14b. Gustav Maximilian Eduard Donath – The first director of the mdw* University Library (ub.mdw*), National Socialist sympathiser with “mixed race person first-degree“

[Detailed catalog text in german]

The librarian and director of the ub.mdw* was Gustav Donath (1878–1965), whose paternal family originating from Vsetín (today Czech Republic) had been of Jewish faith.

In 1904, he received his doctorate from the Institute of Musicology at the University of Vienna. He also studied harmony, counterpoint and composition at the mdw* under Robert Fuchs (1847–1927). He advanced his studies under Joseph Marx (1882–1964). Gustav Donath’s musical œuvre as a successful pianist and composer of orchestral, chamber music, and piano works, songs, and cantatas is evidenced by the wealth of compositions and concert programs contained in his legacy in the Austrian National Library.

After the nationalisation of the conservatoire, a separate library was established in 1909 at the Imperial-Royal Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. Gustav Donath was appointed as its director and, as such, was tasked with building up the stock of books and sheet music. From 1928 onwards, he regularly taught harmony and music form, music theory, and the fundamentals of music theory at the mdw*.

After the ‘Anschluss’ of Austria in March 1938, the librarian Donath was considered to be a “moral problem”: According to the definitions of the Nuremberg Laws, he was classified as a “mixed race person first-degree“ (“Mischling 1. Grades) and was initially given a leave of absence on 15 September 1938, with the intent that he be dismissed from his position as library director. The former ‘temporary director’ of the mdw*, Franz Schütz, interceded for the revocation of Donath’s dismissal, as he had been a sympathiser of National Socialism prior to March 1938 and was vocal in his support of it during the period when the Nazi Party was banned. Instead, he was finally retired on 31 July 1939. Curt Otto Rotter (1881–1945), who had been serving as librarian since 1920, was appointed as the new director of the library on 4 October 1938. From May 1945 onwards, Gustav Donath resumed his position as director of the ub.mdw* and was able to pursue his teaching activities at the mdw* once again.