Fritz Koelln papers

Collection

Identifier: M360

Staff Only
Please use the Collection Organization section below to place requests.

Scope and Contents

The papers contain chapel talks and memorials written by German professor Fritz Koelln as well as some correspondence and materials relating to his time as faculty at Bowdoin. Photographs of Koelln and other Bowdoin faculty are included.

Dates

Creation: 1954-1969

Conditions Governing Access

No restrictions.

Biographical / Historical

Fritz Carl August Koelln (1901–1986) was born in Hamburg, Germany, and received his PhD magna cum laude in 1927 from Hamburg University. After immigrating to the United States, he taught German for many years at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. In 1972, the Koelln Room, where many German classes are still held, was dedicated in his honor. Koelln also led an anthroposophic study group at Bowdoin for several years. He co-authored a translation of *The Philosophy of the Enlightenment* (1951) with James Pettegrove and wrote several articles. Koelln, who held the title of Professor of German and George Taylor Files Professor of Modern Languages Emeritus, taught at Bowdoin from 1929 to 1971. He passed away at home in Brunswick in 1986 at the age of eighty-five.