Robert-Hermann Tenbrock

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Robert-Hermann Tenbrock (born April 2, 1908 in Gelsenkirchen- Horst, † November 23, 1995 in Mainz ) was a German historian, writer and teacher.

Life

Robert-Hermann Tenbrock was the first son of the accountant Engelbert Tenbrock and his wife Anna. From 1914 to 1919 he attended elementary school in Selm , then a grammar school in Dülmen . In 1922 he switched to the convent school in Hiltrup . In 1927 he graduated from high school as an external student in Münster and began studying history , philosophy , art history and English at the Westphalian Wilhelms University in Münster . After a few semesters at universities in Vienna, Freiburg and Frankfurt, he passed the philological state examination in Münster in 1932 and obtained his doctorate the following year on the subject of "Marriage Law and Marriage Policy at Innocenz III".

From 1933 he worked at the Monumenta Germaniae Historica in Berlin. Even then he was critical of the Nazi regime , so he saw no perspective in the academic field and switched to teaching. In 1936 he got a job at the Marienlyzeum in Gelsenkirchen. In the same year he married Cäcilie Möller, in 1939 he had a daughter. After the outbreak of the Second World War he was initially released as an English interpreter and later became an interrogation and intelligence officer with the rank of lieutenant. During the Allied invasion in 1944 , he was employed as a specialist in interrogating prisoners of war in France until he was captured by the British in Cherbourg.

"German history. From primeval times to 1945 "

With the approval of the British, Tenbrock organized English courses for his fellow prisoners and gave lectures on German history. His book "German History." Was created from concepts for his lectures and discussion notes. From primeval times to 1945 ”. It appeared with a foreword dated November 1945, probably in the same year. The book was printed on behalf of the globally active YMCA , according to the imprint exclusively for German prisoners of war. It should offer an overview of German history from the Paleolithic to the immediate past. The foreword begins with the explanation:

“This representation of German history was created while a prisoner of war. The preliminary work, however, goes back to the time before the war. Even then I tried to get an objective picture of the tragic German development over the last few decades. [...] This is an attempt to look at the development of German history, especially in recent times, as a whole with its pernicious consistency for our people. Individual events, especially in Prussian history, have led me [...] to the view that it is not always possible to understand certain characters and events only in the context of their time. "

While in captivity, Tenbrock met Karl-Eduard von Schnitzler , among others , who had already developed sympathy for communism before Hitler came to power and who has meanwhile edited BBC articles entitled “This is where German prisoners of war speak to home”. Schnitzler argued violently with Tenbrock about political issues and finally threatened him with death if he should later fall into his hands in Germany. However, that did not happen. Schnitzler went to the Soviet occupation zone in 1947 and later moderated the Black Channel there for many years , which earned him the name "Sudel-Ede" among the population.

post war period

In 1946 Tenbrock was released from captivity, returned to Germany and resumed school work, initially at the Geschwister-Scholl-Gymnasium in Lüdenscheid . In 1949 Ferdinand Schöningh published a second, completely revised edition of his book on German history and a summary of what he saw as the most important events in three issues as "History in Numbers", of which the fifth edition was printed in 1950, now in one volume . In the same year Tenbrock moved to the boys' high school in Wanne-Eickel . In 1951 his first marriage was divorced, in 1952 he married Ulrike Selter, a former student.

In the 1950s he published other textbooks for teaching history. Shortly after the birth of his son, he took over the management of the German School in Istanbul in 1956 , but had to give it up again in 1960 due to disputes over competence. Through the mediation of the social democratic education politician Ernst Schütte , he became director of the Leibniz Gymnasium in Wiesbaden at the beginning of 1961. At the same time he resumed his work as a textbook author. In 1969 he donated the Robert Hermann Tenbrock Prize, endowed with 4,000 DM, “for an exemplary didactic-methodological presentation of the history of the European family of nations based on the latest results of scientific research in a history work designed for schoolchildren, regardless of the type of school special consideration of the economic and political integration efforts of the recent past ”, which was awarded for the first time in 1972. On the occasion of the first award ceremony, Tenbrock stated:

“I never thought that school, textbooks and education could change the world. But I am of the opinion that they could succeed in breaking down prejudices in young people and making them think from the point of view of history about where the origins of a certain, predominant […] thought, behavior and action could have been and what conclusions can be drawn from this [...] in relation not only to one's own people, but also to other peoples. "

For his educational work he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st class . He spent the last years of his life in Mainz, where he died in 1995 at the age of 87.

Works

  • "Marriage Law and Marriage Policy at Innocenz III" , Halbach, 1933
  • “German history from primeval times to 1945” , Aid for POWs of the World Federation of Christian Associations of Young Men in England, 1945
  • "Times and People" (ed.), Schöningh & Schroedel Verlag, Paderborn, 1965 ff.
  • "A History of Germany" , Hueber, 1968
  • “Non-German Constitutions” , Schöningh & Schroedel Verlag, Paderborn, 1974

Awards

Web links

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personal data
SURNAME Tenbrock, Robert-Hermann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian, author and teacher
DATE OF BIRTH April 2, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH Gelsenkirchen
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1995
Place of death Mainz