history of the Adass Jisroel Jewish community in Berlin. Köster, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-89574-625-8 (= Karlsruhe research studies. Germany and Europe. Volume 1).

literature

  • Wilhelm Bleek: A passionate scientist. Obituary for Lothar Mertens (1959–2006) . In: Deutschland Archiv 40 (2007), pp. 211–212.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Mario Keßler: Review of: Mertens, Lothar: Priest of the Klio or court chronicler of the party? Collective biographical analyzes of the GDR historians. Göttingen 2006 . In: H-Soz-u-Kult , August 14, 2007, accessed December 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ Eberhard Fromm: Review of Lothar Mertens: Rote Denkfabrik? The Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED. LIT Verlag, Münster 2004 . In: der-deutsche-intellektuelle.de , accessed on December 25, 2012.
  3. ↑ Peter Hübner: Review of: Lothar Mertens (Ed.): Social inequality in the GDR. A taboo structural feature of the SED dictatorship. Berlin 2002, in: H-Soz-u-Kult, November 12, 2002
  4. ↑ Review
  5. ↑ Review Klahrgesellschaft
  6. ↑ Mario Keßler. Review of Mertens, Lothar, Lexicon of GDR historians: biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic and Mertens, Lothar, priest of the Klio or court chroniclers of the party ?: Collective biographical analyzes of the GDR historians . H-Soz-u-Kult, H-Net Reviews. August, 2007
personal data
SURNAME Mertens, Lothar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and social scientist
DATE OF BIRTH 2nd January 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH Leverkusen
DATE OF DEATH 4th December 2006
Place of death Berlin