Karst, Ludwig

Educator, principal

born: 05.01.1879 in (Bad) Kreuznach

died: 09.04.1934 in Wiesbaden

Karst graduated from grammar school in (Bad) Kreuznach in 1897, briefly studied medicine (his father was a doctor), but then turned to the natural sciences and philosophy. In 1904, he passed the state examination in philosophy, mathematics, physics and chemistry for teaching at secondary schools in Berlin with distinction. He completed his time at the grammar schools in Landsberg an der Warthe, Neuruppin and Luisengymnasium in Berlin. In 1907 he was appointed the first senior teacher at the Realgymnasium mit Realschule in Lichtenberg (today: Theater an der Parkaue in Berlin-Lichtenberg) and in 1914/15 was the sole principal of the school. In 1908 he married Pauline Emilie Luise Schüler in Berlin. The marriage remained childless. From October 1915 to April 1928, Karst was principal of the Realgymnasium in Neisse, where the later professors Bernhard Grzimek (1928), director of Frankfurt Zoo from 1945 to 1974, and the chemist Konrad Ernst Bloch (1930), who received the Nobel Prize in 1964, graduated.

In 1928, Karst was appointed principal of the Riehlschule in Wiesbaden-Biebrich. The appointment of a Catholic as principal of the school triggered strong reactions in the Protestant church community in Biebrich - the Protestant faith was seen to be in danger. The Riehlschule was merged with the municipal upper secondary school on Zietenring in 1932. Karst combined administrative experience with professional expertise and pedagogical skill, so that he was held in high regard by both the teachers and his pupils.

Due to his democratic stance and his attempts to remove the school from political influence, he was removed from office by the National Socialists during the Easter vacations in 1934 and demoted to the position of a teacher. He then took his own life. Karst last lived at Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring 63. The grave in the South Cemetery (section A 16 - inside, grave no. 139-140) was abandoned in 1987.