Manfred Menger

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Manfred Menger (born January 28, 1936 in Meuselbach ) is a German historian . In 1962 he was the first GDR author to present a contemporary history paper on Finland and subsequently specialized in German-Finnish relations during the Nazi era and during the Second World War . From 1973 he organized joint seminars with Finnish historians at the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald , of which he headed the history department from 1982 to 1990.

Life

In 1953/54 Menger attended the workers and farmers faculty in Halle, where he obtained his university entrance qualification. In 1954 he began studying history, philosophy and political economy at the Franz-Mehring-Institut of the Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig (KMU), which he graduated in 1958 as a graduate teacher for Marxism-Leninism . Menger initially worked as a research assistant at the Institute for Marxism-Leninism at KMU Leipzig until 1962 . He moved to the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald (EMAU), where in October 1966 Johannes Schildhauer wrote a thesis on “The intervention policy of German imperialism in Finland in the years of the First World War (from the outbreak of war to the suppression of the revolutionary collection of the Finnish proletariat) " doctorate was. Menger became a senior scientific assistant in Greifswald in 1967, taught as a lecturer from 1969 and also headed the research group "Nordic History" from 1969. In February 1978 he submitted his PhD B “Fascist Germany and Finland 1933–1941”. From September 1980 he was full professor for the most recent general history at the history section of EMAU Greifswald. From 1982 to 1990 he acted as section director. In 1993 he was given early retirement.

Menger was married to the tennis player Kaija Menger .

plant

With his publication Feuer über Suomi, about the German intervention in Finland in 1918, Menger presented the first contemporary historical work by a GDR author on Finland . Johannes Schildhauer brought him to Greifswald, where Schildhauer tried to turn the historical institute there into the center of GDR research on the Baltic Sea region. In the research group “Nordic History” founded by Menger in 1969, Wolfgang Wilhelmus , Reinhard Abraham, Lutz Oberdörfer , Fritz Petrick , Dörte Putensen, Karl-Michael Chilcott and Michael F. Scholz worked together . The research group dealt primarily with the history of Northern Europe in the Second World War , in particular with the Northern European policy of Hitler's Germany. This focus was in connection with the major project "History of Germany in World War II", which was located in the Central Institute for German History of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . Menger's PhD B served as preparatory work for the later volume of documents Northern European Policy of Fascist German Imperialism (1987) and von Menger's overall presentation of German-Finnish relations between Germany and Finland in World War II (1988). As for his doctoral thesis, Menger not only used German archives, but also evaluated files in Helsinki archives. At that time he was able to see copies of files of the German Baltic Sea Division , which the Finnish war archive had prepared in the early 1930s, and the originals of which had been largely destroyed in 1945 bombing raids in Germany. Taking into account the politically motivated guidelines of Soviet historiography, Menger glossed over the Soviet policy on Finland in 1939/40 in publications that appeared before 1990.

From 1973 Menger belonged to the editorial board of the journal Nordeuropa Studien and from 1988 to 1990 to the editorial board of the journal for historical science and in 1989 became a member of the presidium of the GDR Historians' Society . He cooperated with Soviet historians such as Alexander Kan and was a guest and speaker at the congresses of Soviet Scandinavians. Between 1973 and 1990 he organized twelve joint seminars for German and Finnish historians with Finnish historians such as Seppo Hentilä , which were known in Greifswald as "Finnish seminars" and took place alternately in the GDR and in Finland. The resulting series of publications conveyed questions about the history of Finland and German-Finnish relations to German-speaking readers. Menger has been a corresponding member of the Finnish Historical Society since 1983 . Finnish historians also supported Menger after German reunification with a petition to the then Minister of Culture of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania .

Fonts (selection)

  • Fire over Suomi. Finland's Red Guard in the fight against White Guards and German militarists. 1st edition. German Military Edition, Berlin 1962.
  • Imperialist Germany and the recognition of Finland's independence by Soviet Russia. In: Yearbook for the history of the USSR and the people's democratic countries of Europe. 11, pp. 143-155 (1967).
  • Finland in 1918. In: Northern Europe Studies. 2, pp. 7-25 (1967).
  • Fifty years of Finnish independence. In: Scientific journal of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald , No. 3/4 1969, pp. 197–201.
  • Requirements and results of the Soviet-Finnish treaty on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance of April 1948. In: Northern Europe in the present. Berlin 1972, pp. 80-95.
  • Basic features of imperialist German northern European policy until 1945. In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft , No. 9 1973, pp. 1029-1044.
  • The Finland policy of German imperialism. 1917-1918. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1974.
  • with Fritz Petrick and Wolfgang Wilhelmus: Northern Europe under the domination of fascist German imperialism 1940-1945. In: Zeitschrift für Geschichtswwissenschaft , No. 5 1976, pp. 516-530.
  • The inclusion of Finland in the anti-Soviet war course 1940/41. In: Yearbook for History. 24: 351-388 (1981).
  • Christian Friedrich Rüh's letter to Henrik Gabriel Porthan on August 3, 1801. In: Northern Europe. 17 (1984) 1984, pp. 88-96.
  • Christian Friedrich Rühs - a pioneer of Greifswald research in Northern Europe. In: Scientific journal of the Ernst Moritz Arndt University , No. 3–4 / 1985, pp. 68–72.
  • and Fritz Petrick and Wolfgang Wilhelmus (eds.): Expansion direction Northern Europe. Documents on the North European Policy of Fascist German Imperialism 1939 to 1945. Dt. Verl. Der Wiss, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3326002157 .
  • Germany and Finland in World War II. Genesis and failure of a military alliance. 1st edition. Military publishing house of the German Democratic Republic, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-327-00505-2 .
  • and Olli Kaikkonen (ed.): Germany and Finland 1871-1914. Politics, economy, public opinion. Joensuun Yliopisto, Joensuu 1992, ISBN 9517080697 .
  • Finland's Winter War 1939-40. In: Communitas et dominium: Festschrift for the 75th birthday of Johannes Schildhauer , Großbarkau 1994, pp. 174–185.
  • and Dörte Putensen (ed.): Finland and Germany. Research on the history of the two countries and their relations; Protocol volume of the third German-Finnish historians seminar at Spyker Castle (Rügen) from September 15 to 19, 1993. Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3860644742 .
  • Mannerheim - the savior of Finland? . In: Fateful Times, Berlin-Verlag Arno Spitz, Berlin 1997, pp. 60–71.
  • Finland - The way to peace. In: End of the war in Europe: from the beginning of the German collapse of power to the stabilization of the post-war order 1944 - 1948, ed. by Ulrich Herbert / Axel Schildt, Essen 1998, pp. 279-300.
  • German-Finnish "brotherhood in arms" and economic cooperation. In: War and Economy. Studies on German Economic History 1939-1945, ed. von Dietrich Eichholtz, Berlin 1999, pp. 299-323.
  • and Burkhart E. Poser (ed.): Finland in view. Historical and contemporary studies; Festschrift for Dörte Putensen. SAXA, Berlin 2014, ISBN 9783939060482 .
  • Franz Mehring. In: Biographisches Lexikon für Pommern, Vol. 1, ed. by Dirk Alvermann and Nils Jörn, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2013, ISBN 978-3-412-20936-0 , pp. 183-189.
  • The evacuation and resettlement of the Karelians during and in the aftermath of the Second World War. In: Dynamics of Violence: War in the field of tension between politics, ideology and society; Festschrift for Bernd Wegner. Schöningh, Paderborn 2015, ISBN 3-506-77939-7 , pp. 90-101.
  • Schildhauer, Johannes. In: Biographisches Lexikon für Pommern, Vol. 2, ed. by Dirk Avermann and Nils Jörn, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne / Weimar / Vienna 2015, ISBN 978-3-412-22541-4 , pp. 238–242.
  • Saksan Pro Finlandia-adressi 1899. Den tyska -adressen Pro Finlandia 1899, in: Pro Finlandia. Suomen tie itsenäisyyten. 2, Näkökulma: Saksa, Iso-Britannia, Itävalta ja Unkari. Toimittaneet / Editors: Jussi Nuorteva & Pertti Hakala. Kansallisarkisto / Riksarkivet. Helsinki: Edita 2015, ISSN 1795-9683; 18: 2, pp. 256-263.
  • From Hofmeister to Schildhauer. The Historical Institute of the University of Greifswald in a time of upheaval (1949-1962), in: Ene vruntlike tohopesate. Contributions to the history of Pomerania, the Baltic Sea region and the Hanseatic League. Festschrift for Horst Wernicke on his 65th birthday, ed. by Sonja Birli, Nils Jörn, Christian Peplow, Haik Thomas Porada, Dirk Schleinert (series of the David Mevius Society, vol. 12), Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2016, ISSN 1864-0923, pp. 329–354.

literature

  • Manfred Menger on his 65th birthday . In: German-Finnish Society (Hrsg.): Pro Finlandia 2001. Festschrift for Manfred Menger. Warnke, Reinbek 2001, ISBN 3980664422 , pp. 22-28.
  • Lothar Mertens: Lexicon of the GDR historians. Biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic. KG Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X , p. 422 f.
  • Werner Röhr: Processing. The end of the history of the GDR. Volume 1. Analysis of a Destruction. Edition Organon, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-931034-14-6 , pp. 173f .; 437-440.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Manfred Menger on his 65th birthday . In: German-Finnish Society e. V. (Ed.): Pro Finlandia 2001. Festschrift for Manfred Menger . Warnke, Reinbek 2001, p. 22 f. After Lothar Mertens : Lexicon of the GDR historians. Biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic . KG Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X , p. 422, Menger attended the workers and farmers faculty in Halle (Saale) and studied history in Leipzig.
  2. ^ Manfred Menger on his 65th birthday . In: German-Finnish Society e. V. (Ed.): Pro Finlandia 2001. Festschrift for Manfred Menger . Warnke, Reinbek 2001, p. 25 f.
personal data
SURNAME Menger, Manfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Meuselbach