Ottfried Neubecker (22 March 1908 – 8 July 1992) was a German

vexillologist Vexillology ( ) is the study of the history, symbolism and usage of flags or, by extension, any interest in flags in general.Smith, Whitney. ''Flags Through the Ages and Across the World'' New York: McGraw-Hill, 1975. Print. A person who studi ...

and modern

heraldist Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

. He studied multiple disciplines, including

religious symbolism A religious symbol is an iconic representation intended to represent a specific religion, or a specific concept within a given religion. Religious symbols have been used in the military in many countries, such as the United States military cha ...

and emblematics. He left a collection of 10,000 books, 40,000 sheets of reference materials, and 65,000 seals. After his death, the vexillological part of his collection was acquired by the American Flag Research Center.

Early life and education

He was born 22 March 1908 in

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

, Germany, into the family of a university teacher. From 1925 he studied in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, Geneva and Berlin and from 1926 he worked for Ministry of the Interior and for the

Reichskunstwart The Reichskunstwart (German: Imperial Art Protector) was an official position within the Ministry of the Interior of the Weimar Republic, which was concerned with artistic matters and other regulatory issues. It mediated between regulators and arti ...

Edwin Redslob, in field of national heraldic and vexillological matters.

Career

His first work was ''Die Reichseinheitsflagge'', published with Erik Wolf in 1926. This small tract was about the dispute between the black-red-gold and black-white-red colors in Germany. The work was expanded in 1929 and published as ''Die deutschen Farben''. In 1931 he earned doctorate with the thesis ''Das deutsche Wappen 1806–1871''. In those years he (mainly anonymously) began the series of

cigarette cards Cigarette cards are trading cards issued by tobacco manufacturers to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. Between 1875 and the 1940s, cigarette companies often included collectible cards with their packages of cigarettes ...

(with their corresponding albums) showing German flags, flags of the world, state coats of arms of the world, German military colors and German civic coats of arms. Each series consisted of 200–500 cards and there were 12 series. In 1931 Neubecker had married a woman of Jewish descent and was dismissed from state services. During the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

he received commissions from the state and municipal archives, Ministry Foreign Affairs, the Air Ministry and from

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

, but his name could not be mentioned and his great book ''Flaggenbuch des Oberkommandos der Kriegsmarine'' was published without Neubecker's name. He was paid clandestinely and unofficially for this work. From the summer of 1944 he was without a permanent residence, being continuously on the run from the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, surviving with the help of friends. After the war he lived in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and here he was consulted about municipal and state heraldry, and he lectured, wrote and published many articles. His wife settled in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

and in 1950 they were divorced and he remarried. In 1962 he escaped from East to West Germany, luckily with his archive. In 1965 he participated in the First International Congress of Vexillology and was a Councillor of the Fédération internationale des associations vexillologiques (FIAV) from 1969 to 1973, he was President of FIAV from 1973 to 1981 and Secretary General of FIAV from 1981 to 1983. He was posthumously named a Laureate of FIAV in 1999 at the 18th International Congress of Vexillology in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. He was member of the board of the ''

Académie Internationale d'Héraldique An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the g ...

'' (International Academy of Heraldry), Founder, President and Honorary President of the Wappen-HEROLD of the ''Deutsche Heraldische Gesellschaft e.V.'' (German Heraldic Society), and an honorary and corresponding member of many national and international heraldry associations. He died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

8 July 1992.

Publications

*''Die Reichseinheitsflagge'', 1926 (The ''

Reich ( ; ) is a German word whose meaning is analogous to the English word " realm". The terms and are respectively used in German in reference to empires and kingdoms. In English usage, the term " Reich" often refers to Nazi Germany, also ca ...

'' Unity Flag) * ''Die deutschen Farben'', 1929 (The German Colours) *''Das Deutsche Wappen 1806–1871'', Berlin 1931 (The German Coat of Arms 1806–1871) *''Deutsch und Französisch für Heraldiker'', Berlin 1934, (German and French for Heraldists) *''Fahnen und Flaggen'', Leipzig 1939, (Standards and Flags) *''Flaggenbuch des Oberkommandos der Kriegsmarine'', 1939 (Flag Book of the High Command of the ''

'') *''Kleine Wappenfibel'', Konstanz 1969, (A Coat of Arms Primer) *''Heraldik / Wappen – ihr Ursprung, Sinn und Wert'', Frankfurt/M. 1977 (translated into five languages) ; Wappenkunde, München 1980, (Heraldry and Coats of Arms – Their Origin, Meaning and Value) *''Wappenbilderlexikon'', München 1985, (Coats of Arms Picture Lexicon) *''A Guide to Heraldry'', Adligenswil 2006 The complete bibliography covering his publications, radio and television programs comprises 42 pages.

References

External links

Informationen zu Ottfried Neubecker
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neubecker, Ottfried 1908 births 1992 deaths German heraldists Heraldic artists German-Nordic heraldry Vexillologists Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany category:Phalerists