Wolfgang Herbst (museologist)

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Wolfgang Herbst (born January 21, 1928 in Halberstadt ; † July 1, 1995 in Berlin ) was a German historian and museologist .

Life

Wolfgang Herbst attended high school until 1944 and was then a naval helper until 1945. In April 1946 he joined the SED and in the same year began studying history , philosophy , art history and music history at the University of HHalle . In 1949 he finished his studies and became a lecturer in history at the workers and farmers faculty of the University of Halle and at the same time scientific assistant to Leo Stern .

Since 1952, Herbst worked at the Museum for German History in Berlin. First he was a research assistant, in 1956 he became head of the department from 1871 to 1945 and in 1961 became deputy director. In 1968 he was appointed director and was ultimately director general of the museum from 1985 to 1990. The most important project during his directorate was the exhibition " Martin Luther and his time" from 1983 on the occasion of the 500th birthday of the reformer; it represents an important development step in the history policy of the GDR. Herbst received his doctorate in 1971 with a thesis on The tasks of the history museums of the GDR in the developed socialist society - a contribution to the ideological effectiveness of the socialist history museums at the Institute for Social Sciences at the Central Committee of the SED . The dissertation was treated as a "confidential official matter" and has not been published. The following year he became honorary professor for German history at the Humboldt University in Berlin . In 1990 he was given early retirement.

Between 1967 and 1985, Herbst was a member of the editorial team of the journal Neue Museumskunde and, since 1967, a member of the Committee for Archaeological and Historical Museums of the International Council of Museums (ICOM). From 1981 to 1985 he was Chairman of the ICOM, from 1980 to 1989 President of the National Museum Council of the GDR and Chairman of the Council for Museums at the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education in the GDR. Herbst was also a member of the Presidium of the Historians' Society of the GDR . In 1968 he was awarded the National Prize of the GDR , III. Class, excellent, in 1970 with the VI Lenin Commemorative Medal of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR , in 1975 with the Patriotic Order of Merit in Silver and in 1982 and 1985 with the Labor Banner .

Fonts

  • The November Revolution in Germany (documents and materials) (with Ingo Materna and Heinz Tropitz), Volk und Wissen, Berlin 1958 (sources on history)
  • The Museum of German History (with Kurt Wernicke), Berlin-Information, Berlin 1969 (Berlin sights) (2nd edition 1982, 3rd, revised edition 1988)
  • Museology . Theoretical foundations and methodology of work in history museums. [Developed by a working group d. Museum for Dt. History, Berlin, and the state. Histor. Museums, Moscow]. Edited by Wolfgang Herbst and KG Levykin, Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin 1988 ISBN 3-326-00229-7

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Wolfgang Herbst: [Preface]. To: Martin Luther and his time. Special exhibition of the Museum of German History. GDR-Berlin, June 15 - November 20, 1983, Berlin undated [1983], p. 1.
personal data
SURNAME Autumn, Wolfgang
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German historian and museologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 21, 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Halberstadt
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1995
Place of death Berlin