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Ernst Krieck (6 July 1882–19 March 1947)[1] was aGerman teacher, writer, and professor. Along withAlfred Baeumler, Krieck was considered a leadingNational Socialist theoretical scientist.
Krieck was born in 1882 inVögisheim to a working-class family. He was unable to attend high school since he lacked the funds to do so. Therefore, after graduating from middle school, he enrolled in a teacher's college inKarlsruhe because it was his only option for furthering his education.[2] In 1900, he entered theBaden elementary school district; in 1904, he was transferred to a school inMannheim. During his work as an elementary school teacher, he began to criticize the dominant school system as being mechanical and too bureaucratic.
Persönlichkeit und Kultur (Personality and Culture) was his first literary work, published in 1910. In 1917, Krieck publishedDie deutsche Staatsidee (The German National Idea). In 1920,Die Revolution der Wissenschaft (The Revolution of Science) was published, followed in 1922 by his most important workPhilosophie der Erziehung (The Philosophy of Education), which earned him an honorary doctorate fromHeidelberg University.
In 1928, after four years of working as a freelance writer, Krieck was employed atFrankfurt am Main Pedagogical Academy. Until the end of the 1920s, he supported the traditional liberal teaching staff's views, which clashed with the school politics of theSocial Democratic Party (SPD),Centre Party, and theCatholic Church. It was in 1931 when he turned to politics and joined the nationalistic anti-SemiticMilitant League for German Culture. After declaring "Heil auf Dritte Reich" ("Hail to theThird Reich") at the solstice festival that year, Krieck was transferred to theDortmund Pedagogical Academy.[3]
During this time, throughout theRuhr region in Germany, Krieck acted frequently as a political speaker. On 1 January 1932, he became a member of theNazi Party[4] and theNational Socialist Teachers League. The increased aggression from the Nazi Party led to his suspension as a professor in 1932.[5]
In April 1933, Krieck became the first Nazi president ofGoethe University Frankfurt through a secretarial decree after the Nazi takeover. The previous day, despite not having attended secondary school and lacking anAbitur, he was appointed Professor Education and Philosophy.
Krieck's election marked the start of a union "between theFührer (leader) of the town, the guidance of theNSDAP, and theFührer of the University". He announced an aggressive cleanup of the school, saying, “It is our collective goal to make a stronghold for the German spirit in the city of Frankfurt. We are marching toward a new culture, that of National Socialism and its Führer, to make way for the political revolution”. One of the first measures was thepublic burning of books inRömerberg on 10 May 1933.
Krieck became the publisher of magazineVolk im Werden (People Coming into Being), which was published every two months from 1933 to 1944 and focused on Nazi educational ideas. In 1934, he took the position as chairman of the Philosophy and Education department atHeidelberg University, where he later served as president from April 1937 to October 1938. From 1934, he worked for theSecurity Service of theReichsführer-SS as a spy in the science department. In 1935, he became leader of theGau Nazi Teachers' Union inBaden. In the summer of 1936, he made public and programmatic appearances alongsideBernhard Rust.
His core philosophy caused severe controversy with the National Socialist race theorists in the years 1936–1938, whereupon he left all political and academic offices. In 1938, he left the SS, but was given the honorary role ofObersturmbannführer.
In 1944, he became one of several leaders of the National Socialist Teachers League.[6]
Following the end of World War II, he was dismissed from the university and detained by U.S. occupying forces. He died on 19 March 1947 in an internment camp located inMoosburg an der Isar.
The Heidelberg University Archives has received estate items belonging to Krieck and his daughter, Ilse. This inheritance includes photo albums, single-frame pictures, a bust, correspondence, and five gramophone records featuring Krieck's 1933 speech.
Media related toErnst Krieck at Wikimedia Commons
