Joseph Friedrich Abert (11 June 1879 – 25 October 1959,

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

) was a German historian and archivist.

Life

Abert was born in 1879 in Würzburg. His uncle was the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Archbishop of Bamberg, Friedrich Philipp von Abert. In 1898 he passed his final exams, and studied history in Würzburg and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

. In 1904 he received a Ph.D. in history. His thesis was published in 1905 as ''Die Wahlkapitulationen der Würzburger Bischöfe bis zum Ende des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 1225-1698''.Open Library
''Die Wahlkapitulationen...'' (Würzburg University Press, 1905)
/ref> His career as an archivist began as an intern at the General State Archives in Munich in 1904. From 1908 to 1910 he was employed by the Archive of the noble family of Schönborn. Abert served as a lieutenant in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. As a member of the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

" Franz Xaver Ritter von Epp" he was involved in the suppression of the

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...

. From 1919 to 1926 he was head of the archives of the city of Würzburg and appointed afterwards Head of the State Archives in Würzburg. In 1928 he became an honorary professor. Joseph Friedrich Abert lived together with

Albrecht Becker Albrecht Becker (14 November 1906 – 22 April 2002) was a German production designer, photographer, and actor who was imprisoned by the Nazi regime for the charge of homosexuality. Personal life Born in Thale, Germany, Becker trained as a ...

(1906-2002) a production designer, photographer, and actor. During the Nazi era, they were arrested for violating Section 175, the legal ban on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

and imprisoned. Abert lost his membership in the SA and Nazi Party and the privileges as a public servant. Later, he lived for a while in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he worked at the German Historical Institute of the Repertorium Germanicum. In 1945 he returned to Würzburg, where he died on 25 October 1959. In the exhibition of the Imperial War Museum in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

the fate of Joseph Friedrich Abert and Albrecht Becker is shown as an example of Nazi-persecution of homosexuals.

Works

*''Die Wahlkapitulationen der Würzburger Bischöfe bis zum Ende des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 1225-1698'' (Würzburg University Press, 1905) *''Vom Mäzenatentum der Schönborn'' (Würzburg: Freunde Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte, 1950) *''Aus Würzburgs Biedermeierzeit'' (Würzburg: Freunde Mainfränkischer Kunst und Geschichte, 1950) *See also: World Cat
"Most widely held works by Josef Friedrich Abert"
accessed January 6, 2010

Literature

* Bernd-Ulrich Hergemöller: ''Mann für Mann'', 2001, Suhrkamp Verlag.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abert, Joseph 1879 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Freikorps personnel German gay writers German expatriates in Italy 20th-century German historians German librarians German male non-fiction writers German military officers German prisoners and detainees LGBT historians LGBT academics German Army personnel of World War I People convicted under Germany's Paragraph 175 People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Writers from Würzburg Persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany Sturmabteilung personnel LGBT people in the Nazi Party