Otto Lerche

Otto Lerche (born December 16, 1885 in Braunschweig , † September 10, 1954 in Palermo ) was a German teacher, librarian and archivist .

Life

After finishing school, Lerche completed a pedagogical training. He studied history, German philology and theology at the University of Göttingen and then worked as a teacher and senior teacher. From 1911 to 1913 he worked as a laborer at the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel . Then he was a senior teacher at the Cecilienschule in Berlin-Wilmersdorf. Lerche graduated as Dr. phil. and was director of the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel from 1921 until his impeachment in 1923.

Scandal and impeachment

At the age of 37, Lerche was prematurely retired on July 1, 1923 on the basis of Section 129 III of the Braunschweig State Civil Service Act. The reasons for this were various misconduct and legal violations.

For a long time Lerche had sold books from his private collection under a different name ("Meier") to the Herzog August Library, whereby he himself, as its director, granted the permits for these purchases; basically selling the books to himself. In addition, there were irregularities in the sale of duplicates from the HAB, including valuable incunabula . These sales took place without any checking or labeling and without the creation of dispensing lists.

Furthermore, for various reasons, there was considerable interpersonal irritation between Lerche and his few subordinates, the authoritarian leadership style, an extremely sharp German-national party direction, and sexual harassment of the library secretary at evening gatherings in a guest house, in which the few were obliged by Lerche to attend , accused. All of this ultimately led to Lerche being given leave of absence on February 19, 1923 and, after a criminal offense and conviction, removed from office on July 1, 1923, which also led to the fact that he lost all entitlement to his retirement benefits . On June 7, 1923, Lerche had already been convicted of forgery of documents by the 2nd criminal chamber of the Braunschweig Regional Court for his bogus book sales to the HAB .

The various legal proceedings and convictions at the time attracted a great deal of media attention and damaged the reputation of the Herzog August Library considerably, so that over a period of more than 50 years until 1978 neither Lerches name nor his activities and misconduct during the time at the HAB in library history literature were only mentioned ( Damnatio memoriae ).

Lerche then worked as a freelance writer and as a regional church archivist in Berlin.

His (provisional) successor at the HAB was Heinrich Schneider , who held the office until 1926.

Works (selection)

100 years of the Gustav-Adolf-Verein , Saxon. Verlagsges., Leipzig 1932.

literature

Libraries in the service of science. Festschrift for Wilhelm Totok for his 65th birthday on September 12, 1986 , 1986.

Individual evidence

↑ Paul Schwenke , Georg Leyh , Joris Vorstius (ed.): Zentralblatt für Bibliotekswesen. Volume 40, O. Harrassowitz 1923, p. 584.
^ ^A ^b Georg Ruppelt : A library scandal 90 years ago. on bit-online.de (pdf)
↑ Julia Freifrau Hiller von Gaertringen : This library is not obliged to anything except to itself: Erhart Kästner as director of the Herzog August Library 1950–1968. Harrassowitz 2009, p. 153.
↑ Felicitas Hundhausen : Heinrich Schneider. Librarian and scholar. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03732-6 , p. 32.
^ Wilhelm Totok , Reinhard Oberschelp , Karl-Heinz Weimann : Libraries in the service of science. Festschrift for Wilhelm Totok on his 65th birthday on September 12, 1986. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-465-01735-8 , p. 144.
^ Georg Ruppelt: From the closed institution to the research library. The metamorphoses of the Herzog August Library in the 20th century. Paul Raabe on his 85th birthday on February 21, 2012. In: Bibliotheksdienst 46th vol. (2012), no. 1, p. 184.
↑ Georg Ruppelt: From the Ducal Library to the Herzog August Library. History of the Wolfenbüttel library from 1920 to 1949. In: Paul Raabe (Hrsg.): Works on the history of the book industry in Germany. Issue 4, Göttingen 1980, pp. 18-19.

personal data
SURNAME	Lark, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German teacher and librarian
DATE OF BIRTH	December 16, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH	Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH	September 10, 1954
Place of death	Palermo

[1] Paul Schwenke , Georg Leyh , Joris Vorstius (ed.): Zentralblatt für Bibliotekswesen. Volume 40, O. Harrassowitz 1923, p. 584.

[Ruppelt-2] A ^b Georg Ruppelt : A library scandal 90 years ago. on bit-online.de (pdf)

[3] Julia Freifrau Hiller von Gaertringen : This library is not obliged to anything except to itself: Erhart Kästner as director of the Herzog August Library 1950–1968. Harrassowitz 2009, p. 153.

[4] Felicitas Hundhausen : Heinrich Schneider. Librarian and scholar. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1995, ISBN 3-447-03732-6 , p. 32.

[5] Wilhelm Totok , Reinhard Oberschelp , Karl-Heinz Weimann : Libraries in the service of science. Festschrift for Wilhelm Totok on his 65th birthday on September 12, 1986. Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-465-01735-8 , p. 144.

[6] Georg Ruppelt: From the closed institution to the research library. The metamorphoses of the Herzog August Library in the 20th century. Paul Raabe on his 85th birthday on February 21, 2012. In: Bibliotheksdienst 46th vol. (2012), no. 1, p. 184.

[7] Georg Ruppelt: From the Ducal Library to the Herzog August Library. History of the Wolfenbüttel library from 1920 to 1949. In: Paul Raabe (Hrsg.): Works on the history of the book industry in Germany. Issue 4, Göttingen 1980, pp. 18-19.