Adolf Reichwein
Encyclopedia
Adolf Reichwein was a German
educator, economist
, and cultural policymaker for the SPD
. He was also a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany
.
. He took part in the First World War, in which he was seriously wounded in the lung
. Reichwein studied at the universities of Frankfurt am Main
und Marburg
, under Hugo Sinzheimer
and Franz Oppenheimer
, among others. In the 1920s, he was active in education policy and adult education in Berlin and Thuringia. It was he who founded the Volkshochschule ("Folk high school
") and the Arbeiterbildungsheim ("Workers' Training Home") in Jena
and ran them until 1929. In his Hungermarsch nach Lappland ("Hunger March to Lappland") he described in diary form a punishing hike with some young jobless people in the far north. In 1929-1930, he worked as an adviser to the Prussian Culture Minister Carl Heinrich Becker
.
From 1930 until 1933, he was a professor at the newly founded Pedagogical Academy in Halle
. After the Nazis seized power, he was let go for political reasons and sent off to Tiefensee
in Brandenburg
to become an elementary schoolteacher. There, until 1939, he conducted many instructional experiments, which received a lot of attention, with educational progressivism
and especially vocational education in mind. Reichwein described in his work Schaffendes Schulvolk ("Productive School People") his instructional concept, inspired by the Wandervogel
movement and labour-school pedagogy, whose main focus was on trips, activity-oriented instruction with school gardens, and projects spanning age groups. For Sachunterricht (~field education, or practical learning) and its history, he included important historical documents. Reichwein split the instructional content into a summer cycle (natural sciences and social studies) and a winter cycle ("Man as former"/"in his territory"). From 1939, Reichwein was working at the Folklore Museum in Berlin as a museum educator.
As a member of the Kreisau Circle
, Reichwein belonged to the resistance movement against Hitler. It is quite likely that he would have become culture minister in a democratic government. In early July 1944, Reichwein was arrested by the Gestapo
, and, in a trial against Julius Leber
, Hermann Maaß
and Gustav Dahrendorf
, sentenced to death by Roland Freisler
's Volksgerichtshof. He was killed next to Maaß at Plötzensee Prison
in Berlin
on 20 October 1944.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
educator, economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, and cultural policymaker for the SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
. He was also a resistance fighter in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
.
Biography
Reichwein was born in Bad EmsBad Ems
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...
. He took part in the First World War, in which he was seriously wounded in the lung
Lung
The lung is the essential respiration organ in many air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart...
. Reichwein studied at the universities of Frankfurt am Main
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main
The Goethe University Frankfurt was founded in 1914 as a Citizens' University, which means that, while it was a State university of Prussia, it had been founded and financed by the wealthy and active liberal citizenry of Frankfurt am Main, a unique feature in German university history...
und Marburg
Philipps University of Marburg
The Philipp University of Marburg , was founded in 1527 by Landgrave Philip I of Hesse as the world's oldest university dating back to a Protestant foundation...
, under Hugo Sinzheimer
Hugo Sinzheimer
Hugo Sinzheimer was a German legal scholar.-Biography:...
and Franz Oppenheimer
Franz Oppenheimer
Franz Oppenheimer was a German-Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state.-Personal life:...
, among others. In the 1920s, he was active in education policy and adult education in Berlin and Thuringia. It was he who founded the Volkshochschule ("Folk high school
Folk high school
Folk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
") and the Arbeiterbildungsheim ("Workers' Training Home") in Jena
Jena
Jena is a university city in central Germany on the river Saale. It has a population of approx. 103,000 and is the second largest city in the federal state of Thuringia, after Erfurt.-History:Jena was first mentioned in an 1182 document...
and ran them until 1929. In his Hungermarsch nach Lappland ("Hunger March to Lappland") he described in diary form a punishing hike with some young jobless people in the far north. In 1929-1930, he worked as an adviser to the Prussian Culture Minister Carl Heinrich Becker
Carl Heinrich Becker
Carl Heinrich Becker was a German scholar on Islam, with many articles in the first edition of the Encyclopaedia of Islam to his credit. As a politician he was minister of culture and education in the state of Prussia.Becker was born in Amsterdam...
.
From 1930 until 1933, he was a professor at the newly founded Pedagogical Academy in Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
. After the Nazis seized power, he was let go for political reasons and sent off to Tiefensee
Werneuchen
Werneuchen is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, in the district of Barnim northeast of Berlin within the metropolitan area. Most of the population of Werneuchen commutes to Berlin.-International relations:Werneuchen is twinned with: Dziwnów, Poland...
in Brandenburg
Brandenburg
Brandenburg is one of the sixteen federal-states of Germany. It lies in the east of the country and is one of the new federal states that were re-created in 1990 upon the reunification of the former West Germany and East Germany. The capital is Potsdam...
to become an elementary schoolteacher. There, until 1939, he conducted many instructional experiments, which received a lot of attention, with educational progressivism
Educational progressivism
Progressive education is a pedagogical movement that began in the late nineteenth century and has persisted in various forms to the present. More recently, it has been viewed as an alternative to the test-oriented instruction legislated by the No Child Left Behind educational funding act...
and especially vocational education in mind. Reichwein described in his work Schaffendes Schulvolk ("Productive School People") his instructional concept, inspired by the Wandervogel
Wandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
movement and labour-school pedagogy, whose main focus was on trips, activity-oriented instruction with school gardens, and projects spanning age groups. For Sachunterricht (~field education, or practical learning) and its history, he included important historical documents. Reichwein split the instructional content into a summer cycle (natural sciences and social studies) and a winter cycle ("Man as former"/"in his territory"). From 1939, Reichwein was working at the Folklore Museum in Berlin as a museum educator.
As a member of the Kreisau Circle
Kreisau Circle
The Kreisau Circle was the name the Nazi Gestapo gave to a group of German dissidents centered on the Kreisau estate of Helmuth James Graf von Moltke. The Kreisauer Kreis is celebrated as one of the instances of German opposition to the Nazi regime...
, Reichwein belonged to the resistance movement against Hitler. It is quite likely that he would have become culture minister in a democratic government. In early July 1944, Reichwein was arrested by the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
, and, in a trial against Julius Leber
Julius Leber
Julius Leber was a German politician of the SPD and a member of the German Resistance against the Nazi régime.-Early life:...
, Hermann Maaß
Hermann Maaß
Hermann Maaß was a German member of the Resistance against the Nazi régime.-Biography:Maaß was born in Bromberg, Province of Posen, German Empire , he volunteered for the German Army in World War I and was wounded in a gas attack in 1918...
and Gustav Dahrendorf
Gustav Dahrendorf
Gustav Dietrich Dahrendorf was a German SPD politician.-Biography:Dahrendorf was born in Hamburg, he served as member of the German Parliament from November 1932 to June 22, 1933. He was also several times a member of the Hamburg Parliament...
, sentenced to death by Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler
Roland Freisler was a prominent and notorious Nazi lawyer and judge. He was State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of Justice and President of the People's Court , which was set up outside constitutional authority...
's Volksgerichtshof. He was killed next to Maaß at Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison
Plötzensee Prison was a Prussian institution built in Berlin between 1869 and 1879 near the lake Plötzensee, but in the neighbouring borough of Charlottenburg, on Hüttigpfad off Saatwinkler Damm. During Adolf Hitler's time in power from 1933 to 1945, more than 2,500 people were executed at...
in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
on 20 October 1944.
Works (selection)
- Schaffendes Schulvolk. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart/Berlin 1937.
- Film in der Landschule. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart/Berlin 1938.
- (New annotated edition of both works:) Schaffendes Schulvolk – Film in der Schule. Die Tiefenseer Schulschriften. pub. by. Wolfgang Klafki et al.. Beltz, Weinheim/Basel 1993. ISBN 3-407-34063-X
Literature
- Ullrich Amlung:
- "... in der Entscheidung gibt es keine Umwege": Adolf Reichwein 1898 - 1944. Reformpädagoge, Sozialist, Widerstandskämpfer. 3. Auflage Schüren, Marburg 2003 ISBN 3-89472-273-8
- Adolf Reichwein: 1898–1944. Ein Lebensbild des Reformpädagogen, Volkskundlers und Widerstandskämpfers. 2. Auflage dipa, Frankfurt am Main, 1999 ISBN 3-7638-0399-8
- Adolf Reichwein 1898 - 1944. Eine Personalbibliographie. Universität Marburg 1991 (Schriften der Universitätsbibliothek Marburg, 54) ISBN 3-8185-0087-8
- Hartmut Mitzlaff: Adolf Reichweins (1898–1944) heimliche Reformpraxis in Tiefensee 1933-1939. In: Astrid Kaiser, Detlef Pech (Hrsg.): Geschichte und historische Konzeptionen des Sachunterrichts. Schneider-Verlag Hohengehren, Baltmannsweiler 2004, S. 143-150. ISBN 3-89676-861-1
External links
- Adolf-Reichwein-Verein
- Adolf-Reichwein-Archiv in the Bibliothek für Bildungsgeschichtliche Forschung