"" officially translated into English as the "Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State" was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzig. It had statements in German, English, Italian, and Spanish by selected German academics and included an appendix of signatories. The purge to remove academics and civil servants with Jewish ancestry began with the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, passed on 7 April 1933. The vow of allegiance was signed by those who remained, in support of Nazi Germany.
Philosopher Martin Heidegger in his inaugural lecture in May 1933 as rector of the University of Freiburg, and who was later in October appointed "Führer of the university", said (translated): "The much celebrated "academic freedom" is being banished from the German university; for this freedom was not genuine, since it was only negative. It meant primarily freedom from concern, arbitrariness of intentions and inclinations, lack of restraint in what was done and left undone. The concept of freedom of the German is now brought back to its truth".
After World War II, Heidegger was dismissed from the university and banned from teaching after denazification hearings at Freiburg.
List of institutions
The academics of the following institutions were included as signatories: Deutsche Hochschule für Leibesübungen, Berlin-Charlottenburg Hochschule für Lehrerbildung, Bonn Georg-August-Universität Göttingen Hamburgische Universität Hochschule für Lehrerbildung, Kiel Veterinärmedizinische Fakultät Leipzig Pädagogisches Institut Leipzig Universität Marburg Pädagogisches Institut Rostock Bergakademie Clausthal Technische Hochschule Danzig Technische Hochschule Dresden Pädagogisches Institut, Dresden Bergakademie Freiberg i. Sa. Technische Hochschule Hannover Handelshochschule Berlin Handels-Hochschule Leipzig Hindenburg-Hochschule Nürnberg Landwirtschaftliche Hochschule Bonn-Poppelsdorf Forstliche Hochschule Eberswalde Technische Hochschule Dresden (Forstliche Hochschule Tharandt) Forstliche Hochschule Hann. Münden Bischöfliche Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Eichstätt i. B. Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Passau Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Regensburg Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule Dillingen
Signatories There were nearly 900 signatories to the document including the following professors and academics apart from some independent scholars.
A (Leipzig), Narziß Ach (Göttingen psychologist), (Leipzig veterinarian), (Freiberg physicist), Friedrich Ahlfeld (Marburg geologist), (Hamburg), (Kiel), (Leipzig sports trainer), (Marburg zoologist), Georg Anschütz (Hamburg psychologist), Christian Aretz (Bonn scientist), Emil Artin (Hamburg mathematician), (Dresden)
B Ernst Baars (Marburg chemist), Adolf Bach (Bonn Germanist), Heinrich Barkhausen (Dresden physicist), Sophie Barrelet (Hamburg), Julius Bartels (Eberswald geophysicist), Karl Hugo Friedrich Bauer (Leipzig chemist), Lorenz Bauer (Theologian), Friedrich Baumann (Marburg physician), Karl Baumann (Bonn physicist), Max Baur (Marburg pharmacist), Werner Bavendamm (Dresden botanist), Fritz Beckert (Dresden), Hermann Beenken (Leipzig art historian), Paul Johannes Beger (Hannover mineralogist), Johannes Behm (Göttingen theologist), Carl Julius Peter Behr (Hamburg ophthalmologist), Hans Hermann Bennhold (Hamburg), Ewald Berge (Leipzig veterinarian), Walther Bergt (Dresden geologist), Erhard Berndt (Leipzig agronomist), Georg Berndt (Dresden physicist), Luise Berthold (Marburg Germanist), Helmut Berve (Leipzig historian), Theodor Beste (Dresden administrator), Erich Bethe (Leipzig philologist), Kurt Beyer (Dresden civil engineer), Robert Bierich (Hamburg physician), Wilhelm Biltz (Hannover chemist), Ludwig Binder (Dresden electrotechnician), Lothar Birckenbach (Clausthal chemist), Herbert Birtner (Marburg musicologist), Fritz Blättner (Hamburg teacher), Max Le Blanc (Leipzig chemist), Edwin Blanck (Göttingen soil scientist), Wilhelm Blaschke (Austrian mathematician), Hermann Block (Hamburger teacher), Otto Blum (Hannover civil engineer), Werner Blume (Göttingen anatomist), Paul Böckmann (Hamburg Germanist), Ernst Boehm (Leipzig teacher), Gerhard Bohne (Kiel), Gerrit Bol (Dutch Mathematician, Hamburg), Otto Friedrich Bollnow (Göttingen philosopher), Conrad Borchling (Hamburg Germanist), Bruno Borowski (Leipzig Anglicist), Wilhelm Böttger (Leipzig chemist), Kurt Brand (Marburg pharmacist), Erich Brandenburg (Leipzig historian), Wilhelm Braeucker (Hamburg surgeon), Gustav Brandes (Dresden zoologist), Ludolph Brauer (Hamburg aviation medicine specialist), Friedrich Braun (Leipzig Germanist), Hermann Braune (Hannover chemist), Erich Bräunlich (Leipzig orientalist), Gustav Bredemann (Hamburg agronomist), Hellmut Bredereck (Leipzig chemist), Franz Brenthel (Freiberg metallurgist), Roland Brinkmann (Hamburger geographer), Georg Brion (1873–1950, Freiberg), Joachim Brock (Marburg pediatrician), Johannes Brodersen (Hamburg anatomist), Ernst Broermann (Bonn psychologist), Paul Brohmer (Kiel biologist), Leo Bruhns (Leipzig art historian), Otto Brunck (Freiberg chemist), Curt Brunst (Dresden), Eberhard Buchwald (Danziger physicist), Günther Budelmann, Alfred Burgardsmeier (Bonner Kirchenhistoriker), Felix Burkhardt (Leipzig statistician), Otto Burmeister (Rostock teacher), Werner Burmeister (Hamburg art-historian), Adolf Busemann (Dresden aeronatician), Adolf Butenandt (Danzig Chemist and later Nobel prize winner)
C–D Hans Freiherr von Campenhausen (Göttingen theologian), Ernst Carlsohn (Leipzig chemist), Wilhelm Cauer (Göttingen mathematician), Peter Claussen (Marburg botanist), Paul Cohrs (Leipzig veterinarian), Hermann Cranz (Mechanical engineer, Hannover), Nikolaus Creutzburg (Geographer, Danzig), Rudolf Criegee (Marburg chemist), Adolf Dabelow (Marburg physician), Hans Dachs (Regensburg), Petrus Dausch (Theologian), Rudolf Degkwitz (senior) (Hamburg physician), Friedrich Delekat (Dresden theologian), Alfred Dengler (Eberswald forester), Georg Dettmar (Hannover technician), Gustaf Deuchler (Hamburg teacher), Paul Deutsch (Leipzig economist), Max Deutschbein (Marburg Anglicist), Hans Diller (Hamburg philologist), Rudolf Dittler (Marburg ophthalmologist), Ottmar Dittrich (Leipzig linguist), Walter Döpp (Marburg botanist), Hans Dörries (Göttingen geographer), Carl Dolezalek (Civil engineer, Hannover), Heinz Dotterweich (Dresden zoologist), Friedrich Drenckhahn (Rostock teacher), Johannes von den Driesch (Bonn teacher), Karlfried Graf Dürckheim (Kiel psychologist), Herbert W. Duda (Leipzig Orientalist), Gerhard Duters
E August Eber (Leipzig veterinarian), Margarete Eberhardt (Hamburg teacher), Adolf Eberle (Moral theologian), Georg von Ebert (Nürnberg), Friedrich August Ebrard (Hamburg law historian), Heinrich Eddelbüttel (Rostock biologist), Richard Egenter (Theologian), Rudolf Ehrenberg (Göttingen biologist), Walter Ehrenstein (Danzig psychologist), Hermann August Eidmann (Hannoversch Münden, entomologist), Karl Eimer (Marburg physician, Otto Eiselin (Danzig architect), Ludwig Eisenhofer (Eichstätt theologian), Curt Eisfeld (Hamburg administrator), Ernst Elster (Marburg Germanist), Otto Emicke (Freiberg mineralogist), Josef Engert (Regensburg philosopher), Willi Enke (Marburg psychiatrist), Wilhelm Ernst (Hamburg), Ben Esser (Bonn music teacher), Erich Everth (Leipzig publicist)
F Theodor Fahr (Hamburg pathologist), Rudolf Fahrner (Marburg Germanist), Ferdinand Fehling (Lübeck-Hamburger historian), Karl Feist (Göttinger pharmacist), Friedrich Feld (Berlin), Rainer Fetscher (Dresden geneticist), Fritz Fichtner (Dresden art historian), Paul Ficker (Dresden teacher), Otto Fiederling (Hannover architect), Carl August Fischer (Hamburg), Eugen Fischer (physician), Friedrich Fischer (TH Hannover), Otto Flachsbart (Technician TU Hannover), Ulrich Fleck (Göttingen neurologist), Hans Fliege (Marburg dentist), Wilhelm Flitner (Hamburg teacher), (Hamburg Japanologist), Gustav Flügel (Danzig), Johann Ulrich Folkers (Rostock historian), Alfred Forke (Hamburg Sinologist), Günther Franz (Marburg historian), Otto Franzius (Civil engineer, Hannover), Hans Freese (Dresden architect), Julius Fressel (Hamburg gynaecologist), Joseph Freundorfer (Bishop of Augsburg), Hans Freyer (Leipzig sociologist), Walter Freytag (Hamburg), Ernst Friedrich (Leipzig geographer), Johannes Friedrich (Leipzig Rector), Theodor Frings (Leipzig Germanist), Otto Emil Fritzsche (Freiberg engineer), Gotthold Frotscher (Danzig musicologist), Hugo Fuchs (Göttingen anatomist), Vinzenz Fuchs (theologian), Erwin Fues (Hannover physicist)
G Hans-Georg Gadamer (Marburg philosopher), Kurt Gaede (Hannover civil engineer), Paul Gast (Hannover geographer), Julius Gebhard (Hamburg teacher), Arnold Gehlen (Leipzig sociologist), Willy Gehler (Dresden civil engineer), Hans Gehrig (Dresden), Oscar Gehrig (Rostock art historian), Karl August Geiger (moralist), Otto Geißler (Hannover), Wilhelm Geißler (Dresden civil engineer), Felix Genzmer (Marburg), Herbert Gerdessen (1892– , Rostock), Ernst Gehrhardt (forest researcher), Hans Geyr von Schweppenburg (forest researcher), Gustav Giemsa (Hamburg chemist), Wilhelm Giese (Hamburg), Josef Giesen (Bonn art historian), Otto Glauning (Leipzig), Engelhardt Glimm (Danzig chemist), Hermann Gmelin (Danzig romanist), Otto Goebel (Hannover), Kurt Göcke (Dresden orthopaedist), August Götte (Clausthal geologist), Arthur Golf (Leipzig), Fritz Goos (Hamburg physicist), Hugo Grau (Leipzig veterinarian), Georg Grimpe (Leipzig zoologist), Waldemar Grix (Danzig electronics engineer), Franz Groebbels (Hamburg physician), Walter Große (Leipzig economist), H. Großmann (Göttingen geneticist), Hermann Großmann (Leipzig economist), Rudolf Grossmann (Romanist) (Hamburg), Eduard Grüneisen (Marburg physicist), Georg Wilhelm Grüter (Marburg ophthalmologist), Herbert Grundmann (Leipzig historian), Georg Grunwald (Regensburg theologian), Adolf Güntherschulze (Dresden physicist)
H