Walter Schmidt (historian)

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Walter Schmidt (born May 11, 1930 in Protsch-Weide, Wroclaw district , Silesia ) is a German historian .

Life

Walter Schmidt comes from an anti-fascist working class family; his father Josef Schmidt was murdered in the Brandenburg-Görden prison on November 8, 1943 for "deceit" and "decomposition of military strength" .

Walter Schmidt attended the elementary school in Auras in the Wohlau district in Silesia from 1936 to 1942 . In order to avoid Napola , he studied from September 1942 to January 1945 at the private teaching institute Dr. Gudenatz / Lobmeier in Breslau . From February to September 1945 he worked as an unskilled worker (patient carrier and blacksmith's assistant) in a front hospital of the Red Army in Auras and then until November 1946 mill worker for the Polish administration in Auras / Uraz.

After moving to Thuringia in November 1946, from January 1947 to summer 1949 he attended the Dr. Theodor-Neubauer-Oberschule Greiz (today Ulf-Merbold-Gymnasium - Staatliches Gymnasium Greiz ) and passed the Abitur .

From 1949 to 1953 he studied history (with Karl Griewank , Friedrich Schneider , Felix-Heinrich Gentzen , Hugo Preller , Karl Heussi ), Slavic / Russian studies (with Reinhold Trautmann , Rudolf Fischer , Gertrud Pätsch ) at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena , Gerhard Ziegengeist, Herbert Krempien), education (with Karl Schrader, Friedrich Winnefeld, Rudolf Lemke , Edith Straube) and philosophy (with Georg Klaus ).

From 1953 to 1962 he worked as a research assistant at the history of the labor movement at the institute (later: Academy for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED ) in Berlin. Here he received his doctorate in 1961 with a biography on Wilhelm Wolff and became a lecturer in 1962 . From 1964 to 1984 he headed the chair in the history of the German labor movement.

Appointed professor with teaching assignment in 1965 , after completing his habilitation with studies on Marx-Engels research and the history of the early workers 'movement, he became full professor for the history of the workers' movement in 1969 . In 1981 he was elected a correspondent and in 1985 a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . From 1965 to 1990 he was Vice President of the Historians' Society of the GDR and was a member of the Commission of Historians of the GDR and the USSR, of which he chaired the German section from 1987 to 1990. From 1984 to 1990 he was director of the Central Institute for History of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR . In 1990 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (Dr. h. C. Phil.) At the Erich Weinert University of Education in Magdeburg .

After the "liquidation" in October 1990, he is in early retirement and since 1995 retired. From 1989/90 to 1993 he was a member of the board of directors of the International Marx-Engels Foundation (IMES), Amsterdam, involved in the continuation of the Marx-Engels Complete Edition (MEGA), and from 1993 to 2016 he was a member of its scientific advisory board. In 1992 he founded the working group “Vormärz- und 1848er Revolutionsforschung”, which has been responsible for the biography series “Actors of Upheaval. Men and Women of the Revolution of 1848/49 ”publishes. He has been a member of the Leibniz Society of Sciences in Berlin since it was founded in 1993.

He was married to Gisela Kerzel since 1953 and has been a widower since 1996. Schmidt has a son, two granddaughters and two great-grandchildren.

Scientific work

Focus of research and publications: Modern German history, with a focus on the history of the revolution of 1848/49 and comparative revolutionary history of the modern age, history of the labor movement of the 19th century and Marx-Engels research, national problems, history of historical studies, history of the fraternity (participation on the eight-volume Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft); Silesian history in the 19th century.

Awards

Publications (selection / independent publications)

  • Wilhelm Wolff. His path to becoming a communist (1809–1846) . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1963.
  • From the early history of the German labor movement . (Co-editor and author), Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1964.
  • History of the German labor movement, volume 1: From the beginnings of the German labor movement to the end of the 19th century. Dietz Verlag Berlin 1966. Author of: The beginnings of the German labor movement, pp. 9–41; The Revolution of 1848/49, pp. 85–168.
  • Historical awareness and socialist society . Edited with Helmut Meier and author. Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1970.
  • Unresolved past. Critique of bourgeois historiography . Edited and author, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1970, 2nd edition 1971, 3rd revised and expanded edition. 1977 edition.
  • The bourgeois-democratic revolution of 1848/49 in Germany. Studies on their history and impact, Vol. 1 and 2 (Yearbook for History Vol. 7 and 8), co-editor and author, Berlin 1972 and 1973.
  • Illustrated history of the German revolution 1848/49 . Collective of authors: Walter Schmidt (leader), Gerhard Becker, Helmut Bleiber, Rolf Dlubek , Siegfried Schmidt , Rolf Weber; and author, Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1973, 2nd edition 1975, 3rd supplemented and revised edition 1988.
  • On the history of the Paris Forward of 1844. Unchanged reprint. With an introduction by Walter Schmidt, Zentralantiquariat der DDR, Leipzig 1975.
  • Studies on the history of the revolution . In connection with Walter Markov , Gerhard Schilfert and Walter Schmidt ed. by Manfred Kossok , Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1976, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1990; repeated author.
  • Wilhelm Wolff. Comrade in arms and friend of Marx and Engels 1846–1864 . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1979.
  • Nation and German history in the bourgeois ideology of the FRG . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1980, Cologne 1980.
  • What you inherited from your fathers ... (together with Helmut Meier). Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1980.
  • Ferdinand Wolff . On the biography of a communist journalist alongside Marx and Engels . Meeting reports of the AdW of the GDR, 3G / 1983, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1983.
  • Member of the editorial board: Study library GDR historical sciences. Edited by the Central Institute for History of the Academy of Sciences of the GDR, Berlin, Vol. 1–10. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1981–1989.
  • German history in twelve volumes , vol. 4: The bourgeois upheaval from 1789 to 1871 . Authors group: Walter Schmidt (leader), Gerhard Becker, Helmut Bleiber, Helmut Bock, Harald Müller, Siegfried Schmidt, Heinrich Scheel, Rolf Weber; and author, Akademie Verlag, Berlin, and Pahl-Rugenstein, Cologne 1984.
  • The constitution of GDR history in the 1950s , reports from the meetings of the AdW of the GDR, 5 / G 1985, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1984.
  • The Marxist image of Luther and the German language (together with Horst Bartel and Rudolf Große), session reports of the AdW of the GDR, 12G / 1983, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1984.
  • Wilhelm Wolff. From Silesia, Prussia and the Reich. Selected writings . Ed. And incorporated. by Walter Schmidt, Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1985.
  • New Rheinische Zeitung . Items. Correspondence. Reports on the French Revolution of 1848/49. Ed. And incorporated. by Walter Schmidt. Philipp Reclam jun., Leipzig 1986.
  • Aspects of the heritage and tradition debate in historical studies , session reports of the AdW of the GDR, 1G / 1988, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1986.
  • Men of the Revolution of 1848 , vol. 2nd ed. With Helmut Bleiber and Rolf Weber and author, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1987.
  • The beginning of the German labor movement. Contributions to the first period of its history 1836–1842 . Studies on history, vol. 10 ed. And author, Berlin 1987.
  • Heritage and tradition in the GDR. The discussion of historians. Edited with Helmut Meier, Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1988.
  • Democracy, anti-fascism and socialism in German history (on the occasion of Heinrich Scheel's 70th birthday ) . Edited with Helmut Bleiber and author, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1988.
  • History of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. Volume 1: From the beginning until 1917, under the direction of Annelies Laschitza . Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1988, author of pages 5-44 and 84-123.
  • Pioneer of the GDR historical studies . Edited with Heinz Heitzer and Karl-Heinz Noack and author, Dietz Verlag, Berlin 1989.
  • Socialism and the Early Labor Movement. (Colloquium on the 60th birthday of Waltraud Seidel-Höppner) . Edited with Gustav Seeber and author. Studies in History, Vol. 15, Berlin 1989.
  • Great French Revolution and Revolutionary Labor Movement . Edited with Wolfgang Küttler and Gustav Seeber and author, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1989.
  • Bourgeois Revolution and Proletarian Emancipation in German History . Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1990.
  • Socialist aspirations of German workers in St. Louis before 1848. The St. Louis Communist Association . Meeting reports of the AdW of the GDR, 5G / 1990, Akademie Verlag, Berlin 1990.
  • The Police Conferences of German States 1851–1866 . Introduced and edited by Friedrich Beck and Walter Schmidt, Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Successor, Weimar 1993.
  • The Debate on Heritage in the GDR. Attempt a critical balance . Announcements from the Rosa-Luxemburg-Verein Leipzig, No. 15, Leipzig 1995.
  • The SED's two-nation concept and its failure. Discussions about nations in the GDR in the 1970s and 1980s . booklets on the history of the gdr, No. 38, Berlin 1996.
  • Democracy, Liberalism and Counterrevolution. Studies on the German Revolution of 1848/49 . Edited and author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 1998.
  • Democracy, the agrarian question and the nation in the bourgeois revolution in Germany. Contributions to the honorary colloquium on the occasion of Helmut Bleiber's 70th birthday on November 28, 1998. Ed. And author, trafo verlag, Berlin 2000.
  • Democracy and the Labor Movement in the German Revolution of 1848/49. Contributions to the colloquium on the 150th anniversary of the revolution of 1848/49 on June 6 and 7, 1998 . Edited with Helmut Bleiber and Rolf Dlubek and author, trafo verlag, Berlin 2000.
  • Bourgeois revolution and revolutionary left. Contributions to a scientific colloquium on the occasion of Helmut Bock's 70th birthday . Edited and author, trafo verlag, Berlin 2000.
  • The revolution of 1848/49 in a changing historical culture . Rosa Luxemburg Foundation manuscripts, 2/2000, Berlin 2000.
  • Actors of a radical change. Men and women of the revolution of 1848/49 . Vol. 1. Ed. With Helmut Bleiber and Susanne Schötz and author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 2003.
  • Walter Schmidt: Moritz Elsner and the 1848 democracy in Silesia . Leibniz Society / Meeting Reports. 63 (2004), pp. 19-53
  • Actors of a radical change. Men and women of the revolution of 1848/49 . Vol. 2nd ed. With Helmut Bleiber and Susanne Schötz and author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 2007.
  • Helmut Bleiber, Walter Schmidt: Silesia on the way to civil society. Movements and protagonists of Silesian democracy around 1848 . First and second half volume, trafo verlag, Berlin 2007 (= Silesia. Silesia in the European reference field. Sources and research. Volume 6). ISBN 978-3-89626-639-2 and ISBN 978-3-89626-671-2 .
  • The revolution of 1848/49 as the subject of historical biography. Colloquium on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the revolution in 1848/49 . Part 1 and 2, Pankower lectures, booklet 122 and 123. Ed. And author, Berlin 2008.
  • Actors of a radical change. Men and women of the revolution of 1848/49 . Vol. 3rd ed. And author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 2010.
  • The Silesian democracy of 1848/49. History and actors . 1st and 2nd half volume. trafo Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2012 (= Silesia. Silesia in the European reference field. Sources and research. Volumes 13.1 and 13.2).
  • Actors of a radical change. Men and women of the revolution of 1848/49 . Vol. 4th ed. And author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 2013.
  • Actors of a radical change. Men and women of the revolution of 1848/49 . Vol. 5th ed. And author, FIDES Verlag, Berlin 2016.
  • Wohlau 1848/49. A Silesian district town during the revolution. "Schlesischer Kreisbote", Wohlauer Political Association and Democratic Association of Guhrau. trafo Wissenschaftsverlag, Berlin 2017 (= Silesia. Silesia in the European reference field. Sources and research. Volume. 17).
  • From the laborious search and the happy finding. In memoriam Prof Dr. Heinrich Gemkow June 6, 1928 - August 15, 2017. Pankower lectures, booklet 216, together with Dagmar Goldbeck.
  • Memories of a German historian. From Silesian Auras on the Oder via Vogtland Greiz and Thuringian Jena to Berlin. trafo Verlagsgruppe, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86465-112-0 .

Complete bibliography

literature

  • ZfG , Volume 38, 1990, no. 4, p. 345 f. (H. H./HB).
  • Historians in Central Germany , Bonn 1965, p. 84.
  • Who was who in the GDR? Ein biographisches Lexikon , Berlin 1992, p. 400 ( online ); 3rd edition, Berlin 2000, p. 179.
  • Karl-Lamprecht-Rundbrief, 1/1995, pp. 33–35 ( Jutta Seidel ).
  • Are there any settled questions for the story? Berlin 1996, pp. 8-10: For guidance (Wolfgang Küttler and Helmut Meier).
  • Gabriele Baumgartner, Dieter Hebig (Hrsg.): Biographisches Handbuch der SBZ / DDR. 1945–1990. Volume 2: Maassen - Zylla. KG Saur, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-598-11177-0 , p. 791.
  • Kürschner's German Scholars Calendar 2003, Vol. II, Munich 2003, pp. 2953 f .; 2007, Vol. III, p. 3226 f.
  • Neues Deutschland, May 12, 1995, p. 14 (Helmut Bleiber).
  • Leibniz intern, No. 27 of June 15, 2005, p. 18 (Wolfgang Küttler).
  • Helmut Bleiber, Wolfgang Küttler (ed.): Revolution and reform in Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the 75th birthday of Walter Schmidt , first half volume, Berlin 2005, pp. 11–18: laudation (Wolfgang Küttler)
  • Lothar Mertens : Lexicon of the GDR historians. Biographies and bibliographies on the historians from the German Democratic Republic. Saur, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-598-11673-X , pp. 358-360.
  • Neues Deutschland , May 11, 2010, p. 11 ( Mario Keßler ).

Web links

Commons : Walter Schmidt  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Schmidt: Josef Schmidt (March 16, 1895 to November 8, 1943). Memories of my father. In: Roland Bach, Klaus Böttcher , Horst Helas, Peer Jürgens , Jürgen Plagge-Vandelaar, Reiner Zilkenat (eds.): Antifascism as a humanistic legacy in Europe. Festschrift for the 60th birthday of Prof. Dr. Rolf Richter . R. Bach, Berlin 2005, p. 76 f.
  2. ^ Walter Schmidt: Johannes Halm (1893-1953). Resistance and persecution of the evangelical pastor from Auras / Oder in the period from 1933 to 1945. In: Specialized prose research - border crossing. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), pp. 517-545.
personal data
SURNAME Schmidt, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH Protsch-Weide, Wroclaw District , Silesia