Urania - Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge

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The Urania - Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge was originally founded as a society for the dissemination of scientific knowledge on June 17, 1954 in the culture house of the people's own company (VEB) Kabelwerk Oberspree in East Berlin and existed in the GDR until its dissolution in 1990 . The task and aim of this organization was to educate the GDR population, especially in the areas of natural sciences , technology , medicine , economics and other areas of social sciences . From January 1966, the Society for the Dissemination of Scientific Knowledge received the additional name Urania , which was used as a written short name in capital letters URANIA for the Society until it was dissolved.

Above all, URANIA campaigned for a generally understandable dissemination of scientific knowledge and new technologies as well as a popularization of the sciences. For this purpose, she used, among other things, radio broadcasts on television in the GDR and on the youth radio station DT64 , for example under the titles Urania and Neue Fernseh-Urania . In addition, she published popular science publications and was a further training provider for the school teaching staff. She also organized series of lectures, panel discussions and individual events on relevant topics. With this she took over important tasks from the adult education centers in the GDR . The Urania Universum book series , the journal Wissen und Leben and the magazine Urania, published together with the Kulturbund der DDR , were among the most important publications of the associated Urania publishing house , which was initially based in Berlin and from 1963 in Leipzig .

URANIA donated the Ernst Haeckel Medal , which was awarded from 1981, as the highest honor .

After German reunification , a number of local Urania associations emerged from the company in the new federal states , which in 1991 founded the “Federal Association of New Urania”.

literature

  • Andreas Herbst (eds.), Winfried Ranke, Jürgen Winkler: This is how the GDR worked. Volume 2: Lexicon of Organizations and Institutions (M – Z) (= rororo manual. Volume 6349). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-499-16349-7 , pp. 1066-1069.
  • Maria Nühlen: Adult Education in the GDR. In: Dies .: Adult Education and Philosophy. Historical review and the challenge for the future (=  texts on the theory and history of education. Volume 28). LIT Verlag, Münster 2010, ISBN 3-64-310110-4 , pp. 132–156 (especially section Urania , pp. 145–147).
  • Jan H. Olbertz : Between system-relatedness and variability - adult education in the GDR. In: Heinz-Hermann Krüger , Winfried Marotzki (Hrsg.): Pedagogy and everyday upbringing in the GDR. Between system requirements and plurality. (=  Studies on educational science and educational research. Volume 2). Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1994, ISBN 3-32-299776-6 , pp. 295-320 (in particular section Die Urania , pp. 311-315).
  • Horst Siebert : Adult Education in the GDR. In: Josef Olbrich: History of adult education in Germany. Leske + Budrich, Opladen 2001, ISBN 3-8100-3349-9 , pp. 271–303 (in particular section popularization of science , pp. 283–287).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Olbertz: Between system-relatedness and variability. P. 315.
  2. ↑ ' Andreas Herbst (Eds.), Winfried Ranke, Jürgen Winkler: This is how the GDR worked. Volume 2: Lexicon of Organizations and Institutions (M – Z) (= rororo manual. Volume 6349). Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-499-16349-7 , p. 1067
  3. ↑ Pioneer of Scientific Truth in New Germany, August 3, 2019 (link for a fee)