The entomologist Erich Schmidt (1890–1969), his premature dismissal from the Museum Koenig Bonn, and the Nazi plot against the Alexander Koenig Foundation

Following a brief recap of the life of the entomologist Erich Schmidt (1890–1969), this paper examines his short tenure at Alexander Koenig’s Natural History Museum in Bonn. Using archival records, the reasons for his premature dismissal are discussed, as well as his role during National Socialism and the resulting consequences for the establishment of the Alexander Koenig Foundation (AKS). Explosive letters from the Bonn City Archives are reproduced to demonstrate that high-ranking Nazi officials, including Bonn’s mayor Ludwig Rickert, NSDAP district leader Cuno Eichler, and Karl Chudoba, the rector of the university at the time, attempted to boycott the foundation’s establishment after the deaths of Alexander and Margarethe Koenig. Berthold Korf, the former senior taxidermist at the museum and a committed Nazi who had likewise been dismissed without notice by Alexander Koenig and later rose to become Bonn’s police chief, also played an important role in this matter. In their will, the Koenigs had designated the AKS as the sole heir to their remaining assets. These consisted primarily of the expected proceeds from the sale of their Blücherhof estate in Mecklenburg, near Waren (Müritz), valued at 3–4 million Reichsmarks. However, the sale did not proceed due to the war. Ultimately, Blücherhof was expropriated during the Second World War, and the AKS was not established until 1946, following the collapse of the Nazi regime. In accordance with the charitable intentions of its founders, the AKS continues to support the Museum Koenig in its diverse scientific endeavours to this day.