Percy Ernst Schramm (14 October 1894 – 21 November 1970) was a German

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

who specialized in

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

and

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. Schramm was a Chair and Professor of History 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 ...

from 1929 to 1963.

Early life and education

Schramm was born to a wealthy and cosmopolitan family in Hamburg, that belonged to the class of

Hanseatic The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=German language, Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Norther ...

families. His father, Max Schramm, was a lawyer, senator and second mayor (i.e. deputy mayor) from 1925 to 1928. His grandfather Ernst Schramm (1812–1882) had been a major

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

merchant in Hamburg and Brazil. His mother Olga O'Swald, grandniece of William Henry O'Swald, also belonged to a prominent Hanseatic family. The young Percy served in the German Army during

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 ...

and went on to study history and art history at several of Germany's elite universities, including

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. In 1922, he completed his doctoral studies at the University of Heidelberg under the medieval historian Karl Hampe. He remained at Heidelberg for two more years to write his ''

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 ...

sschrift'' on the topic of German imperial ideology in the tenth and eleventh centuries, and in particular, how the Holy Roman emperors of the medieval period appropriated the imagery and history of the ancient

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

for their own rule. Published in 1929 as ''Kaiser, Rom und Renovatio: Studien und Texte zur Geschichte des römischen Erneuerungsgedankens vom Ende des karolingischen Reiches biz zum Investiturstreit'' ("Emperor, Rome and ''Renovatio'': Studies and Texts on the History of Roman Ideologies of Renewal from the End of the Carolingian Empire to the Investiture Controversy"), Schramm's thesis was a landmark piece of highly original, interdisciplinary scholarship that transformed the way medieval historians approached the subject of political ideology. He demonstrated that art history, a field of study which at the time fell mostly to dilettantes and gentleman scholars, deserved a place in serious academic inquiry alongside history and philology. Schramm's work also emphasized the centrality of symbols and ritual in articulating and defining political ideologies. In a rite of passage required of most German medievalists at the time, Schramm worked for two years at the

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...

before being offered a professorship. In 1929, he was awarded a chair in history at the

, one of Germany's most prestigious universities. His students at Göttingen included Berent Schwineköper; the American professor of German History, Donald Detwiler; and the Hungarian medievalist, János Bak. Schramm remained there until his retirement in 1963. In Spring 1932, Schramm spoke publicly in Thalburg on behalf of the re-election of

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (; abbreviated ; 2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German field marshal and statesman who led the Imperial German Army during World War I and later became President of Germany fro ...

, who was running against

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

for the Presidency of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...

. Speaking fluent English, Schramm received an invitation to teach at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

during the 1933 academic year; he returned to Göttingen in that same year, after Hindenburg had appointed Hitler to be Chancellor of Germany.

Second World War

During World War II, Schramm volunteered again for service in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

and, given the rank of major, served in various staff positions until he was selected as the official staff historian, or diarist, for the German High Command Operational Staff (''Wehrmachtführungsstab''), replacing Helmuth Greiner, whose removal was orchestrated by

Martin Bormann Martin Ludwig Bormann (17 June 1900 – 2 May 1945) was a German Nazi Party official and head of the Nazi Party Chancellery. He gained immense power by using his position as Adolf Hitler's private secretary to control the flow of information ...

, the head of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

chancellery.Detwiler, Donald S. (1978) "Introduction" to Schramm, Percy Ernst ''Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader''. Malabar, Florida: Robert E. Kreiger Publishing Company. pp.4–6 Schramm's duties involved keeping detailed records about the day-to-day activities and decisions of the General Staff, which included the top military field commanders in the German Army. This allowed Schramm unprecedented access to the highest echelons of the German military and its inner workings. In 1944, Schramm's sister-in-law was executed because of her active opposition to the Nazi regime, and accusations against Schramm himself, doubting his reliability, became known to Hitler's headquarters. However, these were ignored by General

Alfred Jodl Alfred Josef Ferdinand Jodl (; 10 May 1890 – 16 October 1946) was a German ''Generaloberst'' who served as the chief of the Operations Staff of the '' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht'' – the German Armed Forces High Command – throughout World ...

, Schramm's superior, and the historian was able to continue in his role as war diarist. Because of his knowledge of the High Command, Schramm was called as a key witness at the

Nuremberg Trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

after the war, where he testified on behalf of Jodl. Schramm maintained that Jodl, while a loyal soldier, was not an ideological Nazi and did not participate in any war crimes. Nonetheless, Jodl was convicted and hanged in 1946.Jodl was posthumously acquitted in 1953 by a German denazification court. In the years after the war, Schramm authored a number of books on the history of the German military, as well as in-depth accounts of the desperate last days of the Third Reich as seen from inside the military command. Schramm's work in this field, particularly his multi-volume edition of the official diaries of the High Command, is still highly valued by military historians. Schramm was able, along with three of his former students, then professors themselves,Schramm's three ex-students were Professors Hans-Adolf Jacobsen,

Andreas Hillgruber Andreas Fritz Hillgruber (18 January 1925 – 8 May 1989) was a conservative German historian who was influential as a military and diplomatic historian who played a leading role in the ''Historikerstreit'' of the 1980s. In his controversial book ...

, and

Walther Hubatsch Walther Hubatsch (17 May 1915 – 29 December 1984) was a German military historian. He was born in Königsberg in East Prussia. During World War II he served in the German Army. He was appointed professor in Göttingen from 1949, and from 1 ...

. Detwiler, Donald S. (1978) "Introduction" to Schramm, Percy Ernst ''Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader''. Malabar, Florida: Robert E. Kreiger Publishing Company. p.6 to re-assemble the diary from copies he had saved in defiance of Hitler's

scorched earth A scorched-earth policy is a military strategy that aims to destroy anything that might be useful to the enemy. Any assets that could be used by the enemy may be targeted, which usually includes obvious weapons, transport vehicles, communi ...

orders, combined with copies of diaries of earlier years which had been saved by Greiner, his predecessor as war diarist. In 1962, Schramm published to some controversy a study of

as a military commander (''Hitler als militärischer Führer''). Schramm was able to observe Hitler during the course of his duties, and he contrasted the patriotism and professionalism of the generals he served under with Hitler's irrationality and growing paranoia as the war took a turn for the worse. Schramm also published, in 1963, an introduction to

Henry Picker Henry Picker (6 February 1912 in Wilhelmshaven – 2 May 1988) was a lawyer, stenographer and author who co-transcribed and first published transcripts of Adolf Hitler's informal talks, known colloquially as the '' Table Talk''. Biography Henry ...

's ''Hitlers Tischgespräche'' (''

Hitler's Table Talk "Hitler's Table Talk" ( German: ''Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier'') is the title given to a series of World War II monologues delivered by Adolf Hitler, which were transcribed from 1941 to 1944. Hitler's remarks were recorded by Heinrich ...

'') entitled "The Anatomy of a Dictator", which was later published in English together with the earlier essay on Hitler's as a military leader as ''Hitler: The Man and the Military Leader'' Whatever the merits of his other work, the essay on Hitler's personality provoked some criticism in the German press at the time, where Schramm was accused of being an apologist for National Socialism. In a series of lectures one year later at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, during the summer term of 1964, the political philosopher and philosopher of history

Eric Voegelin Eric Voegelin (born Erich Hermann Wilhelm Vögelin, ; 1901–1985) was a German-American political philosopher. He was born in Cologne, and educated in political science at the University of Vienna, where he became an associate professor of poli ...

dismissed these charges; the lectures were later translated and published under the title of ''Hitler and the Germans''. Voegelin argued at length, based on a close reading of Schramm's text and comparing it unfavourably with

Alan Bullock Alan Louis Charles Bullock, Baron Bullock, (13 December 1914 – 2 February 2004) was a British historian. He is best known for his book '' Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'' (1952), the first comprehensive biography of Adolf Hitler, which influence ...

's analysis, that Schramm gave no insight into 'the problem of Hitler', and that this was in any case an 'alibi' for the real problem. The real problem, Voegelin stated, drawing on classical thinkers from Plato to Schelling, as well as from contemporary German writers such as Carl Amery ''Capitulation: The Lesson of German Catholicism'' and

Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (german: link=no, Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften), is generally considered to be one of the most important ...

''On Stupidity'') was the way that German ''Anstand'' bourgeois morality had rendered many, but not all, of the German population spiritually blind and effectively stupid, a state of affairs that had been allowed to persist until the present day. Schramm himself, Voegelin argued quite carefully, was, in a similar sense, stupid.

Post-war career

Because he had been a member of the Nazi Party and served in a relatively high position in the army during the war, Schramm was removed from his university post. As

denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...

waned in the late 1940s, however, he was rehabilitated and returned to his professorship in Göttingen. Between 1954 and 1956, he produced what was perhaps his second most significant work, after ''Kaiser Rom und Renovatio'', titled ''Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik'' (Signs of Authority and the Symbolism of the State). ''Herrschaftszeichen'' was a major survey of the representative art of medieval rulers or symbols of their power, including their

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereign ...

, seals, coinage, armaments, clothing, and other objects. These objects and their history were catalogued in more detail in a book Schramm authored together with the eminent art historian Florentine Mütherich, ''Denkmale der deutschen Könige und Kaiser'' ("Monuments of the German Kings and Emperors", 1962). The enduring legacy of Schramm's work in these and numerous other studies and articles, was to demonstrate the importance of symbols, liturgical ceremony, gestures and images as critical sources for political history. Along with his contemporaries,

Ernst H. Kantorowicz Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (May 3, 1895 – September 9, 1963) was a German historian of medieval political and intellectual history and art, known for his 1927 book '' Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite'' on Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and ''The Kin ...

and

Carl Erdmann Carl Erdmann (17 November 1898 – 5 March 1945) was a German historian who specialized in medieval political and intellectual history. He is noted in particular for his study of the origins of the idea of crusading in medieval Latin Christendom ...

, Schramm introduced an important element of cultural history to a field which (especially in Germany) tended to focus largely on institutions and their texts. In 1958, Schramm was inducted into the Order Pour le Mérite, an award recognizing his contributions to the arts and sciences in Germany. In 1964, a

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

devoted to Schramm was published.Classen, P and Scheibert, P (1964) ''Festschrift Percy Ernst Schramm'', Band I and II, Franz Steiner Verlag. He died in 1970 in

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 ...

Selected works

*1928. ''Die zeitgenössischen Bildnisse Karls des Grossen''. Leipzig. *1928. ''Die deutschen Kaiser und Könige in Bildern ihrer Zeit, 751–1190''. Berlin. *1930. ''Kaiser, Rom und Renovatio''. Leipzig. *1937. ''Geschichte des englischen Königtums im Lichte der Krönung''. Weimar. Translated into English as: *1937. ''A History of the English Coronation'', tr. Leopold G. Wickham Legg. Oxford. *1939. ''Der König von Frankreich: das Wesen der Monarchie vom 9. zum 16. Jahrhundert''. Darmstadt. *1949. ''Kaufleute zu Haus und über See. Hamburgische Zeugnisse des 17., 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts''. Hamburg, Hoffmann und Campe. *1954–1978. With others. ''Herrschaftszeichen und Staatssymbolik: Beiträge zu ihrer Geschichte vom dritten bis zum sechzehnten Jahrhundert''. Stuttgart. *1962. ''Hitler als militärischer Führer. Erkenntnisse und Erfahrungen aus dem Kriegstagebuch des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht''. Frankfurt am Main / Bonn. *1962–1978. With Florentine Mütherich. ''Denkmale der deutschen Könige und Kaiser: ein Beitrag zur Herrschergeschichte''. Munich. *1963/4. ''Neun Generationen: Dreihundert Jahre deutscher "Kulturgeschichte" im Lichte der Schicksale einer Hamburger Bürgerfamilie (1648–1948)''. Göttingen. Two volumes, 1148 pages. *1968–71. ''Kaiser, Könige und Päpste: Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Geschichte des Mittelalters''. 4 vols. in 5. Stuttgart.

Decorations and awards

*1958: Pour le Mérite for Arts and Sciences, Chancellor of the Order from 1963 until his death *

Austrian Decoration of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

*1964: Lappenberg Medal from the Association of Hamburg History – for his services to the Hamburg-Research *1965: Corresponding member of the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

References

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Amery, Carl (1967) ''Capitulation: The Lesson of German Catholicism'', translated by Edward Quinn. New York: Herder and Herder. Originally published in German, Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1963 *Bak, Janos (1955) "Percy Ernst Schramm," in ''Medieval Scholarship. Biographical Studies on the Formation of a Discipline'', ed. Helen Damico & Joseph B. Zavadil. New York & London: Garland Press. pp. 247–62. * Bullock, Alan (1971) '' Hitler: A Study in Tyranny'' Harmondsworth: Penguin. * Cantor, Norman F. (1991) "The Nazi Twins: Percy Ernst Schramm and Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz" in ''Inventing the Middle Ages''. New York: Quill. pp. 79–117. *Historicum.net
"Percy Ernst Schramm"
(includes an extensive bibliography of Schramm's work and articles about him). *Kamp, Norbert (1987) "Percy Ernst Schramm und die Mittelalterforschung" in ''Geschichtswissenschaft in Göttingen'', ed. Hartmut Boockmann & Herman Wellenreuther. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. pp. 344–63. * Musil, Robert (1990) "On Stupidity" in ''Precision and Soul: Essays and Addresses'', trans. and ed. Burton Pike and David Luft. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Originally given as a lecture in Vienna in 1937. * Picker, Henry (1963) ''Hitlers Tischgespräche im Führerhauptquartier 1941–1942'', edited and with an introduction by P. Schramm. Stuttgart: Seewald Verlag. Originally published 1951 edited by G. Ritter. First English translation, edited by Trevor, Rober, H. R. (1953) ''Hitler's Table Talk, 1941–1944''. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. *Ritter, Annelies (1960) ''Veröffentlichungen von Professor Dr phil Percy Ernst Schramm, Göttingen.'' Mimeographed. Göttingen. * Voegelin, Eric (1999) ''Collected Works'' vol. 31 ''Hitler and the Germans'', edited and translated by D. Clemens and B. Purcell. Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press. see especially pp. 110–24