Otto Sickert

Otto Wilhelm Sickert (born February 19, 1909 in London , † December 19, 2001 in Hamburg ) was an engineer and teacher .

Life

Otto Sickert was the son of a hairdresser. He lived in London until 1918, when the family was expelled from England. Otto Sickert attended schools in Blexersande and Nordenham and passed the Abitur examination in Hamburg in autumn 1927. The Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes financed a scholarship for him to study engineering, which he completed at the Technical University of Berlin . In 1932/32 Sickert took over a branch of the foundation, which was located in Charlottenburg . In March 1993, the Gestapo denounced Sickert, who had expressed himself critical of the regime and had to leave the Foundation one year later. For this reason he had considerable problems being able to earn a living, but nevertheless finished his studies in 1935 with a diploma. For political reasons, he was unable to work in the public service. Because of this, he worked in the private sector. From 1940 to 1945 Sickert was forced to do military service. After the end of the Second World War , he worked for the British military administration from 1945.

In 1942, Sickert made the decision to become a teacher. The reason for this was the experience he had gained during the time of National Socialism. In 1946/47 he took a special course offered by the Hamburg school authorities. In 1949 he received the title of unscheduled teacher, in 1951 he passed the second exam and was thus a primary school teacher. From January 1948 to 1968 Sickert taught at the Jenaplan School in Wellingsbüttel , which is now known as the Irena Sendler School. He was then transferred to the home economics school in Hamburg-Volksdorf . Here he taught math, physics, English and Russian. He encouraged particularly talented students who dealt with higher kinds of arithmetic. He also developed intelligence tests and the associated implementation models as well as test methods for teaching. His commitment in this area can be seen as a pioneering achievement at Hamburg schools.

From 1956 to 1964 Sickert taught English in advanced teacher training. In 1974 Sickert retired and then taught for two more years at the Volksdorf school and the Alsterdorfer Anstalten . From 1976 to 1985 he taught English at the Duvenstedt Adult Education Center. Since 1947 he was a member of the Society of Friends of the Patriotic School and Education System . In 1975 he resigned from membership due to disputes over content.

literature

• Rainer Hering: Sickert, Otto . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 358-359 .