Herman Wirth

Herman Wirth (alternatively referred to as Herman Wirth Roeper Bosch, or Herman Felix Wirth or Hermann) (6 May 1885 Utrecht – 16 February 1981, Kusel) was a Dutch-German lay historian and scholar of ancient religions and symbols. He co-founded the SS-organization Ahnenerbe but was later pushed out by Heinrich Himmler.

Biography

Born in Utrecht on 6 May 1885, Wirth studied Flemish Dutch philosophy, literature, history and musicology at Utrecht and Leipzig, receiving his doctorate in 1910 from the University of Leipzig with a dissertation on the demise of the Dutch folk song. He then taught Flemish Dutch philosophy at the University of Bern.

In 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Wirth volunteered for military service in the German army. However, due to his support for Flemish separatists in German-occupied Belgium he was dismissed from the service. In 1916, he was appointed by Wilhelm II as a professor (Titularprofessor). After the war ended, he founded a nationalist organization in the Netherlands.