Walter Kucharski

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Walter Kucharski (born June 20, 1887 in Friedrichshof ( East Prussia ), † November 11, 1958 in Berlin ) was Professor of Mechanics and Rector at the Technical University of Berlin (from 1945 Technical University of Berlin ).

Life

Kucharski worked in industry until 1931, most recently as a department head at Deutsche Werft in Hamburg. From April 1931 Kucharski taught as a full professor of mechanics at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Berlin. From 1939 he was also obliged as a full professor in the same subject in the Faculty of Civil Engineering (Faculty II) and from the winter semester 1942/42 also in Faculty IIa Civil Engineering .

Walter Kucharski is the father of Heinz Kucharski , who played a central role in the "Hamburg branch of the White Rose ".

Rectorate

After returning from Soviet captivity, Kucharski was a member of a working committee “to prepare for the reopening of the Technical University” that had been formed in May 1945 with Gustav Hertz , Max Volmer , Werner Hahmann and others. On June 2, 1945, Gustav Hertz and Max Volmer were first elected rector and prorector respectively. After they accepted the offer to do research in the Soviet Union in the future, Georg Schnadel was elected as acting rector and Walter Kucharski as acting prorector. When Schnadel did not return from a stay in West Germany, Kucharski was appointed (initially provisional) rector in January 1946.

Kucharski defined his university policy as "anti-fascist" and "anti-militarist". In his own words, he was open to "union and socialist aspirations". According to his ideas, the university should not produce “narrow-minded specialists”, but “full-fledged personalities”. This program did not have a majority in the teaching staff of the TU Berlin. Kucharski lost the support of his colleagues and had to resign as rector in September 1947.

literature

  • Wer ist’s , 10th edition, edited by Herrmann AL Degener , Berlin 1935, p. 903.
  • Peter Brandt : Reconstruction and Reform. The Technical University of Berlin 1945–1950 , in: Reinhard Rürup (ed.), Science and Society. Contributions to the history of the Technical University of Berlin 1879–1979 , Vol. 1, Berlin 1979, pp. 495–522.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Oskar Blumentritt: Max Volmer (1885–1965). A biography , Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin 1985, ISBN 3-7983-1053-X , 1985, p. 50 ff.
  2. ^ Peter Brandt: Reconstruction and Reform. The Technical University of Berlin 1945–1950 , in: Reinhard Rürup (ed.), Science and Society. Contributions to the history of the Technical University of Berlin 1879–1979 , Vol. 1, Berlin 1979, p. 508 ff.
personal data
SURNAME Kucharski, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mechanical engineer, civil engineer, university professor and rector
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Friedrichshof (East Prussia)
DATE OF DEATH November 11, 1958
Place of death Berlin