Bernhard Harms

Christoph Bernhard Cornelius Harms was born in Detern, Ostfriesland, on June 30, 1876 to Menno F. Harms (1845-?) and Anna M. Ries (1844-1921). In 1887, he attended the Städtische Volksschule in Aurich, and later Gymnasium in Norden. From 1890 to 1893 he completed an apprenticeship (Ausbildung) as a bookbinder in Celle.[3] Harms began a degree in political science at the University of Leipzig (1897), then began a PhD in Economics at University of Tübingen (1900). He completed his doctoral dissertation under Gustav von Schönberg, a founder of the theory of world economy. Two years later, he completed his habilitation.[3]

Harms married in 1902 and had three children.

Harms began teaching as a professor at the University of Jena in 1906, then transferred to the University of Kiel in 1908 where he was Chair of Economics. There, he founded the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.

Construction of Bernhard-Harms-Weg, named in honor of the Institute's founder (1971)

Founded on February 18, 1914, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy has been one of the leading economic research institutes in Germany. It began as the Königliches Institut für Seeverkehr and Weltwirtschaft an der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (Royal Institute for Maritime Transport and World Economics at the University of Kiel). Over the years, Harms worked to build the university's name, attracting well established economists such as Jacob Marschak, Wassily Leontief, Adolph Löwe, Gerhard Colm, and Hans Philipp Neisser.[4] The original mission of the Institute was to challenge the traditional scholar of nationally oriented political economy, and instead opting for a more international view on economic and political affairs.

After the electoral victory of the National Socialist German Workers Party in the March 1933 elections, Harms attempted to protect his Jewish colleagues from persecution. But on April 25, 1933, the Ministry of Culture enacted a new law, the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service. Harms was subsequently removed from the university and later from the Institute. In 1933, Harms worked as an honorary professor in Berlin, then moved to the University of Marburg in 1934.[5] He died in Berlin in 1939. His grave was placed in front of the original building of the Instituteon Düsternbrooker Weg in Kiel.[4]

• Newspaper clippings about Bernhard Harms in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW