Walther Wüst (7 May 1901 – 21 March 1993) was a German
Indologist
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies.
The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is o ...
who served as Rector of 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 ...
from 1941 to 1945.
Biography
Walther Wust was born in
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...
, Germany on 7 May 1901. Wüst studied
Indology
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the History of India, history and Culture of India, cultures, Languages of South Asia, languages, and Indian literature, literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a ...
and other subjects 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 ...
, and became a specialist in the
Vedas. He received his
PhD PHD or PhD may refer to:
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at the age of 22 with a dissertation on the
Rigveda and its relation to
Indo-European mythology.
Wüst became a
privatdozent
''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualific ...
at the age of 25, and by the age of 31 he had become a professor. He joined the
Nazi Party in 1933, and subsequently became an agent of the
Sicherheitsdienst. In early 1935, Wüst was made Professor of
Aryan
Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...
Culture and Linguistics and
Dean of the Faculty of
Philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
at the University of Munich. Prominent students of Wüst at the University of Munich include
Davud Monshizadeh
Davud Monshizadeh ( fa, داوود منشیزاده; 28 August 1914 – 13 July 1989) was the founder of the SUMKA (the "Iranian National Socialist Workers Party") and a supporter of Nazism in Germany during World War II and in Iran after the ...
and
Karl Hoffmann.
He was admitted to the
Schutzstaffel in 1936, and was made President of the
Ahnenerbe in 1937. As such he became the
de facto leader of the Ahnenerbe under the nominal chief
Heinrich Himmler. As the leader of Ahnenerbe, Wüst played a leading role in the management of universities in
Nazi Germany. He was made Rector at the University of Munich in 1941. In 1943, Wüst participated in the development and spread of
Nazi propaganda in the
Middle East, which attempted to make
Arabs and
Muslims sympathetic to
Adolf Hitler. Wüst was directly involved in the arrest of
Hans and Sophie Scholl
Hans and Sophie Scholl, often referred to in German as (the Scholl siblings), were a brother and sister who were members of the White Rose, a student group in Munich that was active in the non-violent resistance movement in Nazi Germany, espe ...
.
After the
end of World War II in Europe
The final battle of the European Theatre of World War II continued after the definitive overall surrender of Nazi Germany to the Allies, signed by Field marshal Wilhelm Keitel on 8 May 1945 in Karlshorst, Berlin. After German dictator Adolf H ...
, Wüst was arrested by the
Office of Military Government, United States. He was interned at
Dachau
,
, commandant = List of commandants
, known for =
, location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany
, built by = Germany
, operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS)
, original use = Political prison
, construction ...
until 1948, and fired from the University of Munich in 1946. On 9 November 1949, the denazification courts sentenced Wüst to three years of hard labor. He also lost his right to exercise his profession, but was later able to publish on the subject of Indology. He regained the title of Professor in 1951, but never chaired a department at a German university again. Wüst died in Munich on 21 March 1993.
See also
* Hans Reinerth
References
Sources
* Maximilian Schreiber: Walther Wüst. Dekan und Rektor der Universität München 1935 – 1945. Herbert Utz, München 2008,
1901 births
1993 deaths
German Indologists
German male non-fiction writers
German orientalists
Indo-Europeanists
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty
People from Kaiserslautern
SS-Oberführer
Ahnenerbe members
{{Germany-academic-bio-stub