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Aristocratic Eigensinn and the Fight to Save the Ritterakademie am Dom, 1935–1945

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 May 2010

Charles B. Lansing
Charles B. Lansing
Affiliation:
University of Connecticut
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In the early morning of May 26, 1935, some residents of the eastern German city of Brandenburg an der Havel awoke to shouts of “We Want Our Kaiser Back” and “We Want Back the Black-White-Red” emanating from the dormitory of the storied and elite Prussian secondary school, the Ritterakademie am Dom zu Brandenburg. A small number of students had thrown an illegal party during which, emboldened by alcohol, at least one student had called for the restoration of the monarchical order, to the audible delight of others present. Informed of the night's events on the following Monday, school authorities quickly investigated the matter and decided that the episode represented neither a genuine act of political subversion nor a reflection of possible “reactionary” attitudes held by the students. The utterances were instead an act of foolishness (Dummheit) committed by immature pupils, the consequence of the more serious and perennial problem of students' drinking parties, concluded the Ritterakademie administration. In response, school principal Georg Neuendorf punished several older pupils by removing them from their position atop the student hierarchy and revoking several privileges. He also wrote to all parents of students boarding at the Ritterakademie, asking them no longer to send their sons money, food, and alcohol. Satisfied with his response, the principal ended his report on the incident to his superiors in Berlin, the Oberpräsidium of Brandenburg Province, by noting optimistically that the episode would be of pedagogical use in the continued “Nazification” of the school. In what must have seemed to those involved to signal the end of the affair, regional authorities approved of Neuendorf's actions three days later, concluding that the drunken utterances were a “foolish youth's prank” (dumm[es] junge Streich).

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Articles
Information
Central European History , Volume 43 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 239 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 2010

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References

1 Letter from Ritterakademie Principal Georg Neuendorf to the Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, June 2, 1935, Brandenburgisches Landeshauptarchiv (BLHA) Pr.Br.Rep. 34 P.S.K., Nr. 5303. In accordance with German federal and Brandenburg state law, I have made the names of pupils, teachers, and school officials anonymous unless they have appeared in a publication such as Albrecht von dem Bussche's Die Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg (Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1989).

2 Letter from Ritterakademie Principal Georg Neuendorf to the Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, June 2, 1935, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 P.S.K., Nr. 5303.

3 Letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Ritterakademie principal, June 5, 1935, BLHA Pr. Br. Rep. 34 P.S.K., Nr. 5303.

4 Draft letter from Reich Education Minister to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, Secondary School Department, October 17, 1936, Bundesarchiv Berlin (BAB) R4901/5144.

5 For a more complete definition of habitus, see Bourdieu's, PierreOutline of a Theory of Practice (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1977), 72–95CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

6 See the extensive description of the German aristocratic habitus in Malinowski, Stephan, Vom König zum Führer. Deutscher Adel und Nationalsozialismus (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 2004), 47–117Google Scholar.

7 See, for example, ibid; Conze, Eckart and Wienfort, Monika, eds., Adel und Moderne. Deutschland im europäischen Vergleich im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Cologne: Böhlau Verlag, 2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Reif, Heinz, ed., Adel und Bürgertum in Deutschland II. Entwicklungslinien und Wendepunkte im 20. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 2001)Google Scholar, as well as recent English-language scholarship such as Kershaw, Ian, Making Friends with Hitler: Lord Londenderry, the Nazis, and the Road to War (New York: Penguin, 2004)Google Scholar; Petropoulos, Jonathan, Royals and the Reich: The Princes von Hessen in Nazi Germany (New York: Oxford, 2006)Google Scholar; and Urbach, Karina, ed., European Aristocracies and the Radical Right, 1918–1939 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007)Google Scholar. In his generally magisterial work, Malinowski correctly notes that the aristocracy is the least examined and understood social group in the extensive historiographies of the Weimar Republic and Third Reich, 21.

8 Malinowski, Vom König, 477–503; Stephan Malinowski and Sven Reichardt, “Die Reihen fest geschlossen? Adelige im Führerkorps der SA bis 1934,” and Eckart Conze, “Adel unter dem Totenkopf. Die Idee eines Neuadels in den Gesellschaftsvorstellungen der SS,” in Adel und Moderne, ed. Conze and Wienfort, 119–150 and 151–176, respectively.

9 Petropoulos, Royals and the Reich, 50–91 and 136–172; Jones, Larry Eugene, “The Limits of Collaboration: Edgar Jung, Herbert von Bose, and the Origins of the Conservative Resistance to Hitler, 1933–34,” in Between Reform, Reaction, and Resistance: Studies in the History of German Conservatism from 1789 to 1945, ed. Jones, and Retallack, James (Providence, RI, and Oxford: Berg, 1993), 500Google Scholar; and Theodore S. Hamerow, “The Conservative Resistance to Hitler and the Fall of the Weimar Republic, 1932–43,” in ibid., 434–435.

10 Lüdtke, Alf, Eigen-Sinn. Fabrikalltag, Arbeitererfahrungen und Politik vom Kaiserreich in den Faschismus (Hamburg: Ergebnisse Verlag, 1993), 10Google Scholar.

11 Ibid., 13.

12 See applications of Lüdtke's Eigensinn concept in, for example, Auslander's, Leora “Accommodation, Resistance, and Eigensinn: Evolues and Sapeurs between Africa and Europe,” in Alltag, Erfahrung, Eigensinn. Historisch-anthropologische Erkundungen, ed. Davis, Belinda, Lindenberger, Thomas, and Wildt, Michael (Frankfurt am Main and New York: Campus Verlag, 2008), 205–217Google Scholar.

13 Belinda Davis, Thomas Lindenberger, and Michael Wildt, “Einleitung,” in Alltag, Erfahrung, Eigensinn, ed. Davis, Lindenberger, and Wildt, 18; and Lüdtke, Eigensinn, 228–269.

14 Wehler, Hans-Ulrich, “Introduction,” in Europäischer Adel 1750–1950, ed. Wehler, Hans-Ulrich (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupprecht, 1990), 16Google Scholar.

15 Letter from Wolf-Heinrich Graf von Helldorf, Staatspolizeistelle Potsdam, to the Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, June 15, 1935, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 PSK Nr. 5303.

16 Letter from Kreisgeschäftsführer der Kreisgruppe NSDAP Brandenburg an der Havel, to Kurmark Gauleiter Wilhelm Kube, July 3, 1935, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 PSK Nr. 5303.

17 Ibid.

18 Letter from Gauleiter Kube to Regierungsdirektor Zander, July 5, 1935, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 PSK Nr. 5303.

19 See letter from Georg Neuendorf to the Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, September 27, 1935, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 PSK Nr. 5303.

20 Ibid.

21 Ibid.

22 Regarding Georg Neuendorf's party membership, see the letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Prussian Minister for Science, Art, and Education, December 22, 1933, BAB R4901/5144; for his publicly declared plans to transform the Ritterakademie, see Die Ritterakademie. Mitteilungsblatt des Vereins ehemaliger Zöglinge der Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg an der Havel, Nr. 2, December 1934, 10. Jahrgang, DStA BR 664/330, 8–9.

23 Report from Neuendorf to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, February 29, 1936, DStA BR 553/10.

24 Ibid.; see also the statement by secondary school teacher Erich S., September 26, 1936, submitted to Georg Neuendorf, DStA BR 553/10.

25 Report from Neuendorf to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, February 29, 1936, DStA BR 553/10.

26 Ibid.

27 Letter from Kurt Ludwig Freiherr von Br. to Karl von O., February 26, 1936, DStA, BRV 122/7.

28 Ibid.

29 Letter from Karl von O. to Kurt Ludwig Freiherr von Br., March 3, 1936, DStA, BRV 124/1.

30 Copy of a letter from Karl von O. to B. von W., March 7, 1936, DStA, BRV 122/7.

31 Copy of a letter from Karl von O. to Herr von Kr., May 22, 1936, DStA, BRV 124/1; regarding the search for and appointment of Kurator Hans von Rochow, see correspondence in DStA BRV 124/1.

32 Copy of the statement of Holge von H., July 1936, and of the statement of Franz D., August 7, 1936, DStA BR 553/10.

33 Report from Neuendorf to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, September 25, 1936, DStA BR 553/10, 68.

34 Ibid., 72.

35 Ibid., 73.

36 Letter from Oberpräsident, Abteilung für höheres Schulwesen, to Reichs- und Preussichen Minister für Wissenschaft, Erziehung, und Volksbildung, October 1, 1936, BAB R4901/5144.

37 Ibid.

38 Ibid.

39 Draft of letter from Minister to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, Secondary School Department, October 17, 1936, BAB R4901/5144 and BLHA Pr.Br.Rep 34 PSK, Nr. 5304.

40 Letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to Wilhelm von Goertzke, October 23, 1936, DStA BRV 124/1.

41 Copy of a letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to Regierungspräsident in Potsdam als Vertreter des Domstifts Brandenburg, October 31, 1936, DStA BR 553/10.

42 Letter from Wilhelm von Goerzke to Regierungspräsident Dr. Ernst Fromm, Potsdam, November 7, 1936, DStA BR 4696/1324.

43 Letter from von Goertzke to Regierungspräsident Dr. Ernst Fromm, Potsdam, November 16, 1936, DStA BR 4696/1324.

44 Draft letter from Reich Minister for Religious Affairs to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, November 19, 1936, DStA BR 4696/1324; for additional biographical information, see Historische Kommission bei der bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, ed., Neue Deutsche Biographie, Zweiter Band: Behaim—Bürkel, (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1955), 567Google Scholar; and Weiss, Hermann, ed., Biographisches Lexikon zum Dritten Reich (Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag, 1998), 286Google Scholar.

45 File notes, Wilhelm von Goertzke, December 19, 1936, DStA BRV 122/7.

46 Letter from Karl von O. to Wilhelm von Goertzke, December 10, 1936, DStA BRV 124/1.

47 File notes, Wilhelm von Goertzke, December 19, 1936, DStA BRV 122/7, and Letter from Karl von O. to Wilhelm von Goertzke, December 10, 1936, DStA BRV 124/1.

48 Letter from Ludwig Z. to Karl von O., February 12, 1937, DStA BRV 124/1.

49 Copy of a letter from von Goertzke to Hermann Göring, March 2, 1937, DStA BRV 124/1; and von dem Bussche, Ritterakademie, 152.

50 Letter from Karl von O. to Kurt Ludwig Freiherr von Br., December 10, 1936, DStA BRV 124/1.

51 Letter from Märkische Generallandschaftsdirektion to Reich Education Ministry, December 19, 1936, BAB R4901/5144.

52 Internal report, Reich Education Ministry, February 24, 1937, BAB R4901/5144.

53 Draft note, Reich Education Ministry, March 20, 1937, BAB R4901/5144.

54 Telegram from von Goertzke to Karl von O., March 16, 1937, DStA BRV 124/1.

55 Report from Neuendorf to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, September 25, 1936, DStA BR 553/10, 62.

56 Letter from Kurator von Goertzke to the “Friends of the Ritterakademie,” March 17, 1937, DStA BR 4696/1324.

57 Die Ritterakademie. Mitteilungsblatt des Vereins ehemaliger Zöglinge der Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg an der Havel, Nr. 1, October 1937, 13. Jahrgang, DStA BR 664/330, 6–8.

58 “Bericht über das Anstaltsleben,” ibid.

59 Copy of a report from Studienassessor Gerhard F., December 13, 1937, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep 34 PSK, Nr. 5304.

60 Copy of a note sent to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, December 20, 1937, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep 34 PSK, Nr. 5304.

61 Circular from Kurator von Rochow to the members of the Alumni Association and to the pupils' parents, November 18, 1937, DStA BRV 124/1.

62 Letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, Secondary School Department, to Reich Education Minister, January 11, 1938, BAB R4901/5144.

63 Ibid.

64 Letter from Märkische Generallandschaftsdirektion to Reich Education Minister, June 10, 1938, BAB R4901/5144.

65 Travel report, Reich Education Ministry, October 17, 1938, BAB R4901/5144.

66 Ibid.

67 Copy of “Richtlinien für die Zusammenarbeit zwischen der Städtischen Oberschule für Jungen und der Ritterakademie in Brandenburg/Havel,” DStA BDK 4714/3081c. As the alumni newsletter makes clear, the state's takeover of the boarding facilities also brought a host of small changes in the daily lives of the boys living there; boys no longer slept with “unhygienic” stuffed quilts, for instance, and the daily study periods were increased. Die Ritterakademie. Mitteilungsblatt des Vereins ehemaliger Zöglinge der Ritterakademie zu Brandenburg an der Havel, Nr. 1, June 1939, 15. Jahrgang, DStA BR 664/330, 2–4.

68 Report from Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, Berlin, sent to the Reich Education Ministry, December 4, 1941, BAB R4901/5144.

69 Report from Oberstudiendirektor Walter H., November 10, 1942, attached to a letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Reich Education Ministry, BAB R4901/5144.

70 Report from Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, Berlin, sent to the Reich Education Ministry, December 4, 1941, BAB R4901/5144.

71 Ibid.

72 “Bericht über die Besichtigung der Ritterakademie am 11. Juni 1942,” BAB R4901/5144.

73 Ibid.; and draft letter from Reich Education Ministry to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, Secondary School Department, August 22, 1942, BAB R4901/5144.

74 Report from Oberstudiendirektor Walter H., November 10, 1942, attached to a letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Reich Education Ministry, BAB R4901/5144.

75 Ibid.; and letter from Brandenburg an der Havel Oberbürgermeister Dr. Sievers to Reich Education Ministry, November 10, 1942, DStA BR 4696/1324.

76 Note, Reich Education Ministry, April 5, 1943, BAB R4901/5144. The city's population as of 1943 was approximately 90,000, a substantial increase over its 1933 population of slightly more than 64,000; see “Personenstand im Januar,” Brandenburger Anzeiger, February 22, 1933, “Für Brandenburg” section.

77 Letter from Inspektion der Deutschen Heimschulen to Secondary School Department, April 13, 1943, BAB R4901/5144.

78 Note, Secondary School Department, Reich Education Ministry, April 5, 1943, BAB R4901/5144.

79 Draft letter from Secondary School Department to Inspektion der Deutschen Heimschulen, June 8, 1943, BAB R4901/5144.

80 Letter from Inspektion der Deutschen Heimschulen to Secondary School Department, Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, August 19, 1944, BAB R4901/5144.

81 See correspondence among the Reich Education Ministry departments, the Party Chancellery of the NSDAP, Brandenburg Province Oberpräsident, and Brandenburg an der Havel's Oberbürgermeister from June 1943 to August 1944, BAB R4901/5144.

82 Correspondence between Inspektion der Deutschen Heimschulen and Secondary School Department, July 5, July 25, and August 19, 1944, BAB R4901/5144.

83 Letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to Kurator von Rochow, July 16, 1944, and copy of a letter from Kurator von Rochow to Head of the Ritterakademie Adalbert O., September 7, 1944, DStA 675/304, 71 and 77–78, respectively; letter from Inspektion der Deutschen Heimschulen to Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province, Secondary School Department, August 19, and the report from Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, Berlin, sent to the Reich Education Ministry, December 4, 1941, BAB R4901/5144.

84 Letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to Kurator von Rochow, July 16, 1944, DStA 675/304, 71.

85 Inaugural issue of the postwar alumni newsletter Der Kurier, December 1, 1945, DStA BRV 132/128, 2–3.

86 Von dem Bussche, Ritterakademie, 207.

87 Copy of a letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Leiter der Deutschen Heimschule, December 2, 1944, BLHA Pr.Br.Rep. 34 PSK, Nr. 5303.

88 See former pupils' accounts of the state's many extracurricular demands on young men in this period that forced them to spend less and less time in school in Der Kurier, December 1, 1945, and August 1, 1951, DStA BRV 132/128, 2–3 and 3–5 respectively.

89 The postwar archival record indicates that the nascent non-Nazi municipal administration tried to confiscate the Ritterakademie's property; officials claimed in part that the institution, in its final form, had been affiliated with the SS. A court ultimately rejected the city's claims, leaving the institution and property under the control of the German Protestant Church; see reports and correspondence in DStA 675/304, 113–114 and 124, and Der Kurier, Nr. 30, August 1, 1951, and Nr. 3, November 24, 1946, DStA BRV 132/128, 1–2.

90 Report from Oberstudiendirektor Walter H., November 10, 1942, attached to a letter from Oberpräsident of Brandenburg Province to the Reich Education Ministry, BAB R4901/5144.

91 Ibid.

92 For the first detailed history in English of the Nationalsozialistischer Lehrerbund's indoctrination efforts, see chapters two and three of my forthcoming book From Nazism to Communism: German Schoolteachers Under Two Dictatorships (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2010).