Statement of the Institute

Statement of the HPI Board of Directors and the HPI Group Leaders on the Expert Opinion "Heinrich Pette und der Nationalsozialismus"

("Heinrich Pette and National Socialism", Axel Schildt & Malte Thießen, revised version 12/2020) 

The Heinrich Pette Institute, Leibniz Institute for Experimental Virology (HPI) carries the name of its founding director Prof. Dr. Heinrich Wilhelm Pette (1887-1964) since 1964.

In 1933, Heinrich Pette joined the NSDAP and was one of the signatories of the Vow of Allegiance of the Professors of German Universities and Institutions of Higher Learning to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist State. In addition to his work as director of the Neurologische Universitätsklinik (Neurological University Clinic) at the Eppendorfer Krankenhaus (Eppendorf Hospital, today's University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf), he was also the second chairman of the Society of German Neurologists and Psychiatrists (GDNP) from 1935.

Against this background, the HPI had the activities of Heinrich Pette in the years 1933 to 1945 investigated by the two renowned historians Prof. Axel Schildt and Prof. Malte Thießen. The aim was to "bring about a firm and criticism-free basis for the future use of the name Heinrich Pette." In the final expert opinion, which was revised at the end of 2020 and is now available, three results are particularly noteworthy:

  1. The expert opinion shows that Heinrich Pette was not a convinced National Socialist despite his NSDAP party membership. Instead, he can rather be categorized as a "fellow traveler" (Mitläufer) who joined the party for personal or professional gain without fully supporting the entire ideology.
  2. Furthermore, the expert opinion clarifies that Heinrich Pette was not directly involved in "euthanasia" acts. Despite intensive research in archives, no evidence of Heinrich Pette's accompanying research on victims of "euthanasia" could be found. What is clear, however, is Heinrich Pette's knowledge of "euthanasia" crimes. This is supported by his work in the advisory board of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Brain Research and his contacts with several persons responsible for "euthanasia" crimes. In addition, Heinrich Pette himself confirmed his kowledge several times after 1945. His contacts with a co-organizer of the murders of the sick (Krankenmorde), who practiced under a false identity after the war, were the subject of a committee of inquiry of the Schleswig-Holstein state parliament in 1961.
  3. As a specialist in neurology, Heinrich Pette was involved as an expert witness in hereditary health proceedings within the meaning of the Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseases. In a relatively large number of cases, Heinrich Pette spoke in favor of sterilization (in seven of his 15 expert opinions identified to date): Heinrich Pette reported two patients to the Hereditary Health Court and applied for their sterilization. In five other expert opinions he supported the sterilization: based on the diagnosis of epilepsy, once based on the diagnosis of schizophrenia, and in one case based on "chronic alcoholism". Based on Nazi ideology, these clinical pictures were considered "hereditary." Scientifically, the concept was controversial. Eight times Pette rejected sterilization, sometimes in contrast to other experts.

The renaming of the Institut zur Erforschung der spinalen Kinderlähmung (Institute for Spinal Polio Research) to the Heinrich-Pette-Institut für Experimentelle Virologie und Immunologie an der Universität Hamburg (Heinrich Pette Institute for Experimental Virology and Immunology at the University of Hamburg) in 1964 was based on Heinrich Pette's significant scientific achievements in the field of virology and especially in polio research. Heinrich Pette is still considered a central player in the introduction of polio vaccination in the Federal Republic of Germany as well as an internationally recognized and trend-setting expert in this field. 

In view of the history of medicine under the National Socialism, it is hardly possible to bear the name of a personality who was active in medicine in a prominent role during that time without criticism. Focusing on the future, the majority of us feel that the name "Heinrich Pette" is no longer appropriate for our institute and is not compatible with a modern orientation. After many detailed discussions with the Supervisory Board as well as with the involvement of the Scientific Council and several historians established and renowned in this field, the institute no longer wishes to use the name "Heinrich Pette" in the future.

April 2021 link to the corresponding press release