Portrait of the Academy

The Heidelberg Academy responded to the challenge posed by Nazi ideology and its implementation by the state in much the same way as almost all academic institutions in Germany. Its guiding principle was organizational survival, the preservation of the institution. To achieve this goal, almost any price was paid, above all the renunciation of legal claims, collegiality, and solidarity with persecuted members, as well as the abandonment of academic standards in new elections. The opportunistic tactic of maximum conformity and often premature Gleichschaltung in order to save a questionable proprium led to culpable failure. Although the Academy did not pursue any research projects typical of the Nazi regime, five National Socialists were elected in the 1934/35 elections, three of them to vacant seats in disciplines traditionally covered by the Academy (astronomy, geology, physiology). The "NS faction," although a small minority among the 37 full members, immediately set about expelling the Jewish members from the Academy under the leadership of physiologist Johann Daniel Achelis. Since those affected were initially unwilling to give in to the pressure and resign, the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class came to a complete standstill between the summer semester of 1936 and the end of 1937 – meetings were no longer held, and the 1937 annual meeting was also canceled. In the "Cartel of German Academies of Sciences," Heidelberg became a pioneer in pushing for a uniform Reich solution for the expulsion of "non-Aryan" members, while the Reich Ministry of Education, Science, and National Education (REM) reserved the decision for 1936. In February 1937, the secretary of the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class, Otto Heinrich Erdmannsdörfer, noted that in a survey, a minority of class members still advocated "keeping non-Aryans under all circumstances," even though a few months earlier, the "Kampfblatt" (battle paper) of the Heidelberg group of the NSDStB (National Socialist German Student League) had sharply attacked the academy for its outdated understanding of science and demanded the "complete purge" of "Jews and friends of Jews." In silent protest, the Heidelberg student had demanded the removal of the academy's president, Professor "Der Heidelberger Student," had sharply attacked the academy for its outdated understanding of science and demanded the "complete purge" of "Jews and friends of Jews." In silent protest against the treatment of Jewish members, botanist Ludwig Jost left the Heidelberg Academy in 1937. The Philosophy and History Class stayed completely out of these disputes and merely pointed out the need to achieve uniform regulations throughout the Reich.

On November 15, 1938, a "quick letter" from the REM demanded that the Reich Citizenship Law of 1935 (Reich citizens are "citizens of German or related blood") be applied to regular and corresponding members. Those affected were to be encouraged to resign; if they refused, the ministry would revoke their membership. The order was repeated on February 1, 1939, and then also enforced in Heidelberg for "Jews, Mischlinge, and gentlemen married to Jewish women or Mischlinge of the first degree," albeit not without exceptions.

The result of the forced resignations or deletions from the membership list was as follows: Of 37 full members (as of April 1, 1933), seven were expelled from the Academy (four in the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class, three in the Philosophy and History Class); of 38 corresponding/associate members, five were expelled (one in the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class, four in the Philosophy and History Class).

In the elections held in the following years until the end of the war, supporters of the regime, critics of the regime, and those with little ideological exposure were elected. The statutes of 1939, which also introduced the Führer principle and made additional elections dependent on confirmation by the ministry, expanded the catchment area for full members beyond Heidelberg to southwestern Germany and now also included the universities and colleges of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Darmstadt, and Frankfurt; after the conquest of Alsace, Strasbourg was added. Heads of research institutes and industrialists could also be elected.

The financial situation of the Heidelberg Academy remained precarious, so that only two new major projects could be started in the Philosophy and History Class: the edition of the works of Nikolaus von Kues (Cusanus) (duration 1925-2015) and "Die Deutschen Inschriften" (German Inscriptions) covering the period from around 500 to 1650 (duration since 1935 with preliminary considerations since 1930) – a project supported by almost all German academies and the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

For the new beginning after May 8, 1945, two questions arose in particular: How would the Academy treat those members who had been forced out of the Academy as "non-Aryans" during the years of the Third Reich? And how would the Academy treat those members who could be accused of serious misconduct during the twelve years of Nazi rule, in particular active participation in the "purge" of the Academy? The first question was easy to answer. Members who had been expelled or had resigned were invited to rejoin the Academy as corresponding members. Most accepted this invitation, but not all. Apparently, not everyone felt that the Academy had struck the right tone in this delicate re-establishment of ties.

The Academy had a much harder time dealing with members who had been implicated in Nazi activities. It initially resorted to introducing a dormant membership, which could, but did not necessarily have to, lead to reactivation depending on the denazification proceedings and the decisions of the university. In 1950, the Academy decided to decide on the revocation of dormant memberships in accordance with the rules for new elections. In fact, the Mathematics and Natural Sciences Class rejected the re-election of incriminated members in some cases. On the other hand, however, heavily incriminated members were also re-elected. The Academy did not have the courage to make a clear break, or indeed to make a clear decision at all. In his history of the Heidelberg Academy, published in 1994, which contains an extensive analysis of this topic, historian Wennemuth described the Academy's handling of its past as "hesitant, half-hearted."

However, the past remained present for the Academy well beyond the immediate post-war years, namely in the form of the question of whether it should or even must examine the behavior of candidates of the relevant age during the years of the Third Reich when electing them. As far as can be ascertained, there has never been a fundamental debate on this issue within the Academy. Even in the case of individual admissions, the question of whether a candidate was directly or indirectly involved in the injustices of the Nazi dictatorship was apparently not raised. Even if one acknowledges that there were reasons for the Academy not to link the elections to a kind of second, belated denazification process, one must nevertheless make the critical observation that the Academy apparently saw no reason to fundamentally reflect on its own behavior in this matter and to state the reasons why it behaved as it did.

From the 1950s onwards, the legal and financial status of the academy gradually consolidated. In 1958, it became the Baden-Württemberg State Academy, in 1966 a public corporation, and since 1971 its basic budget has been included in the state budget. Accordingly, the academy recruits scholars who are based in Baden-Württemberg. At the same time, the academy's research activities expanded.

This development received a decisive boost when the federal and state governments established the so-called Academies Program in the 1970s. The program was and is intended to promote long-term scientific projects, which had previously been the responsibility of the DFG. Both classes were now able to set up research positions for limited-term long-term research projects, which were financed by the Academies Program. Following a vote by the Science Council, purely scientific research projects were no longer included in the Academies Program from 2004 onwards. Since then, the Academies Program has focused on long-term projects in the humanities. In a second statement in 2009, the Science Council clarified its position and encouraged interdisciplinary cooperation between the humanities and natural sciences in Academies Program projects.

Bei der Verteilung der Mittel aus dem Programm auf die Akademien spielt die Union der deutschen Akademien der Wissenschaften eine entscheidende Rolle. Sie besteht als Zusammenschluss der inzwischen acht von den Bundesländern getragenen Akademien der Wissenschaften seit 1996 unter diesem Namen. Die Landesakademien hatten ihre Zusammenarbeit zuvor schon seit den fünfziger Jahren in einer Arbeitsgemeinschaft organisiert, diese in den siebziger Jahren zur Konferenz der Akademien umgestaltet und schließlich die Union als eingetragenen Verein gegründet. Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften war an diesen Zusammenschlüssen von Anfang an beteiligt.

Since 2002, its activities have also included promoting young scientists through a special academy-based program (WIN Program). The awards presented by the academy, starting with the Academy Prize donated by the Friends of the Academy in 1984, are also intended for young scientists. In 2009, the academy celebrated its 100th anniversary with a ceremony attended by Günther Öttinger, Minister President of Baden-Württemberg, and numerous other events.

• Udo Wennemuth, Wissenschaftsorganisation und Wissenschaftsförderung in Baden (PDF). Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften 1909-1949. Heidelberg 1994.
• Udo Wennemuth, Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften im Dritten Reich (PDF), in: Acta historica Leopoldina Nr. 22 (1995), S. 113-132.
• Volker Sellin (ed.),Das Europa der Akademien(The Europe of Academies) (PDF). Heidelberg 2010.
• Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (Hg.), Die im Dritten Reich entrechteten und vertriebenen Mitglieder der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (PDF). Biografische Porträts. Heidelberg 2009.
• Volker Sellin/Sebastian Zwies (Hg.), Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften im Spiegel ihrer Antrittsreden 1944-2008 (PDF). Mit einem Verzeichnis ihrer ordentlichen Mitglieder 1909-2008. Heidelberg 2009.
• Volker Sellin/Eike Wolgast/Sebastian Zwies (Hg.), Die Forschungsvorhaben der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften (PDF). Heidelberg 2009.
• Ditte Bandini/Ulrich Kronauer (eds.),Früchte vom Baum des Wissens(PDF). A commemorative publication by the research assistants. Heidelberg 2009.
• Jörg Kreutz/Wilhelm Kreutz/Hermann Wiegand (Hg.), In omnibus veritas: 250 Jahre Kurpfälzische Akademie der Wissenschaften in Mannheim (1763-1806), darin: Herbert von Bose, Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, Seite 221-231

• Uta Hüttig/Hans-Georg Kräusslich (Hg.), Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften im Spiegel ihrer Antrittsreden 2009-2023. Mit einem Verzeichnis ihrer ordentlichen Mitglieder 2009-2023. Heidelberg 2024.

   

• Die Medaillen der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften von Matthias Ohm (Athene 2-2024, Seite 35-37).
• Weitere Literatur: Matthias Ohm "academia in nummis. Medaillen der Mannheimer und der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften", in: Numismatisches Nachrichtenblatt Heft 11/2024, S. 413–420.
• Athene als Emblem der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften von Tonio Hölscher (Athene 1-2021, Seite 6-9).

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Die Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften wurde 1909 in der Tradition der 1763 durch Kurfürst Carl Theodor gegründeten Kurpfälzischen Akademie als badische Akademie der Wissenschaften konstituiert. Dem Gründungsgedanken, die herausragenden Wissenschaftlerinnen und Wissenschaftler des Landes zum fächerübergreifenden Gespräch und gemeinsamer Grundlagenforschung zusammenzuführen, ist die Heidelberger Akademie treu geblieben. Wie alle acht von den Bundesländern getragenen Akademien der Wissenschaften (externer Link) ist auch die Landesakademie Baden-Württembergs Gelehrtengesellschaft und außeruniversitäre Forschungseinrichtung. Sie ist Trägerin von Forschungsprojekten, veranstaltet wissenschaftliche Tagungen sowie öffentliche Vortragsreihen und fördert den wissenschaftlichen Nachwuchs.

The current focus of the Academy's sustainability-oriented activities is on basic research in cultural and intellectual history. In these fast-moving times, science seeks knowledge and insights that will outlast current trends and provide long-term perspectives on the present. In this way, science creates sustainable values that preserve and renew intellectual foundations, experiences, and ideas far beyond the present day. The Academy of Sciences provides a space where long-term continuous observations and surveys are possible, data collections for editions of extensive text corpora and encyclopedias are compiled and made available to the general public. The Academy thus contributes to the preservation and development of cultural heritage for the present and the future and provides basic knowledge that can be used by other scientists in research and teaching as well as by the general public.

The Academy's research projects(internal link) cover a wide range of topics. Scientific responsibility for the individual projects lies with commissions composed of Academy members and external experts.

As a state academy, the Heidelberg Academy is primarily funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg. However, it also receives funding for numerous research projects from the"Academies Program"(external link), which is jointly funded by the federal and state governments; according to the rules of the program, the federal government and the state in which a research center is located each bear half of the project costs. In addition, the research centers raise third-party funds from priority programs of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the German Research Foundation, and foundations.

Since the founding of the first German academy of sciences more than 300 years ago, the role of academies in the scientific system has undergone continuous change. With the assumption of additional responsibilities, the Academy of the State of Baden-Württemberg is facing new challenges.

• The Heidelberg Academy intensifies its dialogue with the public by selecting specific sessions and organizing lectures followed by discussions.
• The Academy is increasingly contributing its research potential and the scientific expertise of its members to the public debate on social issues.
• Since 2002, the WIN-Kolleg(internal link) has been promoting interdisciplinary research on current topics, which is designed and carried out by teams of young scientists. The total funding amounts to approximately one million euros per year.
• With the "WIN Conferences" (formerly Academy Conferences)(internal link), the Academy gives young researchers the opportunity to organize an interdisciplinary conference on their own responsibility. While the Academy finances the conference and provides the infrastructure, the young researchers are free to choose the conference topic and plan the scientific program.