Walter Platzhoff

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Walter Platzhoff (born September 27, 1881 in Elberfeld , † August 9, 1969 in Hanau ) was a German historian and rector of the University of Frankfurt am Main from 1934 to 1944.

Life

The son of a jeweler studied history in Greifswald , Halle an der Saale , Berlin and Bonn since 1901 . He received his doctorate in 1905 and completed his habilitation in 1912 at the University of Bonn with Friedrich von Bezold . Platzhoff took part in the First World War as a medic in 1915/16 and received the Iron Cross . In 1919 he was appointed a non-official extraordinary professor in Bonn.

The Weimar Republic refused Platzhoff what he publicly manifested in speeches. At the University of Frankfurt am Main in 1923 he was given a full professorship for Middle and Modern History. From August 1934 to 1944, Platzhoff succeeded Ernst Krieck as Rector of the University of Frankfurt. During this time he changed from a historian to a science functionary. As rector, he skilfully helped to prevent the closure of Frankfurt University. In 1937 he took over the chairmanship of the German Association of Historians . During the war, Platzhoff became, together with Theodor Mayer, head of the history department in the “War Deployment of the Humanities”, the “ Ritterbusch Action ”. In March 1941 he was a guest at the opening ceremony of Alfred Rosenberg's Institute for Research into the Jewish Question . Platzhoff was one of the best-paid historians in Germany.

Platzhoff was a supporting member of the SS since 1933, in the NSLB and NS-Dozentbund since 1934 and in the NSDAP since 1937.

In 1945 Platzhoff was fired for political reasons. From then on he lived in Hanau, where he had married the wealthy factory owner's daughter Kathinka Heraeus (1896–1981) as early as 1923 . In 1948 he was classified as a "fellow traveler" in the arbitration chamber proceedings.

Platzhoff was a specialist in French history and wrote important manuals. As rector, he had little time for historical publications.

Fonts (selection)

  • France and the German Protestants 1570–1573 , Munich / Berlin 1912.
  • Hubert Languet's legation reports as a historical source and as a mirror of his personality , in: Historische Zeitschrift 113, 1914, pp. 505–539 ( digitized in the Internet Archive).
  • Bismarck's peace policy , Bonn 1923.
  • History of the European State System 1559–1660 , Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1928.
  • Chronicle of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main for the period from April 1, 1933 to March 31, 1939 , Frankfurt am Main 1939.
  • England and the Peace of Utrecht , in: Historische Zeitschrift 167, 1943, pp. 497-510.

literature

  • Michael Grüttner : Biographical lexicon on National Socialist science policy. Synchron, Heidelberg 2004, ISBN 3-935025-68-8 , p. 131.
  • Notker Hammerstein : The Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. From a foundation university to a state university. Vol. 1: 1914-1950 , Neuwied / Frankfurt 1989, pp. 449-457.
  • Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945? Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 464.
  • Carsten Kretschmann: Commitment to Germany? The historians Walter Platzhoff and Paul Kirn in the “Third Reich”. In: Jörn Kobes, Jan-O. Hesse (ed.): Frankfurt scientists between 1933 and 1945. Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, pp. 5–32 ( preview on Google books).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carsten Kretschmann: Commitment to Germany? The historians Walter Platzhoff and Paul Kirn in the “Third Reich” . In: Jörn Kobes, Jan-O. Hesse (ed.): Frankfurt scientists between 1933 and 1945 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2008, p. 5 .
personal data
SURNAME Platzhoff, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and university professor
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1881
PLACE OF BIRTH Elberfeld
DATE OF DEATH 9th August 1969
Place of death Hanau