Hermann Baumann (social anthropologist)

Hermann Baumann (February 9, 1902 – June 30, 1972) was an influential German Africa expert.

In 1928, Baumann became editor-in-chief of the "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie", Berlin, a post which he hold until 1941. During the Third Reich, he was active as a government adviser, working on the eventual restoration of German colonies in Africa.After the war, he continued to work as a government adviser.

The museum in Dundo, Angola houses 1,018 pieces collected by Baumann in 1954.

Baumann was Professor of African Studies and Social Anthropology in Vienna and Munich. He retired in 1972, and returned to Angola, to continue the work on the material he had collected two decades earlier. Baumann fell ill with Malaria, and died within hours of his transfer to Munich from a Lisbon hospital.

László Vajda was his pupil. However, Vajda rejected the main opus of Baumann "Die Völker Afrikas und ihre traditionellen Kulturen" (published posthumously), because of the numerous errors it contained, and withdrew his name from the article he had authored for the work.

Bibliography

*Jürgen Braun: "Eine deutsche Karriere. Die Biographie des Ethnologen Hermann Baumann (1902–1972)". 1995; ISBN 3-929115-50-6 (Münchener ethnologische Abhandlungen)
*Peter Linimayr: "Wiener Völkerkunde im Nationalsozialismus", Frankfurt am Main, 1994
*Helmut Straube: Hermann Baumann. 9. Februar 1902 – 30. Juni 1972. In: "Paideuma" 18, 1972: 1–15

External links

* [http://www.ethno-im-ns.uni-hamburg.de/download/ethnologieimns_baumann.pdf Jana Schmitter: "weil ja Rasse und Kultur sich gegenseitig bedingende Wesenheiten sind". Zur Wechselwirkung ethnologischer Arbeit und politischer Haltungen im Nationalsozialismus — das Beispiel Hermann Baumann"]
* [http://www.ethno-im-ns.uni-hamburg.de/download/seidler_ma_arbeit.pdf Christoph Seidler: "Wissenschaftsgeschichte nach der NS-Zeit: das Beispiel der Ethnologie. Die beiden Ethnologen Wilhelm Mühlmann (1904–1988) und Hermann Baumann (1902–1972)"]
*http://www.ethno-im-ns.uni-hamburg.de - On German anthropology during National Socialism