Erbbiologie und “Volkstums”-Forschung am Wiener Anthropologischen Institut: Das „Marienfeld- Projekt“ 1933/34

Abstract

In 1932, the “Working Group on Genetic Biology” (Die Erbbiologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft) was established at the Anthropological Institute of the University of Vienna (Anthropologisches Institut, Universität Wien) under Josef Weninger (1886–1959).!is paper discusses the anthropological research carried out by this Working Group during the winter of 1933–34 in the village of Marienfeld (Teremia-Mare) in the Banat, which endeavoured to shed light on the racial constitution, genetic biology, and ontogenetics of that village’s German community. It consisted of the anthropological examination of 1081 people out of a total of 251 families. According to Eberhard Geyer, the novel aspects of this anthropological research were “its coverage of individuals of all ages including very young children”, as well as the specialized recording techniques.Eight work-stations operated simultaneously, all focusing on di"erent tasks: the #rst station compiled personal and genealogical data; the second took stereo-photographic images of the ear; the third made photographic and schematic views of the hand and the foot; the fourth took a three-part (face, pro#le, back) photographic image of the head and the ocular region; the #fth, measured the head, body and took hair samples; the sixth took #ngerprints; the seventh made drawings of the iris and recorded eye colour; and, #nally, the eighth took measurements of the nose. Josef Weninger concentrated on identifying traits of the eye; Eberhard Geyer focused on the ear; Dora Maria Könner was responsible for taking photographs of the hand and foot; Robert Routil was in charge of taking hair samples and analysing metric dimensions; Margarete Weninger’s specialty were the papillary lines of the hand; Albert Harrasser was in charge of developing photographs; and, #nally, Karl Stump% conducted psychological examinations. Only on closer inspection does it become apparent that the main actors pursued very di"erent interest – political, commercial or personal – in the realisation of this project and that their divergent ideological positioning was decisive for the course of the project.