Wilhelm Weber (historian)

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Wilhelm Weber (born December 28, 1882 in Heidelberg , † November 21, 1948 in Berlin ) was a German ancient historian .

Life

Weber studied classical studies from 1901 at the University of Heidelberg , where his teachers included Alfred von Domaszewski , Friedrich von Duhn , Albrecht Dieterich and Franz Boll . After receiving his doctorate on Hadrian in 1906 , he was a teacher at the grammar school in Heidelberg before he undertook a trip through the Mediterranean countries in 1908/09 with the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute . In 1911 Weber completed his habilitation in Heidelberg with a work on the history of religion on the subject of three studies on the Egyptian-Greek religion . In the same year he followed a call to theReich University of Groningen , where he was appointed full professor of history. In 1916 he moved to Frankfurt am Main and in 1918 to Tübingen . He turned down a call to the University of Göttingen .

In 1925 Weber moved to Halle an der Saale and became one of the sixteen publishers of the newly founded magazine Gnomon . He turned down a call to the University of Bonn . In 1931 he moved to Berlin . Even though Weber, like most of the other co-editors, was removed from the editor of the Gnomon magazine in 1933, he adapted to National Socialist rule and is considered a “staunch National Socialist” and “staunch supporter of Hitler” among German ancient historians. However, he did not become a member of the NSDAP or any of its branches.

Weber cooperated with the Rosenberg Office and influenced the appointment policy in ancient history through expert opinions; so he prevented the habilitation of Hans Ulrich Instinsky in Berlin. In the period from 1938 to 1945 Weber, together with Helmut Berve, dominated the appointment policy in the area of ​​ancient history: Five out of seven of those appointed during this period came from the closer and wider circle of students of these two, which does not mean, however, that they reflect their political and scientific-political views shared.

In 1945 Weber lost his chair because he was not confirmed in office by the Berlin magistrate due to his appearance in the interests of the Nazi regime. In December 1946, however, he was offered a small research assignment from the university, which he accepted. While he was still trying to get back into teaching, he died unexpectedly on November 21, 1948 of a heart attack.

Politics and science

In 1917/18 Weber acted as a speaker for the right-wing German Fatherland Party and described himself as a co-founder of the National Student Union of Tübingen in 1919. On a personal sheet around 1934, he stated that he had advocated National Socialism as early as 1923 in a German national assembly. Several times he gave ceremonial speeches with political content at his respective university on public holidays, for example in 1917 on Sedan Day on the subject of the Three Years of World War , at the foundation ceremony in Stuttgart in 1923 on the subject of the past and future German , and in 1935 for the same celebration at the Berlin University On the topic of the new Reich of the Germans , where he repeated thoughts that he had already expressed in 1933 in a magazine of the Nazi student union . He said among other things: “We remember with gratitude the three men who have been given to our people in these 65 years: Bismarcks, Hindenburgs and Adolf Hitler's. [...] comrades! [...] We want the new German Reich of our will. We give ourselves to the Führer with the last of our existence. "

“Weber's downright messianic belief in the individual creative personality that Hitler has embodied for him since 1933 found a historical model in Augustus. Weber's scientific work on the Principate, especially ›The Prophet and His God‹ from 1925 and his major work ›Princeps‹ from 1936, must therefore be seen in connection with his contemporary commitment to autocratic forms of rule, to monarchy and the leadership state. [.. ] "

- Ines Stahlmann

Services

Weber's research was characterized by the connection “analytical investigation with the daring of synthesis”. His sometimes original ratings met with mixed approval.

After working on the history of religion and ancient terracottas, but also on Greek history, Weber has mainly dealt with the history of the Roman imperial era and the monarchy as a form of government since the 1920s . Here he dealt in particular with Eduard Norden . From a planned large study on Augustus ( Princeps ) only the first volume (1936) appeared, which dealt mainly with the Res Gestae Divi Augusti . His thesis, to see in them the foundation of a myth of the “new god Augustus”, was rejected by the professional world, and Weber decided not to continue the work.

In the period that followed, Weber mainly wrote popular articles, as early as 1935 for Knaur's world history about the Roman Empire. The monograph Rome, Rulership and Empire in the Second Century (1937) painted a pathetically rhetorically exaggerated picture of the imperial era. An outline of Roman history published in 1940 for Die Neue Propylaen-Weltgeschichte represented the National Socialist interpretation of history with an emphasis on terms such as “clan”, “blood” and “national community”. Weber's style at this time was characterized by pathos and expressionism. For example, he characterized Caesar, also applying the Nazi racial doctrine, as follows: “Nordic, Fälian, Mediterranean forms were combined in this compelling face, which combined unapproachable superiority, seriousness, coldness, demonic force; opposing blood forces played their game with all energies nourished from knowledge, thinking and imagination ”. Weber's works are considered to be “the representative expression in both content and form” of ancient German history at the time of National Socialism.

Weber's students in Tübingen included Victor Ehrenberg , Fritz Taeger and Joseph Vogt . Later students - Paul L. Strack , Waldemar Wruck and Clemens Bosch - worked on large coin corpora at his suggestion. Most recently Weber gave his students mainly late antique themes; Among them were Alexander Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg , Johannes Straub , Karl Friedrich Stroheker , Berthold Rubin and (as a habilitation candidate) Siegfried Lauffer .

Fonts (selection)

  • Investigations into the history of the emperor Hadrianus . 1907 (online)
  • A Hermes temple of the Emperor Marcus . 1910.
  • The Egyptian-Greek terracottas . 1914 (online)
  • A court hearing before Emperor Traian. In: Hermes 50 1915, pp. 47–92 (online)
  • On the history of the monarchy . Inaugural speech Tübingen 1919.
  • Josephus and Vespasian . 1921 (online)
  • The Prophet and his God . 1925.
  • From the new empire of the Germans. Speech given at the celebration of the founding of the Reich and the renewal of the Reich by the Führer on January 30, 1935. Berlin 1935 (online)
  • Princeps. Studies on the history of Augustus . 1936.
  • Rome, rulership and empire in the second century . 1937.

literature

  • Karl Christ : Klio's changes. The German ancient history from neo-humanism to the present . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54181-X , pp. 69-74.
  • Claudia Deglau: “Did you thank the Germanic peoples for this?” Wilhelm Weber's connections to the security service of the Reichsführer SS and his “scientific war effort” in the Second World War. In: Kai Ruffing, Kerstin Droß-Krüpe (Ed.): Emas non quod opus est, sed quod necesse est. Contributions to the economic, social, reception and scientific history of antiquity. Festschrift for Hans-Joachim Drexhage on his 70th birthday (= Philippika. Volume 125). Harrasowitz, Wiesbaden 2018, ISBN 978-3-447-11087-7 , pp. 493-545.
  • Volker Losemann : National Socialism and Antiquity. Studies on the development of ancient history 1933–1945. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-455-09219-5 .
  • Burkhard Meißner : Research, teaching and organization of the chair for ancient history at the University of Halle in the 20th century. In: Hermann-J. Rupieper (Ed.): Contributions to the history of the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg 1502-2002. mdv Mitteldeutscher Verlag, Halle (Saale) 2002, ISBN 3-89812-144-5 , pp. 223–242 (on Weber, pp. 233–236).
  • Ines Stahlmann: Emperor Caesar Augustus. Studies on the history of the understanding of principles in German antiquity up to 1945. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-03890-8 , pp. 155-181.
  • Joseph Vogt : Wilhelm Weber †. In: Gnomon . 21, 1949, pp. 176-179.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Karl Christ: Klios Wandlungen . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54181-X , p. 70.
  2. ↑ Stefan Rebenich : Between adaptation and resistance? The Berlin Academy of Sciences from 1933 to 1945. In: Beat Näf (Hrsg.): Ancient and Ancient Studies in the Time of Fascism and National Socialism . Ed. Cicero, Mandelbachtal 2001, ISBN 3-934285-46-5 , pp. 203–244, quotation p. 213 (online)
  3. ^ A b Karl Christ : Klios Wandlungen . Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54181-X , p. 72.
  4. ↑ Marie-Luise Bott: The attitude of the Berlin University in National Socialism. Max Vasmer review 1948. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-9813135-6-7 , p. 102 (online)
  5. ^ Volker Losemann: National Socialism and Antiquity. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-455-09219-5 , pp. 75-77. 82-86.
  6. ↑ Rebenich: Between adaptation and resistance? P. 221.
  7. ^ Volker Losemann: National Socialism and Antiquity. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-455-09219-5 , p. 85.
  8. ↑ Wilfried Nippel: Old history after 1945. In: Heinz-Elmar Tenorth (Ed.): History of the University under the Linden 1810-2010. Volume 6. Self-Assertion of a Vision. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-05-004671-6 , p. 361. Marie-Luise Bott: The attitude of the Berlin University in National Socialism. Max Vasmer's review 1948. Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin 2009, ISBN 978-3-9813135-6-7 , p. 102.
  9. ^ Volker Losemann: National Socialism and Antiquity. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1977, ISBN 3-455-09219-5 , p. 207.
  10. ↑ Ines Stahlmann: Emperor Caesar Augustus. Studies on the history of the understanding of principles in German classical studies up to 1945. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-03890-8 , p. 156.
  11. ↑ Ines Stahlmann: Emperor Caesar Augustus. Studies on the history of the understanding of principles in German classical studies up to 1945. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1988, ISBN 3-534-03890-8 , pp. 175–176.
  12. ^ Vogt: Gnomon 21, 1949, p. 177.
personal data
SURNAME Weber, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German ancient historian
DATE OF BIRTH December 28, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Heidelberg
DATE OF DEATH November 21, 1948
Place of death Berlin