Otto Heuer

Otto Heuer
Heuer around 1875
Director of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift
In office 1888–1925
Succeeded by	Ernst Beutler
Personal details
Born	(1854-02-06)6 February 1854
Died	24 January 1931(1931-01-24) (aged 76)

Otto Heuer (6 February 1854 – 24 January 1931) was a German literary historian. He served as the director of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift literary association from 1888 until his retirement in 1925.

Heuer was born on 6 February 1854 to Friedrich Wilhelm and Emilia Heuer.^[1] He attended the gymnasium in Hanover before leaving to study philology and history at Leipzig University, after which he moved to Bohemia. He later moved to Berlin in 1882^[1] before moving to Frankfurt in 1886. On 21 January 1887, Heuer was elected secretary of the Academic Department for History in the Freies Deutsches Hochstift.^[2] In the same year Heuer received his PhD in History from Humboldt University of Berlin.^[3] On 1 April 1888, he became the librarian at the Hochstift; under Heuer this role morphed into that of director.^[4]

Heuer expanded the Hochstift's collection and curated several exhibitions about Goethe (such as one in 1892 about The Sorrows of Young Werther). He also led the construction of a new Goethe Museum in 1897, expanding the Hochstift's museum efforts. Heuer's time as director coincided with the First World War and inflation, which threatened to deplete the Hochstift's finances; he organised a fundraiser to prevent the Hochstift from collapsing. Heuer replaced the Hochstift's yearly report with a yearbook ("Jahrbuch") with academic articles about Goethe and the collection of the Hochstift.^{[citation needed]}

Heuer remained as director until his retirement in 1925,^[4][5] upon which he was succeeded by Ernst Beutler.

After retiring, Heuer lived in Bad Homburg until his death on 24 January 1931.^[6]

• Goethe und seine Vaterstadt, Sonderabdruck aus der Festschrift zu Goethes 150. Geburtstagsfeier, dargebracht vom Freien Deutschen Hochstift, 1899.
• Goethes Geburtshaus und sein Umbau durch den Herrn Rat im Jahre 1755. Frankfurt am Main 1910.
• Die Königsleutnantsbilder im Frankfurter Goethemuseum. Zur Erinnerung an das 25-jährige Bestehen des Frankfurter Goethemuseums. Frankfurt am Main 1922.^[7]

• "Bericht aus den akademichen Fachabteilung". Berichte des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts (in German). 1888. pp. 197–202.
• Beutler, Ernst (1931). "Jahresbericht". Jahrbuch des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts (in German).
• Heuer, Otto (1926). "Jahresbericht". Jahrbuch des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts (in German). pp. 237–248.
• Heuer, Otto (1887). Städtebundsbestrebungen unter König Sigmund I. Erster Teil (in German).
• Seng, Joachim (2009). Goethe-Enthusiasmus und Bürgersinn. Das freie Deutsche Hochstift - Frankfurt Goethe-Museum 1881-1960 (in German). Göttingen: Wallstein Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8353-0536-6.