Ernst Krieck (born July 6, 1882 in Vögisheim; died March 19, 1947 in Moosburg an der Isar) was a German teacher, writer, and professor. Along with Alfred Baeumler, Krieck was considered a leading National Socialist theoretical scientist. Life Before the Third Reich Ernst Krieck was born in 1882 in Vögisheim. After his graduation from junior high school, Krieck went to a teacher’s college in Karlsruhe. In 1900 he entered the Baden elementary school service; in 1904 he was transferred to Mannheim. During his following work as an elementary school teacher, he began to criticize the dominant school system as mechanical and too bureaucratic. During this time, Krieck continued to be self-educated. In 1910, his first literary work, Persönlichkeit und Kultur (Personality and Culture), was published. In 1917, Krieck published Die deutsche Staatsidee (The German National Idea). Then in 1920 Die Revolution der Wissenschaft (The Revolution of Science) was published, and, finally, in 1922 Philosophie der Erziehung (Philosophy of Education) was published. Philosophie der Erziehung is considered Krieck’s most important book. For his work on this book, he received an honorary doctorate from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. After four years as working as a freelance writer he was appointed to work at the Pädagogische (pedagogy i.e. Science of education) Akademie in Frankfurt am Main in 1928. Until the end of the 1920s, he supported the traditional opinions of the liberal teaching staff which was in conflict with the school politics of the SPD (Social Democratic Party), Zentrumspartei (Central Party), and the Catholic Church. Then, he took a political turn. In 1931, he became a member of the racial minded, anti-semitic fighting union for German culture. After he had declared, “Heil auf das Dritte Reich” (“Hail to the Third Reich”) at the solstice festival in 1931, Krieck was transferred to the Pädagogische Akademie Dortmund for disciplinary reasons. During this time, throughout the Ruhr region in Germany, Krieck acted frequently as a political speaker. On January 1, 1932 he became a member of the NSDAP (Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialistic German Workers Party) and the National Socialistic teachers union. In 1932, due to further Nazi agitation, Krieck was suspended as professor. Third Reich Era After the Nazi “takeover,” due to a secretarial decree, Krieck was elected President of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main in April 1933. He had been the only candidate. It was only a day before that he had been