Wikipedia

Johannes Weigelt

Theodor Otto Gustav Johannes Weigelt (24 July 1890 in Reppen, 22 April 1948 in Klein-Gerau) was a German palaeontologist, geologist who became a Nazi.[1]

Johannes Weigelt in 1941

Weigelt was the first proponent of taphonomy, the study of how organisms decay and eventually become fossilised.[2] In 1934, he was the founder of the Museum for Earth Science of Central Germany at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.[3][4]

Life edit

After finishing high school, which he spent in Halle and Blankenburg in 1909,[5] Weigelt studied natural sciences and prehistory at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. In 1911 to 1912 he was assistant to Otto Schlüter at the geographical department.[5] In 1913, he became an assistant to Johannes Walther at the Institute of Geography.[6] Just one year later, in 1914, he wrote a geological-archaeological thesis, but was only awarded his doctorate in December 1917 due to the outbreak of the World War I and his voluntary participation in it.[6] In 1915, Weigelt was severely wounded in the war by shrapnel in and spent the next two and half years in hospital.[6] Just one year after his doctorate, Weigelt habilitated in 1918, with a geological-palaeontological thesis.[5] In December 1918. he found work as collection assistant at the Geological Institute of the University of Halle.[6]

Career edit

In 1924 he was appointed associate professor, and in 1926 he received a lectureship at the University of Greifswald, where he became full professor of geology and palaeontology in 1928.[7] A year later, in 1929, Weigelt became full professor of geology and palaeontology at the University of Halle, succeeding his former scientific mentor Johannes Walther.

In 1932 , Weigelt was appointed to the position of Vice President of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a postion he held until 1942.[1] In 1933, he joined the Nazis (membership number 2,255,659), became a member of the Sturmabteilung and also became a member of the National Socialist Teachers League in 1934.[1] In the same year, the Leopoldina honoured him with the Cothenius Medal for particularly important scientific work.[5] Weigelt was awarded several high medals of the National Socialist regime and was appointed Gaudozentenführer in 1945. He became vice president of the Leopoldina in 1932 and was regarded as the Nazi party's supervisor.[8]

From November 1936 to January 1945, he was rector of the University of Halle and promoted its reorganization in line with armaments policy and Nazi ideology. He also worked as an advisor to the four-year plan authority and developed ore deposits for the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in Salzgitter.[1] In 1937, he became chairman of the Palaeontological Society and in 1940, as successor to German mineralogist Gottlob Linck, chairman of the Thuringian Geological Society. From 1939, he was also one of the editors of the journal "Der Biologe" (The Biologist), which had been taken over by the SS Ahnenerbe.[1].

At the end of the World War II, he was denazified in Hesse with a fine, but was no longer employed.

Publications edit

  • Weigelt, Johannes; Schaefer, Judith (2009) [1927]. Recent Vertebrate Carcasses and Their Paleobiological Implications Recent Vertebrate Carcasses and Their Paleobiological Implications. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 9780226881683.

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ a b c d e Klee 2015, p. 661.
  2. ^ Gómez López 2019, pp. 195–214.
  3. ^ Brain 1990.
  4. ^ Hunger 1958.
  5. ^ a b c d Hoßfeld 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d Eberle 2024.
  7. ^ Hellmund.
  8. ^ Berg 2015, p. 108.

Bibliography edit

  • Berg, Wieland (2015). "Eine ehrenwerte Lüge: Abderhaldens Brief zur Streichung jüdischer Mitglieder der Leopoldina - vorauseilender Gehorsam oder Schutzbehauptung?". Sudhoffs Archiv. 99 (1): 105–115. ISSN 0039-4564. JSTOR 43694903.
  • Brain, C. K. (4 January 1990). "Book Reviews | Detecting Decay". Nature. 343 (32). Nature Publishing Group. doi:10.1038/343032b0.>
  • Eberle, Henrik (28 February 2024). "John Weigelt". Archive (in German). Halle (Salle): Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. Archived from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
  • Gómez López, Ana María (2019). "On taphonomy: collages and collections at the Geiseltalmuseum". BJHS Themes. 4. Cambridge University Press: 195–214. doi:10.1017/bjt.2019.13.
  • Hellmund, M. "Prof. Dr. Johannes Weigelt (1890-1948)". Geiseltal Museum (in German). Halle (Saale): Martin Luther University. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  • Hoßfeld, Uwe (2020). "Weigelt, Theodor Otto Gustav Johannes". Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. 598–600. pp. 598–600.
  • Hunger, Richard (1958). "Johannes Weigelt zum Gedenken" (PDF). Zobodat (Zooligical-Botanical Database) (in German). Frieberg: Archiv für Geschichte der Naturforschung und Medizin“ der Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopoldina zu Halle/S. pp. 217–233. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  • Klee, Ernst (2015). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer, 16048 (in German) (5th ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verl. p. 661. ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8.
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