The Sponsoring Society under National Socialism

The GFF of the TH Dresden supported the fascist regime until the end / Further reappraisal of history necessary

University Journal 08/2021

With the foundation of the Society of Sponsors and Friends of the Technische Hochschule Dresden e. V. on December 7, 1921, additional financial resources were generated primarily for the professors' research, especially for necessary equipment and apparatus, but also for books, travel funds and scholarships. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, the honorary chairman of the society and former Saxon Minister of Education, Dr. Dr.-Ing. e. h. von Beck, was able to refer to the successful development of the organization and the close cooperation of the professors with the Saxon economy on December 11, 1931. In November 1932, the statement of accounts showed that since the end of inflation in 1924, almost 335,000 Reichsmarks had been disbursed for the promotion of scientific projects, plus the one million Reichsmarks also raised for the centenary celebration of the university in 1928. The money disbursed came primarily from interest income on fixed-interest securities and from shares. The bankers sometimes made up for losses out of their own pockets. The Romance scholar Victor Klemperer had also profited from the Society's funding pots for the benefit of his seminary and successfully suggested that Fritz Thiele of Leipzig be made an honorary senator. From then on, the car-loving entrepreneur proudly held this title and remained connected to the university. The sponsoring society had developed into an interesting platform of exchange with decision-makers from business, politics and high bureaucracy. Thus, the general meetings were used to familiarize the friends and supporters also with special topics of the university. In 1932, Professor Enno Heidebroek, who was well connected and extraordinarily communicative far beyond Saxony, gave a lecture on the "Critique of Technology" as part of an "Evening of the Technical University ". Afterwards, the friends and sponsors found many opportunities to get into "close personal contact" with the professors. Certainly, various scientific projects were discussed, in the realization of which financially potent entrepreneurs were helpful. Presumably, one or the other honorary doctorate or senatorial title was also held out in prospect. However, such discussions were not and are not recorded in the files.

What happened to the company after January 30, 1933?

As late as November 1933, the bankers Adolf and Heinrich Arnhold were still active in the Förderergesellschaft. Adolf Arnhold as treasurer and member of the board and his brother Heinrich as a member of the board of directors. Victor Klemperer's name is also recorded in the Society's official announcements in 1933. A year later, the names of the members considered Jewish were missing from the Society's statement of accounts at the end of 1934. Likewise, one searches in vain for the name of Wilhelm Külz, the mayor of Dresden who had been elected in 1931 and who had also headed the German Democratic Party (DDP). Külz had been dismissed in March 1933 because he had refused to fire employees who were suspicious of the National Socialists and to raise the swastika flag at the city hall. The expulsion of this group of people from the Förderergesellschaft apparently took place without any noise, since some of the members of the Executive Board and the Board of Directors were required by the statutes to resign after a certain period, although re-election would have been possible at any time. Questions about the renunciation of the further cooperation of these members, who were extraordinarily deserving for the development of the Förderergesellschaft, were apparently not asked at the general meeting at the end of 1933 either; at any rate, nothing has been handed down about this, either in writing or orally. As at the university, the interventions of the National Socialist state in terms of personnel and structure were accepted or tolerated. Whether they were expressly welcomed, as by many professors who had signed the Confession of German University Teachers to Adolf Hitler in November 1933, is not known. On the other hand, the cooperation of active National Socialists both from the professoriate and from the city of Dresden and the government is sufficiently handed down. Overall, there is continuity in the Society's committees. For example, the excellently networked Robert Vorländer - by now retired general director and commercial head of the renowned Chemische Fabrik von Heyden - was still in charge of the affairs of the Society's board of directors during the Second World War. After the transfer of power to the National Socialists, the Executive Board and the Board of Directors increasingly included their loyal followers with political influence, such as Georg Lenk, Saxony's State Minister for Economic Affairs, and Heinrich Koppenberg, Honorary Senator, who had already received an honorary doctorate in 1928, head of the Central German Steelworks and General Director of Junkers Aircraft Works, which had been nationalized by the National Socialists. As an NSDAP member, Hermann Göring had appointed him in 1938 as special representative for the production of the JU 88, the Luftwaffe's standard bomber. This meant that one of Germany's leading armaments managers sat on the board of the Dresden Förderergesellschaft. It was no coincidence that in November 1938, the chairman of the society's board pointed out the great importance of technical science and "the associated research work in view of the new four-year plan of our Führer and Reich Chancellor." In any case, the Förderergesellschaft had also placed itself at the service of the National Socialist dictatorship. Finances continued to be spent on special technical equipment, books and journals for professors' research projects. It is hardly possible to distinguish here whether the additional funds went to armament-related or civilian projects. Evidence of wartime relevance, as in the case of government contract research, was apparently not required for the funds raised by the funding agency. However, it can be assumed that research projects for both the military and civilian sectors were supported. Quite a few projects were relevant to both sectors. For example, in the report on the 1941/42 fiscal year, Robert Vorländer pointed out the importance of science during the war and in the post-war period. Basic research created the ground for purpose research. These intentions were met, for example, by large special donations to Heinrich Barkhausen's Weak Current Institute still in the final phase of the Second World War.

However, funding was also spent directly on the development of rocket technology within the framework of the "Peenemünde Special Project", which was also anchored at the Dresden Technical University and ultimately helped to prolong the hopeless war in its final phase and fuel the myth of the expected "wonder weapon".

In summary, it can be stated in this cursory contribution that the Förderergesellschaft actively supported and assisted the National Socialist regime with its funds until the very end. This is indisputable and requires constant reappraisal and reflection in our dynamically changing world.

Dr. Matthias Lienert,
Director University Archive