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The CAU and National Socialism
Since the seizure of power in 1933, the Nazi regime also tried to bring German universities into line as quickly as possible. From then on, there was no longer any question of free science, and the end of Germany as a leading scientific nation was only one of the consequences. In Kiel and at Kiel University, the process of assimilation took place very quickly and without major resistance. Parts of the student body and the teaching staff saw themselves as pioneers in the implementation of Nazi educational and racial policies.
The Enforced conformity resulted in deep interventions in the university constitution and civil service law - almost 60 academics had to give up research and teaching, and their academic degrees were revoked. There was no longer a neutral judiciary or appeal body.
This platform provides information on the victims as well as on the National Socialist perpetrators in the environment of Christian-Albrechts-University to Kiel.
Displaced scholars
At this point, the CAU commemorates the expelled academics of the CAU during the period 1933 - 1945.
Each section of the picture stands for a displaced person:
Collegiate building of the Christian-Albrechts-University (CAU) in the castle garden around 1910
Signs of remembrance
In the 1990s, Christian-Albrechts-Universität began to come to terms with its Nazi past. A decisive impulse was given by the then rector of CAU, Professor Karin Peschel. On 15. November 1993, she declared the revocation of the doctoral degrees of expelled academics from 1936 to 1945 null and void.
The seizure of power at the Kiel University
From 1933 at the latest, the National Socialists attempted to influence all areas of education. The education of youth "in the spirit of National Socialism" was to be achieved by changing curricula and excluding "non-Aryan" pupils from lessons on the basis of the "Law against Overcrowding in German Schools and Universities". Both youth and teachers were also registered in National Socialist organisations such as the Hitler Youth and the National Socialist Teachers' Association (NSLB).
The Enforced conformity of Teacher Education
In the Weimar Republic, elementary school teachers were not prepared for their profession at universities, but at "pedagogical academies". Such an academy began its work in Kiel in 1926 under the director Professor Ulrich Peters (1878-1939) as a result of a reorganisation of the Prussian elementary school teaching staff. After the National Socialists came to power, it was transformed, like all "Pedagogical Academies", into a "University for Teacher Education" (HfL).
The Kiel Student Union under National Socialism
The non-politically oriented Kiel Student Aid was incorporated into the Student Union in 1933 and thus eliminated as an independent charitable body. Like all local student unions, the one in Kiel was finally subordinated to the directives of the head office in Berlin in 1934 as "Student Union Kiel registered association, entity of Reichsstudentenwerks".
Destruction and reconstruction
of Kiel university
Destruction of the university buildings
Kiel University was almost completely destroyed during the Second World War. Most of the buildings of the Christiana Albertina were located in the city centre and were badly damaged in the bombing raids. The university library, which was hit by an incendiary bomb in 1942, was particularly badly affected. A large part of the book and journal collections fell victim to the fire. But the main buildings were also destroyed, as were a large part of the clinics and institutes.
From the ruins - Kiel University in 1945
On 27 November 1945, teachers, students and administrators, but also representatives of the military government, the first state government and the city of Kiel came together in the "New University" here on Westring to solemnly proclaim - accompanied by the sounds of Amadeus Mozart's Jupiter Symphony - the new beginning of academic teaching and research at a site steeped in tradition. In moving and at the same time revealing words, the first rector of the CAU, still appointed by the British military government, the psychiatrist Hans Gerhard Creutzfeldt, addressed the festive assembly: (I quote:) "Like a shipwrecked man who reaches land again and feels solid ground under his feet, one feeling deeply fills each of us, and that is that of gratitude." For 28 decades, the first post-war rector continued, the Schleswig-Holstein State University had "faithfully endeavoured to work in research and teaching". Only the turmoil of the Second World War forced it to leave the destroyed sites. But now, Creutzfeldt said in November 1945, there was new hope, new life and new planning. And he promised that they would now reverently rejoin the "chain of truth seekers" that had been built up and left behind by previous generations.
About this Plattform
The core of this platform is formed by individual biographies of researchers expelled from Kiel University. In addition, there are texts on important National Socialist actors at the CAU and references to the relevant literature. This platform therefore provides information on both the victims and the National Socialist perpetrators. There are contributions on the development of the individual faculties as well as overarching articles on educational policy and student services during the Nazi regime. In addition, Kiel publications on German science during the Nazi era are listed.
It can be seen from this page that time and again individual research projects have devoted themselves to special topics from the time. Regardless of this, there is still much to be researched about the injustice at Kiel University. This is where the internet platform comes in. On the one hand, it deals with the attacks against researchers who became disagreeable and, on the other hand, with how the university dealt with its Nazi past in the post-war period. Results from research work, contemporary witness reports, old photos and documents are bundled together. The platform thus offers an overview of the current state of research. The aim is to deal critically with this period and to encourage further academic research.
