Walter Heinich

Walter Heinich (born June 8, 1876 in Gersdorf bei Roßwein; † December 16, 1940 in Rähnitz-Hellerau ) was a German postal worker, local clerk and city ​​councilor of the Neusalza-Spremberg community and author of regional history topics in Upper Lusatia .

Life

Little has been known about Walter Heinich's personality to this day. From the few reports, especially in regional press organs in Upper Lusatia, it can be inferred that Walter Heinich came from "an old west Saxon peasant family". The farmer's son, who grew up in imperial-Wilhelmine Germany, did not see his development in the local Saxon agriculture like his parents, but chose the soldier path after attending elementary school . The young Heinich undertook a twelve-year service with the Royal Saxon Army. After completing his military service around 1904, his professional development began at the Deutsche Reichspost . He was employed at the Royal Saxon Post Office in the city of Neusalza. He worked for the Post for ten years when the First World War (1914–1918) broke out. It was drafted and he took part in the war as a sergeant lieutenant . In the course of the war, however, he suffered a serious backbone injury from shrapnel and was dismissed as unfit for service. The injury forced Walter Heinich, who has meanwhile been promoted to senior postal assistant , to retire early. Since he was very interested in history, he continued to educate himself in the field of knowledge. He defied his illness through tireless studies in archives for further research into the local and regional history of the new home Upper Lusatia, in particular his long-standing places of activity in Neusalza and Spremberg. His first work was created in those years.

Create

In the last year of the war, 1918, the historical autodidact Walter Heinich was able to present the local history publication "An attempt at a local history of the church village Spremberg ..." to the public as a result of his extensive research. With conscientiousness and care, he had succeeded in outlining the events of almost 700 years in the rural community in the Oberlausitzer Bergland . Even today, his findings and investigations prove to be a fairly reliable source, with few exceptions. When during the time of the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) the two neighboring communities Neusalza and Spremberg merged to form the city of Neusalza-Spremberg on February 15, 1920, he took an active part as a city councilor in the further local political developments. In 1925 and 1926 he was even head of the city ​​council . Since he was significantly involved in the process of unifying the rural community of Spremberg with the small town of Neusalza and reported on it on site, he established himself after the Neusalza city chronicler and regional historian Gustav Hermann Schulze (1833–1901) as the recognized local historian of the city of Neusalza-Spremberg between the two world wars . He also tried his hand at writing local history plays.

In addition to the communal offices, he devoted himself passionately to further historical research and publishing. From 1927 to 1935 Heinich was a member of the renowned Upper Lusatian Society of Sciences in Görlitz and thus became known in scientific circles. The scientific work, however, brought arduous expenses for the hobby researcher Heinich, who was severely impaired in terms of health. B. trips to the archives in Bautzen , Görlitz and Dresden . At the age of 56 he therefore moved (1932) from Neusalza-Spremberg to Rähnitz-Hellerau, a district of Dresden. Heinich's research facility, the Dresden State Archives, today the Saxon Main State Archives Dresden, was now much easier to reach for him. The "Heimat- und Verkehrsverein" Neusalza-Spremberg appointed Walter Heinich an honorary member on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary in 1936 for his services to research into local history. During the Second World War (1939-1945) he died at the age of 64 from the aftermath of his war injury from the First World War on December 16, 1940 in Rähnitz-Hellerau. "Death had taken the pen out of the hands of the indefatigable, unfortunately much too early," the press judged him. W. Heinich enriched the history of Upper Lusatia and Saxony with his writings on rare historical subjects. The closer family relationships of Heinich and his house in Neusalza-Spremberg could not be determined to this day. June 8, 2016 was his 140th birthday. The historian Walter Heinich should not be confused with the Sudeten German economist Walter Heinrich (1902–1984).

Works (selection)

• Spremberg - Attempt on a local history of the parish village Spremberg in the Saxon Upper Lusatia. Spremberg 1918.
• Back in the day (stage play). Schirgiswalde 1925.
• The Franconian Hufe in Upper Lusatia. In: Neues Lausitzisches Magazin (NLM), Vol. 102, Görlitz 1926.
• The family name Heinich. In: Familiengeschichtliche Blätter, Vol. 27, Leipzig 1927.
• The drudgery in Wendish care. In: Oberlausitzer Heimatzeitung No. 14/1928.
• The Kaiserstrasse. In: Bautzener Geschichtshefte (BGH), No. VII / 2, Bautzen 1929.
• Königshufen, Waldhufen and Saxon fields. In: New Archive for Saxon History , No. 51/1930.
• The family names in the area of ​​Pegau 1532. In: Familiengeschichtliche Blätter, Bd. 29, Leipzig 1931.
• Wiprecht von Groitzsch and its settlements. In: Mitteldeutsche Heimat, issue 8/1932.
• Contributions to road science in Upper Lusatia. In: Bautzener Geschichtshefte (BGH), No. 2. Bautzen 1935.

literature

• Gunther Leupolt : To the union of Neusalza and Spremberg . In: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg, Vol. 1. Ed .: Kultur- und Heimatfreunde Neusalza-Spremberg eV 1999, S, 80–83
• Lutz Mohr : Neusalza-Spremberg. A small town in Upper Lusatia… . Series: History and stories from Neusalza-Spremberg. Special edition No. 1, Greifswald u. Neusalza-Spremberg 2012
• Horst Wagner u. Günter Hensel: Local history interest group. In memory of Walter Heinich (June 8, 1876 - December 16, 1940) . In: Official journal of the administrative association for the city of Neusalza-Spremberg with the district Friedersdorf and the communities Dürrhennersdorf and Schönbach. 21/2016/2 (February), pp. 5-6
• Lutz Mohr and Eberhard W. Winkler: Explanations on the land map by Walter Heinich (1918) . In: Official Journal of the Administrative Community for the City of Neusalza-Spremberg ..., Vol. 16, Issue 12 (December) 2011, p. 11, 1 sketch
• Lutz Mohr: Neusalza-Spremberg. A journey through time 1242-2017 . Anniversary edition. Author and publishing service Frank Nürnberger ( Oberlausitzer Verlag ), Spitzkunnersdorf 2017, chapter: Excursus on the division of land in Spremberg (with Neusalza) from 1918/19 , p. 73f

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} cf. H. Wagner, G. Hensel: Interest group local history. Remembering Walter Heinich ... 2016, p. 5
2. ↑ Cf. Mohr, Lutz: Neusalza-Spremberg. A small town in Upper Lusatia ... p. 46
3. ↑ Cf. Neugersdorfer Zeitung, edition of December 30, 1940, obituary by "Fö" [Alfred Förster]