Otto Heinrich May

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Otto Heinrich May (born February 1, 1887 in Bremerhaven , † June 19, 1977 in Kassel ) was a German historian and librarian . May was director of the former Royal and Provincial Library (from 1947 Lower Saxony State Library, today Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library ) in Hanover from 1927 to 1952 .

Life

Born as the son of the Bremerhaven textile merchant Otto May, he studied history, German and English in Tübingen, Munich and Göttingen after attending school in Bremerhaven. During his studies in 1906 he became a member of the Tübingen fraternity Derendingia . He received his doctorate in 1912 in Göttingen on the subject of "Investigations into the document system of the Archbishops of Bremen in the XIIIth Century (1210–1306)". After a traineeship in 1914 at the Giessen University Library, he was an officer in the First World War from 1914 to 1919, and a librarian at the Hamburg State and University Library from 1919 to 1921. From 1921 he was library councilor at the formerly Royal and Provincial Library (Lower Saxony State Library) Hanover, 1927–1952 its director. May lived in Kassel since 1971.

As a civil servant he was ready to adapt: ​​if he had praised the American, Swedish and Danish libraries before 1933 (in an article in the Hannoversche Kurier on the “Day of the Book” on March 22, 1929), he published after 1933 - after all as Director of the library, which kept the estate of the philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - for Nazi daily newspapers and magazines articles such as "Leibniz und Hannover" (Lower Saxony daily newspaper (subtitle: "Kampfblatt für den Nationalozialismus") from 15/16 September 1934 ), "Leibniz und der Wehrgedanke" (Niedersächsische Tages-Zeitung of October 17/18, 1936) or "Leibniz und die Heeresversorgung" (magazine for army administration, published by the Army High Command, June 5, 1940). In 1933 he had "Marxist and Jewish literature" sorted out, selection lists of Nazi literature ("Special directory on the literature on the national movement and the National Socialist Revolution") produced and the so-called " Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service " put into practice by the two Jewish library employees Paula Blank and Werner Kraft reported to the provincial administration as "non-Aryans" under § 3 of the law. He also took care of the “community reception” of “Führer speeches” by staff and library users.

On the other hand, one can admit that in the difficult times of bombing and the economy of shortages of the 1940s he fulfilled his official duties just as reliably. With great care and thanks to good connections, he made sure that the library treasures entrusted to him as director were protected from destruction and robbery. He had them moved to safety in good time by relocating them and in the immediate post-war period, when the danger threatened from another direction - namely the threatened occupation of the Michaelstein monastery by Soviet troops - he was able to arrange for the stocks to be transported back at the last minute . (May reported on this in detail in his memoirs "War and Post-War Fates of the Lower Saxony State Library in Hanover".)

His doctoral thesis, the Archbishops of Bremen, remained May's scientific specialty as a historian. The 1st delivery of the 1st volume of the "Regest of the Archbishops" of Bremen, which May had edited himself, appeared as early as 1928. The second delivery appeared in 1933, the work was not continued until 1953, but then no longer by May.

Works (selection)

  • The war and post-war fate of the Lower Saxony State Library in Hanover (1939–1950). According to diary entries, extracts from files, experiences and findings. Hildesheim 1968.
  • Regest of the Archbishops of Bremen. Edited by Otto Heinrich May. Hanover 1928 (Publications of the Historical Commission for the Province of Hanover, Oldenburg, Braunschweig, Schaumburg-Lippe and Bremen. 11).
  • Lower Saxony images of life. On behalf of the Historical Commission ed. by Otto Heinrich May and Edgar Kalthoff. Volumes 1-9. Hildesheim 1939-1967 (May edited volumes 1-5).

Literature (selection)

  • Alexandra Habermann, Rainer Klemmt; Frauke Siefkes: Lexicon of German Scientific Librarians 1925–1980 . Frankfurt am Main 1985 (ZfBB. Special issue 42), p. 211.
  • Hartmut Bickelmann : May, Otto Heinrich. In: Bremerhaven personalities from four centuries . A biographical lexicon. Hartmut Bickelmann (ed.). 2., ext. and corrected edition Bremerhaven 2003, pp. 215-216.
  • Gerd van den Heuvel: Leibniz as a jubilee . The Leibniz picture of the 19th and 20th centuries in the mirror of memorial days (1846–1946). In: Hannoversche Geschichtsblätter. NF 51 (1997) pp. 313-334.
  • Anne-Katrin Henkel: About war and books . Evacuation, repatriation and confiscation of library holdings from the formerly Royal and Provincial Library in Hanover during and after the Second World War. Hameln 2011. (Writings. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library. 5)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Willy Nolte (Ed.): Burschenschafter Stammrolle. List of members of the German Burschenschaft according to the status of the summer semester 1934. Berlin 1934. p. 317.
personal data
SURNAME May, Otto Heinrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German librarian and historian
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Bremerhaven
DATE OF DEATH June 19, 1977
Place of death kassel