The Nachlass (estate) of Heinrich von Eggeling (1869–1954), long-time secretary of the Anatomische Gesellschaft

The Anatomische Gesellschaft and National Socialism: An analysis based on newly available archival material

“…The cautioning remark that what was handed down to us in the official documents might be too close to what historical protagonists wanted us to believe (Winkelmann, 2012) turns out to be more than justified. Herrlinger, who had access to Eggeling's estate in the early 1960s (Winkelmann, 2015) knew better but chose to leave the faç ade untouched in his history of the AG (Herrlinger, 1965). This may be related to his own involvement in dubious research practices of the Nazi years as mentioned above (cf.…”

“…In 1935 he retired from this position and moved to Berlin, continuing his work as secretary and editor. When bombings of Berlin intensified in 1943, he moved to Neustadt am Rübenberge, a small town near Hannover, where he died in 1954 (for more biographical detail, see Winkelmann, 2015). As for his political stance, Eggeling saw himself as an apolitical man and "never got seriously involved in politics" (44/p.…”

“…Unfortunately, the names of most of these members do not appear in Eggeling's correspondence at all, with the notable exception of Weidenreich (see below). This may be partly due to the fact that much of the correspondence pertaining to basic AG administration seems to have been discarded at some point (Winkelmann, 2015).…”

“…The estate is described in detail elsewhere (Winkelmann, 2015) and is now available at the AG archive of the present secretary, Prof. Friedrich Paulsen, in Erlangen. In short, the estate consists of 45 folders, mainly including Eggeling's correspondence from 1919 to 1953 (not always complete), some additional material related to the AG (account books, membership lists, photographs, etc.…”

“…With the recent discovery of the scientific estate of Heinrich von Eggeling, secretary of the AG from 1919 to 1949, in private hands (Winkelmann, 2015), the scientific correspondence of a leading figure of the AG during the years of the "Third Reich" is now also available for historical investigation. It allows a more complete description of how the AG went through these difficult years and also a deeper analysis of the motives and values, on which decisions of the main actors of the AG were based.…”