Ernest Bramsted
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Ernest Kohn Bramsted (born Ernst Kohn-Bramstedt, 1901; died 14 May 1978) was a German-born historian and sociologist of literature who spent large parts of his career in Germany, England and Australia.


Early life

Ernst Kohn-Bramstadt was born in
Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
in 1901 to a textile manufacturer who died seven years later. The family was Jewish and liberal. In 1917, he began following left-liberal newspapers which argued for greater democratisation in Germany, and reading
Max Weber Maximilian Carl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German Sociology, sociologist, historian, jurist, and political economy, political economist who was one of the central figures in the development of sociology and the social sc ...
's sociological writings. The following year, he anonymously contributed to the socialist newspaper, ''Schwabische Volkszeitung''.J. Hooper, "Ernest K. Bramsted (1901–1978): a European historian in Germany, England and Australia", ''Australian Journal of Politics and History'', vol. 31, issue 3 (December 1985), pp. 397–407


Career

When the war came to an end, antisemitism persuaded Kohn-Bramstadt to steer clear of politics and in 1921 he began a course in German language, literature, philosophy and history at
Munich University The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...
; transferring the following year to
Freiburg University The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
, and then in 1923 to the
University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
, he started studying history at the latter under
Friedrich Meinecke Friedrich Meinecke (October 20, 1862 – February 6, 1954) was a German historian with national liberal and antisemitic views who supported the Nazi invasion of Poland. As a representative of an older tradition, he criticized the Nazi regime ...
. He was awarded a doctorate in 1926 and taught at schools in Leipzig and Frankfurt. Four years later, he was appointed part-time lecturer at Frankfurt and was influenced by one of its sociologists,
Karl Mannheim Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 – 9 January 1947) was a Hungarian sociologist and a key figure in classical sociology as well as one of the founders of the sociology of knowledge. Mannheim is best known for his book '' Id ...
. After being expelled from his post due to the Nazi government's antisemitic Enabling Laws in 1933, he briefly moved to the Netherlands and then studied as a doctoral student under Mannheim (who was also expelled from Frankfurt) at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. He was awarded his doctorate in 1936 for an historical sociological study of the aristocracy and middle classes in Germany and, for the following three years, tutored privately in the German and history. In 1939, Bramsted was naturalised a British citizen and during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
monitored German radio and produced counter-propaganda for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
until 1943, when he joined the Political Intelligence Department of the Foreign Office. After the war, he taught in Germany and from 1948 to 1952 sat on the editorial board for the series entitled ''Documents on German Foreign Policy 1918–45''. He then took up a post in the Department of History at the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
and retired as an associate professor in 1969. He was a Foundation Fellow (1969) of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...
. He died in England on 14 May 1978, and his papers were added to the Archives and Special Collections section of the London School of Economics Library."Bramsted, Ernest Kohn (1901–1978) historian and sociologist of literature, alias Ernst Kohn-Bramstedt"
''The National Archives''. Retrieved 5 February 2017.


Works

* ''Aristocracy and the Middle Classes in Germany: Social Types in German literature 1830–1900'' (London: King, 1937). * ''Dictatorship and Political Police: the Technique of Control by Fear'' (London: Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1945). * ''Goebbels and National Socialist Propaganda: 19251945'' (East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, 1965). * ''Goebbels und die nationalsozialistische Propaganda 1925 bis 1945'' (Aus d. Engl. übers. von H. E. Strakosch) (Frankfurt a.M.: S. Fischer, 1971). * ''Germany'' (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1972).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bramsted, Ernest 1901 births 1978 deaths Alumni of the London School of Economics 20th-century German historians German sociologists Writers from Augsburg Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom British emigrants to Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities