EUGEN FISCHER:
OPPORTUNISTIC
STRATEGIST

Eugen Fischer (1874–1967) was the founding director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity, and Eugenics. His office was located on the ground floor of Ihnestraße 22. Fischer set up the Institute as an institution for basic research. At the same time, he geared the research to the needs of, first, the Weimar Republic and later the National Socialist state. He made use of the political interest in eugenics to obtain more subsidies.

Fischer had begun his career at the time of the German Empire. His research at that time reflected colonial political interests. Fischer continued to pursue many of these research areas in the Weimar Republic and under National Socialism, adapting them to the changed political circumstances.

A photograph of the inner courtyard of Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. There are many people in the courtyard. Eugen Fischer is standing on the balcony, giving a speech. A large banner with a swastika is hanging from the parapet.
Eugen Fischer at a speech at the Friedrich Wilhelm University Berlin, 1933 Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Scherl

Some Nazis initially regarded Fischer as politically unreliable. However, Fischer quickly put the Institute at the disposal of the new regime and, in 1933, Adolf Hitler appointed him Director of Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin (now Humboldt Universität). In 1940, Fischer joined the Nazi Party. After his retirement in 1942, his academic protégé Otmar von Verschuer became director of the Institute.

Two pages from Eugen Fischer’s book “The Rehoboth Bastards”. The first shows the book cover. It is a blue-tinted portrait of a man with dark skin. The second image is the title page, which gives the year 1961 as the publication date of the new edition.
Cover of the 1961 edition of Eugen Fischer‘s book, “The Rehoboth Bastards” University Library of Freie Universität Berlin

In his book, which was published during the German Empire in 1913, Fischer investigated the inheritance of what he regarded as “racial characteristics”. To do so, he took measurements of around 300 descendants of Black and White parentage in the town of Rehoboth in German-colonised Namibia. His claim was that human heredity followed the mathematical principle of Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance. This is false. Nevertheless, the book brought Fischer fame and was reprinted as late as 1961.

A collage of three title pages of doctoral theses on the subject of “race mixing” that were submitted to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology from 1935 to 1940. To a certain extent they contain racist concepts.
Title pages of doctoral theses on the subject of “race-mixing”, 1935–1940 Berlin State Library / University Library of Freie Universität Berlin

Fischer was interested in what he described as “race mixing”. During the Weimar Republic, he encouraged doctoral students to investigate the supposed phenomenon. Such research was also relevant to the National Socialists. They hoped to clarify the question of what proportion of Jewish ancestors would make a person “Jewish” and, therefore, subject to persecution.

Black and white photo. View of the main building of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics from Ihnestraße.
The main building of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics, after 1936 Archive of Max Planck Society, Berlin-Dahlem, Abt. VI. Rep. 1, Nr. KWI-Anthrop I/4b

Outdoor areaThe Institue

Photograph of three individuals in an examination room. One person wearing a dress or a long white lab coat is taking a picture from the side of a person sitting on a chair. The twin sister of the person being photographed is standing to one side.
A pair of twins being photographed at the Institute, around 1930 ullstein bild

BasementResearch

A photograph of the inner courtyard of Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin. There are many people in the courtyard. Eugen Fischer is standing on the balcony, giving a speech. A large banner with a swastika is hanging from the parapet.
Eugen Fischer at a speech at the Friedrich Wilhelm University Berlin, 1933 Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo/Scherl

Ground floorPolitics

Black and white photo. View of the main building of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics from Ihnestraße around 1933/34, with a swastika flag flying on a flagpole.
The main building of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, Human Heredity and Eugenics, around 1933/34 Archive of Max Planck Society, Berlin-Dahlem, Abt. VI. Rep. 1, Nr. KWI-Anthrop I/4a

Upper floorCrimes

The second image is a photograph of a woman with dark skin, doctoral candidate Irawati Karvé. She is standing next to a table with a row of skulls.
Irawati Karvé with human skulls in the Institute’s “unpacking room”, date unknown Private Archive of Irawati Karvé/Urmilla Deshpande

AtticDehumanisation



IHNESTR. 22
14195 BERLIN

IHNESTR. 22
14195 BERLIN