Heinrich Düker (24 November 1898 - 8 November 1986) was a German psychologist, politician and professor.

Biography

Düker was born in Dassel,

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

. His father was a farmer. In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was injured severely. He started to study psychology in 1919 at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. He got his doctorate at that university in 1925. For four years, he studied organizational psychology for

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

. Then he was

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

at that university until 1935. The nazi regime imprisoned him for high treason from 1936 to 1939. From 1940 on he worked as psychologist in a business company in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. In 1944 the nazi regime imprisoned him in Sachsenhausen concentration camp because he supported the

german resistance German resistance can refer to: * Freikorps, German nationalist paramilitary groups resisting German communist uprisings and the Weimar Republic government * German resistance to Nazism * Landsturm, German resistance groups fighting against France d ...

politically. He survived that time and came back to the university of Göttingen in 1945. He was elected as mayor of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

in 1946. In 1947 he refused to be reelected and continued with his career as psychologist instead. From 1947 to 1967 he was professor at the University of Marburg. His research covered themes in

Experimental psychology Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, in ...

Neuropsychology Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology often focus on how injuries or illnesses of t ...

, Educational psychology,

Personality psychology Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: * construction of a c ...

and Volition. Düker was awarded with an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

by the University of Düsseldorf in 1975. Three years later he received the

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...

medal by the German society of psychology. Göttingen awarded him with its

honorary citizenship Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

in 1985. Düker died in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

References

* Lothar Tent: ''Heinrich Düker: Ein Leben für die Psychologie und für eine gerechte Gesellschaft''. Pabst Science Publishers, Lengerich

External links

article about Heinrich Düker on the University of Marburg homepage (german)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duker, Heinrich 1898 births 1986 deaths German psychologists Mayors of places in Lower Saxony People from Northeim (district) Academic staff of the University of Göttingen Academic staff of the University of Marburg Sachsenhausen concentration camp survivors 20th-century psychologists