Werner Kurt Armin Meinhof (20 October 1901 – 7 February 1940) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

of the 20th century. Meinhof was born in

Halle an der Saale Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (), is the second largest city of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is the sixth-most populous city in the area of former East Germany after (East) Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Magdeburg as well as t ...

, the son of

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

Johannes Meinhof and brother of Africanist

Carl Meinhof Carl Friedrich Michael Meinhof (23 July 1857 – 11 February 1944) was a German linguist and one of the first linguists to study African languages. Early years and career Meinhof was born in Barzwitz near Rügenwalde in the Province of Po ...

. He studied history of art in his hometown under

Paul Frankl Paul Frankl (22 April 1878 – 30 January 1962) was an art historian born in Austria-Hungary. Frankl is most known for his writings on the history and principles of architecture, which he famously presented within a Gestalt-oriented framework. Ea ...

, where he got to know the painter Walter Timmling and the future art historian Hellmuth Allwill Fritzsche. After obtaining his doctorate, Werner Meinhof served from 1928 as a research assistant at the

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places * Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony * Ol ...

state museum, and in 1936 became director of the ''Göhre'' city museum in

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. Werner Meinhof married art historian Ingeborg Guthardt (died 1949) with whom he had two daughters, Wienke (born 1931) and

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing militant, journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the repute ...

(born 1934), future founding member of the

Red Army Faction The Red Army Faction (, ; RAF ),See the section "Name" also known as the Baader–Meinhof Group or Baader–Meinhof Gang ( ), was a West German far-left militant group founded in 1970 and active until 1998, considered a terrorist organisat ...

(RAF). Upon the early death of their parents, both were raised by the historian and "peace activist" Renate Riemeck. In 1919 Meinhof joined the national-conservative

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...

(DNVP).Oldenburg State Museum at musealog.de
/ref> He came into conflict with

Joseph Goebbels Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and philologist who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief Propaganda in Nazi Germany, propagandist for the Nazi Party, and ...

in 1933 due to the publication of the essay ''Film, Kunst, Kitsch, Propaganda'' (Cinema, Art, Kitsch, Propaganda) by Walter Timmling and Hermann Ulrich in the ''Der Damm'' series issued by Werner Meinhof. Their description of propaganda was a "devil's work". However Ulrike Meinhof's biographer Jutta Ditfurth stated that Werner Meinhof had joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

by May 1933.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meinhof, Werner 1901 births 1940 deaths People from Halle (Saale) People from the Province of Saxony German National People's Party politicians Nazi Party politicians Militant League for German Culture members 20th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers Meinhof family Deaths from pancreatic cancer in Germany