Smidt, Wilhelm Georg

Director of the State Archives

born: 27.03.1885 in Hanover

died: 05.01.1968 in Wiesbaden

Smidt studied in Freiburg, Bonn and Berlin and went to Rome, where he received his doctorate. There he was a member of the Prussian Institute.

In 1913, he began his career as an archivist at the Prussian State Archives in Hanover. In 1914, he moved to the State Archives in Marburg, took part in the First World War and was transferred to the former Prussian State Archives in Wetzlar on January 1, 1919, where he was responsible for the dissolution of the archives and the distribution of the holdings of the former Imperial Chamber Court to the Prussian provinces. Smidt remained in Wetzlar until December 1924. He then embarked on a research trip lasting several months before returning to the Hanover State Archives in 1925. In 1934, he moved to the Osnabrück State Archives as archive director.

On January 1, 1939, he took over the management of the State Archives in Wiesbaden(Hessian Main State Archives Wiesbaden), which he held until his retirement in 1947. Here he acted as chairman of the Historical Commission for Nassau until 1948, initiated the publication of the Nassauische Lebensbilder and was also a member of the Verein für Nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung, which he headed provisionally from 1939-41.