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

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

) was a German historian and archivist.

Life

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

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Archbishop of

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

, . In 1898 he passed his final exams, and studied history in Würzburg and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. 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 or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. As a member of the

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

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

Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic (or Bavarian Council Republic), also known as the Munich Soviet Republic (), was a short-lived unrecognised socialist state in Bavaria during the German revolution of 1918–1919. A group of communists and anarchist ...

. 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 Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

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 Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where he worked at the

German Historical Institute The German Historical Institutes (GHI), , (''DHI'') are six independent academic research institutes of the Max Weber Foundation dedicated to the study of historical relations between Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germ ...

of the

Repertorium Germanicum A finding aid, in the context of archival science and archival research, is an organization tool, a document containing detailed and processed metadata and other information about a specific collection of records within an archive. Finding aids o ...

. In 1945 he returned to Würzburg, where he died on 25 October 1959. In the exhibition of the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

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 20th-century German librarians German male non-fiction writers German military officers German prisoners and detainees LGBTQ historians LGBTQ 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 LGBTQ people in the Nazi Party