Werner Lemke

Werner O. Lemke (born July 3, 1914 in Sulimmen (today Sulimy in Polish ), † September 1, 1986 in Lübeck ) was a German philologist , classical philologist , philosopher and educator .

Life

Origin and school

Werner Otto Lemke was born in Sulimmen in 1914 as the eldest son of police officer Otto Friedrich Lemke and his wife Minna Gertrud Lemke, nee. Jeschonnek, born. He attended the Kiel School of Academics and received a prize from the then Prussian Minister for Science, Art and National Education, Adolf Grimme , for his knowledge of Goethe as well as his poetic and acting achievements . In 1934 he graduated with a general university entrance qualification .

Training and military service

After high school studied Lemke as a student German , classical philology, archeology and philosophy at the universities of Munich and Kiel , among others, Kurt Hildebrandt , whose research assistant he was at the Department of Philosophy 1938-1940. Hildebrandt, who himself belonged to the George circle , had a formative encounter with the work of the poet Stefan George . Lemke's dissertation "Development of the German State Thought in Friedrich Nietzsche", a state-philosophical study with which he received his doctorate in March 1940, was rated "very good", but brought him a rebuke from the party official examination committee for the protection of National Socialist literature . After his doctoral supervisor Kurt Hildebrandt was initially able to obtain the deferral from military service due to his doctorate, Lemke was finally drafted in April 1940. Because of his language skills, he came to the Wehrmacht intelligence force in Halle-Dölau, which was subordinate to Erich Fellgiebel , and from there to various locations.

During his military service in 1941 Lemke passed the scientific examination for teaching at secondary schools in German, Greek and philosophical propaedeutics . A year later, in 1942, his German translation of Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias appeared in the anniversary edition of Reclam's Universal Library (No. 7517/7518).

Teaching and private

In 1946 and 1947 Lemke completed his pedagogical training at the Kiel study seminar and at the Kiel School of Academics and in 1947 came to the Katharineum in Lübeck as an assessor , of which he was a member of the university until his retirement in 1978. During these 31 years Lemke not only made a significant contribution to school life, but also played a part in the humanistic education system in the city of Lübeck. His scientific work resulted in translations of, among others, Pindar , essays and lectures on the Platonic ethos of the state, on Dante Alighieri as an educator, on the image of the father in Greek poetry, Goethe and philosophy lessons. Together with Kurt Hildebrandt , with whom he remained connected until his death in 1966, he organized numerous symposia in Kiel and Lübeck, which focused in particular on poetry. Lemke worked on the "curriculum guidelines for the grammar schools in Schleswig-Holstein" for the subjects German and philosophy and was among other things chairman of the Lübeck branch of the German Association of Classical Philology .

Werner Lemke was from 1940 until his death with Renate Lemke, geb. Reitz, the eldest daughter of the famous violist Karl Reitz , married and had four children. He was buried in the Eichhof park cemetery in Kiel.

Writings and essays (selection)

• Sacrifice of the morning. Self-published, Kiel 1936.
• The duel. Self-published, Kiel 1938.
• Development of the German state idea with Friedrich Nietzsche. Felix Meiner, Leipzig 1941.
• Plato: Timaeus and Critias. In a new translation by Werner Lemke and with an introduction by Kurt Hildebrandt . Reclam-Verlag, Leipzig 1942.
• as publisher: Kurt Hildebrandt - A Path to Philosophy. Bouvier, Bonn 1962.
• The image of the father in Greek poetry. In: Hubertus Tellenbach (ed.): The father image in myth and history: Egypt, Greece, Old Testament, New Testament. With further texts by Hans-Georg Gadamer , Jan Assmann , Günther Bornkamm and Lothar Perlitt . Kohlhammer, Mainz 1976, ISBN 3-17-002645-3 .
• To understand myth and its rebirth in poetry. In: Issues of the German Thomas Mann Society. No. 1, 1981, pp. 32-44.
• Tabulae Lubicenses (drawings: Johannes Thoemmes). Self-published, Lübeck 1981.
• Then and now. A teacher remembers. In: Katharineum zu Lübeck: Festschrift for the 450th anniversary. Association of Friends of the Katharineum, Lübeck 1981, pp. 94–99.

literature

• Hans Herter: Old and new to Plato's Critias. In: Rheinisches Museum für Philologie . Volume 92, 1944, p. 243.
• Hubertus Tellenbach: Heidelberg Father Seminar. Image and understanding of the father in the changing times and cultures. In: Heidelberger Jahrbücher. Volume 20, 1976, pp. 131-133.
• New contributions to George research. Volume 11, 1986, p. 68.
• Booklets of the German Thomas Mann Society, based in Lübeck. 1987, p. 10.
• Robert Wolff: The picture of the woman in Stefan George. In memory of Werner Lemke (1914–1986). In: Home year book of the Mainz-Bingen district 1989.
• Tobias Wimbauer (Ed.): Anarch in contradiction - new contributions to the work and life of the Jünger brothers. Edition Antaios Verlag, Schnellroda 2004, ISBN 3-935063-53-9 , p. 196.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Herter: Old and New on Plato's Critias (1944)