Leipzig University Theses 1949–65
The collection includes around 2,500 digitizations of theses, which were submitted to Leipzig University between 1949 and 1965 and were typically created using machine-written procedures.
Leipzig University Library preserves the theses of its graduates and allows the reconstruction of the University’s research activities and scientific discussions over the centuries. The digital collection of theses from 1949 to 1965 provides insight into the research and teaching activities of the early years of the GDR at the Karl-Marx University, as it was called then. The collection includes, for example, dissertations from the prestigious journalism program and from the Faculty of Theology. The dissertations from the then independent German College of Physical Education (now the Faculty of Sports Science), the only institution of its kind in the GDR, also show the sports science research of the 1950s and early 1960s in the GDR.
In addition to the goal of making this research and teaching culture of the Karl-Marx University accessible, the digitization of these writings also serves to protect the collection. The reproduction procedures of machine-written theses lead to a high light sensitivity, especially of the reproduced copies. Through digitization, the contents of these research papers can be secured in the long term. The digitization of the Leipzig theses began in 2020 and currently includes around 2,500 items.