Kropat, Wolf-Arno

Archivist, Historian

Born: 17.08.1932 in Görlitz

died: 14.04.2004 in Wiesbaden

Kropat spent his childhood and early youth in Braunsberg in East Prussia, where his father had been transferred as a Reichsbank councillor. After fleeing and being expelled, he came to Kassel in 1945 with his mother and two siblings - his father and a brother had died in the meantime. He completed his studies in history, Latin and philosophy in Marburg in 1959 with the state examination and in 1962 with a doctorate.

After attending the archive school in Marburg, he was promoted to archive director at the Hessian Main State Archive in Wiesbaden in 1975, and has held the title of senior archive director since 1978. The new building of the Main State Archives on Mosbacher Berg and the introduction of electronic data processing are lasting testimonies to his time in office.

Kropat's academic interest, which initially focused on medieval regional history with his dissertation on "Empire, Nobility and Church in the Wetterau", increasingly turned to contemporary history, especially the persecution of the Jews and the history of the federal state of Hesse. Even after his early retirement in 1995, he continued to devote himself to these policy-related topics with great dedication.

Other important fields of activity were the historical commissions and the Verein für Nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung. He held a key position as secretary of the Commission for the History of the Jews in Hesse for many years. He chaired the Historical Commission for Nassau from 1990 until his death. He played a major role in the establishment of the Commission of the Hessian State Parliament for the Study of the Political and Parliamentary History of the State of Hesse. He held the office of deputy chairman of the Association for Nassau Antiquities and Historical Research from 1979-99.