Study Sheds Light On A Dark Chapter In The DFG's History
Instead of celebrating its 75th anniversary the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), following a suggestion by its then President, Professor Wolfgang Fruehwald, decided in 1995 that a study should be conducted of its history during the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. A Frankfurt historian, Professor Notker Hammerstein, agreed to look into the record of the science organisation in the period from 1920 to 1945, thus shedding light on a dark chapter in its history. His findings were compiled in a book that was presented at a recent press conference in Bonn by the President of the DFG, Professor Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, as well as his predecessor, Wolfgang Fruehwald, and the author, Notker Hammerstein.
In his welcome the DFG's President, Professor Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker emphasised that the DFG had not tried to influence the work. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft had only provided limited material assistance, in particular to pay for archival work and manuscript production.
In his study Professor Hammerstein arrived at the conclusion that National Socialism constituted a separate chapter in the history of the science organisation which during that period had had nothing in common with the idea underlying the foundation of the organisation in the Weimar Republic or the present DFG. The "Notgemeinschaft der Deutschen Wissenschaft" which was founded shortly after World War I and later became the DFG was turned into a kind of clearing-house in the Third Reich. The Nazis enforced political conformity of the organisation by filling all key positions with their supporters.
Former DFG President Wolfgang Fruehwald emphasised that Mr. Hammerstein's portrayal of the organisation was far more than a history of the political conformity imposed by the Nazis on the "Notgemeinschaft" and far more than a history of the "Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft" that (through personal union) was associated with the Reich education ministry. The study, Professor Fruehwald said, "highlighted the smooth administrative surface of institutions seemingly working according to the rule of law where under the strict supervision of the Reich Court of Auditors not a single pfennig was squandered, but where just beneath this surface there was the brew of blood and filth that characterised the criminal history of National Socialism." It also showed the self-delusion of many renowned scientists who believed that in this administrative network they could do serious scientific work without losing their integrity. In Professor Fruehwald's view the founding of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft after World War II constituted a fresh start.
It contributed to strengthening democratic and federal awareness in a particular sector of public life (i.e. the scientific community) major parts of which had opposed the Republic in the 1920s and hence had been susceptible to the temptations of dictatorship. The publication of Professor Hammerstein's book, Mr. Fruehwald said, did not close, but rather opened the discussion on this topic.
DFG President Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker announced that, encouraged by Mr. Hammerstein's book, the Executive Board of the DFG had decided to hold a science history colloquium in early 2000 to compile all previous research findings relating to the role of research and science in the Weimar Republic and under the Nazi regime and review them against the backdrop of the behaviour of elites under totalitarian regimes.
Notker Hammerstein's book "Die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft in der Weimarer Republik und im Dritten Reich; Wissenschaftspolitik in Republik und Diktatur" was published by C.H. Beck, Munich, ISBN 3-406-44826-7.