Fritz Gause

Fritz Gause (4 August 1893 – 24 December 1973) was a German historian, archivist, and curator described as the last great historian of his native city, Königsberg (now Kaliningrad), East Prussia. Gause's most important work was his three-volume history of Königsberg, Die Geschichte der Stadt Königsberg in Preußen (1965, 1968, and 1971). He was connected to nationalist historic movement called Ostforschung

After attending Königsberg's Collegium Fridericianum, Gause studied history and German philology at the Albertina, the University of Königsberg under nationalist historian Albert Brackmann. During World War I he volunteered for service in the front-line artillery. After receiving his doctorate in 1921, he began lecturing at the Goethe-Oberlyzeum in Königsberg.

In 1938 Gause became head of the Königsberg City Museum in the former Kneiphof Town Hall, as well as the City Archive and Public Library in the original campus of the Albertina in Kneiphof. In 1939 the library contained 106,000 volumes.

When the Eastern Front of World War II grew closer to the city, Gauleiter Erich Koch prevented Gause from transferring the works under his responsibility to a safer location. The archive, museum, and library were subsequently destroyed during the 1944 Bombing of Königsberg and 1945 Battle of Königsberg. After the end of the war, Gause was held as a prisoner-of-war by Poland until 1947.

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