| Born: | 11-06-1917 |
| Faculty: | Philosophical School |
| Category: | Expelled student |
Maria (Marya Jadwiga Krystyna) SALPETER (EICHENBERGER), born on November 6th, 1917 in Vienna/Austria (entitled residency ("heimatberechtigt") for Vienna/Austria, citizenship 1938: Austria), daughter of Dr. Ing. Jakob Leib Salpeter (1886-1965, physicist, Vienna's 19th district, Hartäckerstrasse 9 or from 1936 Vienna's 18th district, Leopold-Steiner-Weg 45) and Hermine Salpeter, née Smelhous (1892-1978, lifeguard). Her father had remarried in 1923 and she lived with her mother in Vienna's 10th district, Leibnitzgasse 49/2 and later in Vienna's 9th district, Sobieskigasse 22.
On June 1st, 1935, she had successfully passed the school-leaving examination (Matura) at the humanistic girls' high school in Vienna's 6th district, Rahlgasse 4, and subsequently began to study Romance languages, classical philology and philosophy at the University of Vienna in the fall term of 1935/36. She was last enrolled at the Philosophical School in the spring term of 1939, her 4th and last year of studies, and she attended lectures in Romance language and literature Studies and Classical Philology.
She had been baptized Roman Catholic on May 30th, 1918, in St. Pölten, Lower Austria: Her parents had married only shortly before her birth in the Protestant Garnison Church in Vienna - her mother was Roman Catholic, her father had previously converted from Judaism to Protestant A.B. and had remarried soon after Dr. Friederike Horn, a physicist, in the synagogue in Vienna Währing in 1923. National Socialists considered her to be a "Mischling 1. Grades" and she could continue her studies for the time being even after the "Anschluss" - with revocation at any time ("Absolutorium" was certified on July 17th, 1939)
She had already enrolled once in the viva voce in October 1938, but the examination procedure got stuck and she worked under high pressure on her dissertation in Romance Studies entitled "Berg und Gebirge in den Versdichtungen Victor Hugo" (Hills and Mountains in Victor Hugo's Verse Poems), which was originally supervised by Prof. Moldenhauer, then by W. Mullert and Huber. She submitted the finished work in March 1940 and it was graded "good" by both assessors and approved in mid-April. However, from this point on, the 1st trimester of 1940, "Mischlinge" had to apply to the Reich Ministry of Education in Berlin for admission to study or to graduate, so Maria Salpeter submitted an application for admission to viva voce an graduation in July 1940.
However, after several months, the Reich Ministry of Education in Berlin decided not to admit her to complete her doctoral studies in March 1941, and in May 1941 she was partially refunded the doctoral fee she had already paid.
At that time, she had already been employed for a year and a half in a defense science company while working on her dissertation.
Her father, the famous physicist Dr. Jakob L. Salpeter, had to flee with his second wife Friederike (1899-1991) who was Jewish and their common son, her half-brother, Edwin E. Salpeter (1924-2008) and they were able to emigrate together to London/England and from there on to Australia in May 1939. Her father, who received his doctorate from the University of Vienna in 1909 ("Zur elektrischen Meßmethode radioaktiver Substanzen"), a close friend of Erwin Schrödinger, later became a professor in Adelaide, Australia. Her half-brother Edwin later became a famous astrophysicist and professor at Cornell University in the USA.
Maria Salpeter was able to complete her studies only after the end of National Socialism on December 20th, 1946 at the University of Vienna on the basis of the dissertation she had approved in 1940.
She moved her center of life from Vienna to Vorarlberg and lived, at the latest from 1950, with her mother Hermine in Feldkirch, Liechtensteiner Straße 38, in 1957 in Berggasse 14 and gave as her profession "export manager". She married Franz Max Eichenberger on December 7th, 1957 in Feldkirch.
Dr. Marya Eichenberger, née Salpeter, died on February 6th, 2003 in Feldkirch, Vorarlberg/Österreich.
Lit.: Archive of the University of Vienna/enrollment forms ("Nationale") PHIL 1935-1939, student book ("Meldungsbuch") S 187.1062, final examination files and registry ("Rigorosenakt und -protokoll") PHIL No. 14646 and No. 15389, graduation registry ("Promotionsprotokoll") PHIL 1941-1956 No. 644, Rectorate GZ 944 ex 1939/40/41, PHIL GZ 743 ex 1939/40; Austrian State Archives OeStA/AdR/E-uReang/VVSt/VA/26935, OeStA/AdR/E-uReang/Hilfsfonds/Abgeltungsfonds 2198, OeStA/AdR/E-uReang/FLD 24892, OeStA/AdR/E-uReang/FLD 1700; Vienna City and State Archives WStLA/1.3.2.119.A41 815, district: 19, WStLA/1.3.2.119.A41 662; 664; 665, district: 1; parish of St. Pölten-Dome, baptismal register 1913-1921, fol. 149, 1917/No. 93; parish of Vienna 10, St. Anthony of Padua, baptismal register 1917/2, fol. 678, no. 2041; POSCH/INGRISCH/DRESSEL 2008, 355, 463; Einwohnerverzeichnis Feldkirch 1950 and 1958; Wiener Adressanzeiger (Lehmann) 1935, 1936, 1938; www.ancestry.de; www.genteam.at; www.myheritage.com
Katharina Kniefacz and Herbert Posch
