Otto Oesterhelt

Otto Oesterhelt (born September 2, 1883 in Zitzschewig , † February 13, 1945 in Dresden ; birth name: Otto Israel , changed in 1933 with the consent of the NSDAP) was a German geodesist and professor at the Technical University of Dresden .

Life

After attending the Chemnitz Business Academy in 1902 , Oesterhelt studied geodesy from 1905 at the Technical University of Dresden and at the University of Leipzig . In Dresden he became a member of the Corps Thuringia . In 1911 he became an assistant at the Geodetic Institute in Dresden, and received his doctorate there the following year.

He then went on a research trip to western China and Tibet in 1913 . 1914/1915 he was Professor of Geodesy at the State University of Tibet ; In 1915 a lectureship followed in Shanghai .

Back in Germany, from 1919 to 1923 he was senior assistant and private lecturer at the Geodetic Institute of the TH Dresden, where he completed his habilitation in 1921. In 1923 he was appointed associate professor and in 1932 at the same chair as extraordinary professor for higher geodesy and cadastral science. Since 1930 he was a member of the NSDAP . In November 1933 he signed the German professors' confession of Adolf Hitler . After the National Socialist "seizure of power", Oesterhelt took over a number of political offices. Among other things, he was NS city ​​councilor , chairman of the NS teachers' association at the TH Dresden and head of the district office for educators and founder of the German Adult Education Center in Dresden. From 1936 he was head of the teaching staff at the TH Dresden.

Victor Klemperer wrote about the name change from Israel to Oesterhelt :

“On January 13, 1934 [announced with] semester circular no. 72 (...) Magnificence (...) that our colleague, the associate professor and National Socialist city councilor of Israel, 'with the permission of the Ministry' used his old name Family again. In the 16th century it was called Oesterhelt, and that was developed in Lusatia via Uesterhelt, Isterhal (also Isterheil and Osterheil), Istrael, Isserel and others through mutilation to Israel. "

From 1935 until his death in 1945 he was full professor of the newly created chair for trigonometry , higher geodesy and cadastral science in Dresden. In addition, in 1941 he temporarily took over the chair for surveying and photogrammetry at the same university. Oesterhelt died of an oak falling over in the Great Garden during the Allied air raids on Dresden .

Works

• Route recordings in West Szetschwan: The Sifan Mountains in the Sino-Tibetan border area according to the topographical results of the Stötzner expedition in 1914 (= Petermann's geographical communications: supplementary booklet; 235 = Erg.-Bd. 52). Perthes, Gotha 1938.

literature

• Michael Grüttner : Biographical Lexicon on National Socialist Science Policy (= Studies on Science and University History. Volume 6). Synchron, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-935025-68-8 , p. 126.
• Dorit Petschel : 175 years of TU Dresden. Volume 3: The professors of the TU Dresden 1828–2003. Edited on behalf of the Society of Friends and Supporters of the TU Dresden e. V. von Reiner Pommerin, Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-412-02503-8 , p. 693.
• Reiner Pommerin : 175 years of TU Dresden. Volume 1: History of the TU Dresden 1828–2003. Edited on behalf of the Society of Friends and Supporters of the TU Dresden e. V. von Reiner Pommerin, Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-412-02303-5 , pp. 170–172 ( limited preview in Google book search).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Address list of the Weinheimer SC. 1928, p. 123.
2. ↑ Michael Grüttner : Biographical Lexicon for National Socialist Science Policy (= Studies on Science and University History. Volume 6). Synchron, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-935025-68-8 , p. 126.
3. ^ Victor Klemperer: LTI, Leipzig 1975, p. 81.