Walter Strauss (historian)

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Walter Strauss in the 1950s

Walter Strauss (born July 12, 1898 in Königsberg , † December 6, 1982 in Rengsdorf ) was a German historian and history teacher .

Life and work

Walter Strauss was born the son of a businessman on July 12, 1898 in Königsberg. He attended the Löbenichtsche Realgymnasium , where he passed his Abitur exam on June 5, 1915. Two weeks later, on June 19, 1915, he was sent to the Eastern Front as a soldier. After returning from military service on January 3, 1919, Strauss began studying German and history at the Königsberg University Albertina , to which he completed his legal clerkship on August 1, 1921. After the school preparatory service, he defended his doctoral thesis on December 14, 1922 with the title "Studies on the history of the disposition of Elector Johann Georg (1596)", which was supervised by the historian Otto Krauske .

Since it was no longer possible for his parents to support his son financially due to the hyperinflation , Strauss initially focused his professional career on a career as a Prussian civil servant, so that he was able to take up a position as a teacher on time in 1927. In addition, Strauss worked parallel to this as a lecturer at the adult education center and, from 1929, had a teaching position at the Königsberg commercial school. When the teacher training seminar was set up in 1930, Strauss filled the post of head of history. In the same year he continued to act as an educational advisor to the secondary schools in Memelland . In addition, he was elected 2nd chairman of the Prussian Philological Association in 1932 . His habilitation project, which was supervised by Hans Rothfels and in which he dealt with Stresemann's foreign policy , was unsuccessful.

During the time of National Socialism , Strauss was initially suspended from school service because he had presented himself to the public several times as an advocate of the republic ; however, his objection to this dismissal was granted, so that ten weeks later he was able to fill his post as a teacher again. However, he was relieved of all other posts. This did not change after joining the NSBL . On September 1, 1939, Strauss was finally drafted into the Wehrmacht . After the end of the war, he was taken prisoner by the Soviets until November 1945.

After the war, Strauss moved to Potsdam, where on June 1, 1946, the Brandenburg state administration transferred the post of school director to him. He first joined the FDGB and a month later the SED . From September 1, 1947, Strauss was responsible for teaching history as a senior councilor in the Brandenburg state administration. He was also involved as a section head at the Pedagogical Cabinet of the Brandenburg state government, where he was responsible for the advanced training of the history teachers. Another highlight of his career was heading up the department for history lessons, which he had held at the German Administration for National Education (DDV) since January 1, 1948 . In this post he regulated all concepts for history lessons in the Soviet occupation zone . However, the political circumstances of 1948 forced Strauss to give up his position with the DVV. For this, however, he was now head of the department for history of the people and knowledge publishing house . In addition, he took on a teaching position at Humboldt University , where he offered courses on the subject of "Methodology of History Lessons". However, his work at the university did not lead to a permanent position. And finally, in 1949, Strauss's NSDAP membership, which he had previously kept secret, was revealed, which resulted in the loss of his position at the publishing house. With a teaching position at the Pedagogical Faculty in the winter semester of 1949/50 he was able to secure his livelihood.

It was probably thanks to his very high reputation among some old DVV colleagues that Strauss was able to take over the history methodology professorship at the Humboldt University on March 22, 1950 , followed by his appointment in August 1951 Full professor on April 1, 1956 and the regular habilitation a few months later enabled Strauss to gain a foothold in the upper university circle. Through his ambitious historical didactic research project, he won the respect of his specialist colleagues in the GDR and was elected chairman of the GDR expert commission, which was founded at the same time. Some time before, Strauss had come under public criticism because his honesty towards socialist ideology was questioned. These doubts were finally confirmed for the SED leadership when his doctoral student Rudolf Raasch fled to the West and Strauss did not distance himself sufficiently from this escape. On March 4, 1958, Strauss left the SED. Nevertheless, the party group in his faculty initiated disciplinary proceedings against him. Strauss was suspended from teaching a few days later. After a heart attack, Strauss was rewarded with the status of a disability pensioner in autumn 1958.

The subsequent escape to West Berlin in early 1959 was only the logical conclusion of the events. In Offenbach he was able to take up another position as a senior teacher for four years. Strauss spent his retirement in Rengsdorf, where he died on December 6, 1982.

Fonts

  • Studies on the history of the disposition of Elector Johann Georg (1596) . University of Königsberg 1923.
  • Objectives and topics of history lessons. Studies on a methodology of history methodology. From the ancient Orient to the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789 . Humboldt University, Berlin 1956.

literature