THE HISTORY OF OUR UNIVERSITY 4: Between Patriotism and Suppression

Universität Würzburg in the World Wars

How does a university behave in times of war and dictatorship? The history of JMU in the First and Second World Wars, particularly during the Nazi era, reveals a tension between adaptation, opportunism, quiet persistence and failed reckoning!

When states go to war or dictatorships emerge, universities often find themselves caught between science, politics and morality. Our university is no exception, and yet its history during this period is in some respects unusual.

First World War: Patriotic enthusiasm and empty lecture halls

As almost everywhere in Europe, a wave of patriotic enthusiasm sweeps through Würzburg in 1914. "All political and ideological matters were set aside for the time being," explains Dr. Marcus Holtz, head of the University Archive. "People rallied behind the 'national idea' and wanted to support the war."

A prominent example: Nobel Prize winner Eduard Buchner. As a Nobel laureate, he would not have been subject to conscription, yet he volunteered and ultimately fell in Romania.

Teaching operations partially collapse. Many students and lecturers are in the field, and everyday life at the university shrinks to a minimum.

The real problems come mainly after the war:

• Return of entire cohorts of front-line soldiers
• simultaneously new school-leaving cohorts
• economic crisis

The lecture halls are full, but resources and prospects are scarce.

Second World War: A "black" university in the Nazis' sights

During the Nazi era, the higher education system is brought into line:

• academic self-governance is restricted
• the rector position is newly appointed and designated as "Führer-Rector"
• senates are to become merely advisory, largely powerless bodies

Yet in Würzburg, this coordination only works completely on the surface. "The National Socialists saw Würzburg as a 'black' university – conservative, Catholic, not really aligned with their ideology," Holtz explains. "Their ideology could never take root here as deeply as at some other universities."

Despite the Führer-Rector, important decisions continued in practice to be coordinated with the senate. Much continued "as before" – at least within the traditional academic culture.

Careerism and moral transgressions

However, this unfortunately does not mean that Würzburg was a place of resistance. There were indeed professors who were close to Nazi ideology. Especially those who benefited from the new career opportunities – for example in new appointments.

Particularly problematic are areas where Nazi ideology shifts ethical boundaries – for instance in medicine. When science suddenly "is allowed to" do what was previously unthinkable, it becomes dangerous, warns the head of the University Archive. "The mentally ill, devalued as 'not worth living', became objects of experiments. This is not a specifically Würzburg phenomenon, but it is relevant here too."

The justification of many involved sounded similar: one sacrifices the few for the supposed good of the many – for medical progress, new vaccinations, therapies.

Jewish students: refuge and late revocation

One thing is particularly striking: Würzburg records one of the highest numbers of revoked doctorates of Jewish graduates nationwide in the Nazi state. At first glance, this looks like a sign of particular Nazi radicalism. Holtz disagrees. In fact, this high number says more about the pre-war period than about the Nazi era. For Würzburg was an important refuge for Jewish students.

The revocation of doctorates during National Socialism was then an automated, nationwide process, without real decision-making power for individual universities. "Of course, one must say: there was no massive resistance to these measures," Holtz emphasises. "But the figures themselves are rather evidence of how strong Jewish life and Jewish students were previously represented in Würzburg."

After 1945: The missed reckoning

After the end of the war, a radical personnel and moral reckoning should have followed – in the judiciary, politics and universities. According to Holtz, this did not happen. "Many people with a Nazi past continued to hold leading positions – in courts, in administrations, and also at the university."

Continuity was great, willingness for thorough reckoning was small. Into this mix also belongs the later conflict over academic robes and tradition – more on that in the next article.