Cover letter to Rosenberg and a letter to the minister for science and education on the party's plan to reduce theological departments in the universities

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NSDAP
The Deputy Fuehrer, Chief of Staff
Munich, 23 June 1939, Brown House III D-ES 3230/0/15 2131 g.A.E 50/39
SECRET
To the Fuehrer's Commissioner for the supervision of all spiritual and political instruction and education of the NSDAP. Attention: Verwaltungsleiter Kerksiek or deputy Berlin W. 35, Margarethen St. 17
Chancery Rosenberg Receipt No. 29 June 39 8487
Subject: Theological Faculties
With regard to the Conference of Specialists on the Liaison Staff of the NSDAP please find enclosed a copy of my letter of today to the Reich Minister for Science, Education and National Education for your information.
I would like to request you to inform me in due time as to your further wishes regarding the point of view cited in my letter. I will also arrange that conferences on this subject take place in an inter-party form in order to put the wishes of the party offices before the Reichs Ministry of Education as soon as possible.
Heil Hitler!
Signed: M. Bormann
1. Enclosure
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NSDAP
The Deputy Fuehrer
Transcript
Munich 23 June 1939 III D-ES 3230/0/15 2131 g.A.
CONFIDENTIAL
TO: The Reich Minister for Science, Education and National Education
Attention: Regierungsrat Jaehnert or Deputy Berlin Unter den Linden 69
Subject: Theological Faculties.
I have noted statements regarding the combining of the theological faculties at the German Universities, in your letter of the 6 April 1939—W. A. No. 76/39g. Concerning this subject a conference has taken place between all the party offices concerned, in which the principal points of view for the party as well as your statement were discussed. I would therefore like to inform you in detail of the Party's decisions as a result of this comprehensive discussion :
1. The Evangelical faculty of the Koenigsberg University must remain for the time being as it is, since it is the only one of this type for East Prussia as well as for the whole northeast area.
2. In future there will no longer exist any necessity for the preservation of the state Catholic educational institution in Braunsberg. I request you, therefore, to combine this institution with the Catholic faculty of the University of Breslau.
3. Regarding Breslau, the Protestant as well as the Catholic faculties must be retained for the time being.
4. Similarly both faculties of the University of Frag must remain for the present as at this time it would not be advisable to reduce the University of Prag in any manner. Although in regard to a dispersal of the theological faculty in Prag there would be no difficulties with the' Concordat, I do not deem it advisable at the moment to initiate measures of this sort there. Action regarding the University of Prag must still be retarded for a time.
5. The situation at the University of Vienna is very similar. Vienna is the only university of the Ostmark, at which the theological faculty is still in existence. I request, therefore, that
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you reserve any decisions in this matter a little longer, until the situation in regard to the University of Prag has been further cleared up. Nevertheless I would like to emphasize now that at a later date the dissolution of the theological faculties of the Universities of Wien and Prag will also be necessary in my opinion.
6. I request you to combine the Protestant theological faculty in Rostock with the Protestant theological faculty in Kiel, in conformance with both the arrangements described in your message and the proposal that I have already put forward.
7. In regard to the theological faculty in Berlin I am in complete agreement with you in that under no circumstances should this faculty be included in the new University Town [Hochschulstadt]. The theological faculty of Berlin must disappear in the near future. I do not deem it advisable, as you suggest should next be done to transfer this faculty to Greifswald. Fundamentally it is inadvisable to shift the theological faculty of a large city to a small town. The possibility must not be allowed to arise of such a large number of theological students, as would come to a small university city as a result of such a transfer, giving this character to this city, and even perhaps to the whole region. Since this danger does not exist in a large city, I request you to leave the theological faculty in Berlin for the time being. I do not deem it necessary to determine the future of this faculty today, since the new university town will presumably not be completed for several years.
8. Since three theological faculties in the German Baltic area are not necessary, I request you to transfer the theological faculty of the University of Greifswald as well as that of Rostock to Kiel. The theological faculties in Koenigsberg and Kiel should be quite sufficient. I do not believe special consideration for Greifswald in regard to the northern states to be necessary since the university of Kiel has made the furthering of ties with the north its particular mission.
9. For Bavaria I request that more extensive measures be carried out than were provided for in your communication of the 6.4.1939. In the future the preservation of the five state philosophic-theological universities in Bavaria will no. longer be necessary. In so far as these are to be theological faculties in the future, the training of theologians is to be carried out by them and not by any state universities serving the church exclusively. I would ask you therefore not only to reduce these institutions to three, but also to break them up completely in the shortest possible time, if it is not possible to do so immediately. Above all,
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I request you to dissolve the universities in Passau, Regensburg and Bamberg in the aforementioned order, because they are the cores of extremely strong confessional activity against National Socialism.
10. In addition there is also in Bavaria the Church's own Institution in Eichstadt for training bishops which receives considerable state subsidies. Even though there is no question of dissolving this church institution, nevertheless, I would like you to ensure that the State subsidies to this institution cease immediately.
11. I request that the Catholic faculty of the university of Wuerzburg be retained until further notice.
12. In the same manner the Protestant faculty of the University of Erlangen will have to be retained.
13. Regarding the south German area, I do not agree with your plan to transfer the Protestant faculty in Heidelberg to Tuebingen. Tuebingen has already become a confirmed Protestant-theological center. It is feared that the transferring of the Heidelberg Protestant faculty to Tuebingen would only still further emphasize this characteristic of the university town. I wish, therefore, that the Protestant faculty of Tuebingen be combined with that in Heidelberg.
14. May I give you my decision later regarding your plan to transfer the Catholic faculty from Tuebingen to Freiburg, since the necessity has arisen to reconsider this matter.
15. In western Germany, I do not deem your projected exchange between Bonn and Muenster expedient. I wish you to combine both theological faculties in Bonn.
16. Furthermore, I would request you to transfer the Protestant faculty of the University of Marburg to Giessen. I do not consider that the ideas which you asserted regarding working with foreign Forscher (odd sects) at the institute for Religious Science which will be established in Marburg, solve the problem.
17. In addition, I wish you to transfer the theological faculty of Goettingen to Giessen.
18. The theological faculty of Jena would probably have to be retained until further notice.
19. Also the theological faculty in Leipzig should be combined with that in Halle.
In the above I have informed you of the Party's wishes after thorough investigation of the matter with all party offices. I would be grateful if you would initiate the necessary measures as quickly as possible, in regard to the great political significance
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for the Gau concerned, which will be the result in every single case of such a combination.
I would like you to always keep in contact with me when instituting these measures, in particular with regard to the arranging of the actual time, since I am in touch with the competent Gau administrations. Furthermore, I would like you to take into consideration the following in connection with the mergers which we have planned:
1. As a result of these mergers a rather large number of professional chairs will become vacant. I believe it of the utmost importance that these positions should not remain unfilled, but that they should be occupied again or at least the greater portion of them. When doing this, those branches of science must be primarily considered which have been able to prove that they formerly had too few professional chairs. I would like to reserve the opportunity of getting in touch with you again regarding details.
2. Furthermore, as a result of these mergers a large number of institutes, libraries, buildings, etc. will be vacated. I do not deem it wise to place all these accommodations at the disposal of the new theological faculties connected with these mergers. The necessity will probably arise of dealing specially with each separate case according to the circumstances. Here I would also like to request that you consult me when making decisions.
3. Above all, I request that you keep me continually informed regarding the individual arrangements to be carried out by you in order that I be able to inform the party offices interested and especially the appropriate Gau administration, which is mainly concerned, in time.
Heil Hitler !
I.V. Signed: M. Bormann