Prof Dr Hel­mar Frank (1933-2013) Math­em­atician, cy­ber­net­i­cist and edu­ca­tion­al re­search­er (NL 810)

Helmar Frank was born in Waiblingen on 19 February 1933. He studied mathematics in Stuttgart and Tübingen, graduating in 1956 and passing the state examination for secondary school teachers in 1957. He continued his studies in Paris in 1957 and 1958 and obtained his doctorate in 1959 with a thesis on mathematical aesthetics under Stuttgart philosopher Max Bense. In 1961, he was a member of the cybernetics research group "Learning Automata" at the Technical University of Karlsruhe until he was appointed to the Chair of Information Science, later the Chair of Cybernetics, at the Berlin University of Education in 1963. There he built up the Institute for Cybernetics. When the research and development centre for objectified teaching and learning methods (FEoLL) was founded in Paderborn, Helmar Frank took over the management of the Institute of Cybernetics established there and was simultaneously appointed full professor of cybernetic pedagogy and educational technology at the Paderborn department of the Westphalia-Lippe University of Education. In August 1972, this department was transferred to the newly founded Paderborn University of Applied Sciences.

The research and development centre for objectified teaching and learning methods, FEoLL for short, was established in November 1970 with funding from Heinz Nixdorf in the legal form of a non-profit limited liability company. In April 1971, the centre began its work with initially three institutes - the Institute for "Pedagogical Cybernetics and Educational Technology", the "Institute for Educational Informatics" and the "Institute for Teaching Science". The research profiles developed rapidly and the FEoLL also expanded in terms of personnel. In 1980, there were six institutes and two project groups: the Institute for Educational Business Studies headed by PDoz. Dr. Dr. Gerhard E. Ortner, the Institute for Educational Informatics under the direction of Prof. Dr. Miloš Lánský, the Institute for Cybernetic Pedagogy under the direction of Prof. Dr. Helmar Frank, the Institute for Media Sociology/Media Psychology initially under the direction of Prof. Dr. Ulrich Lohmar, then under the provisional direction of PDoz. Dr. Dr. Gerhard E. Ortner, the Institute for Media Networking/Media Didactics under the direction of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Tulodziecki and the Institute for Teaching Science/Media Information under the direction of Dr Ottmar Hertkorn. At this time, the Centre Project Group "Media Teachers / Media Use and Evaluation" and the Centre Project Group "DP in Education" were also part of the FEoLL.

Despite this obvious growth, which was also reflected in numerous publications, the centre lost its support. The FEoLL's Institute for Science and Planning Theory under Prof Herbert Stachowiak had already been incorporated into the Paderborn University of Applied Sciences in 1978. The entire research and development centre was dissolved in 1981 and the staff were integrated into various departments of the University Comprehensive University. The Institute for Cybernetic Pedagogy, headed by Helmar Frank, was part of Faculty 2 Education Studies, Psychology and Sports Science at the University of Paderborn until his retirement in 2006. Helmar Frank died on 13 December 2013 in Paderborn after a long, serious illness.

In spring 2013, Dr Vera Barandovská-Frank, wife of Helmar Frank, offered documents to the Paderborn University Archives as a bequest. After an initial appraisal in June 2013, a further appraisal meeting was held on 9 September of that year. The documents worthy of archiving were transferred to the University Archives on 13 September. The documents for the university archive are mainly correspondence, but also books and journals from the "Institute of Cybernetics" and the "Institute of Cybernetic Education". The latter was initially assigned to the Research and Development Centre for Objectivised Teaching and Learning (FEoLL), later to the University of Applied Sciences. Some documents have also survived from the Berlin period at the University of Education. A very small amount of material relating to the artificial language Esperanto or in connection with his involvement with the "International Academy of Sciences San Marino" and the "Gesellschaft für sprachgrenzübergreifende europäische Verständigung" (Europaklub) e.V. has been transferred to the archives of the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF). In November 2017, IT historian Stefan Höltgen brought other devices as well as the slide and photo series and discs to Professor Wolfgang Ernst's Chair of Media Theory in Berlin, where they will be stored and analysed.

The documents in the university archive were professionally packed by student assistants in summer 2014. The labelling and order found were largely adopted for the indexing. The oldest documents in the estate, dating from the early to mid-1950s, come from Helmar Frank's membership of the Globus youth club in his home town of Waiblingen. Other documents originate from Frank's work at the University of Education in Berlin and from his work at the FEoLL research centre in Paderborn. By far the largest part of the collection is made up of the written material that resulted from Frank's wide-ranging activities at Paderborn University until his retirement in 2006. Only a few documents document his political commitment to the FDP.

• Helmar G. Frank, My Mini Memoirs - Miajini Mini Memoraĵoj, Paderborn 1988
• In memoriam Helmar Frank. Memorial service for Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Helmar Frank, recipient of the Federal Cross of Merit First Class born 19 February 1933 in Waiblingen died 15 December 2013 in Paderborn, on Friday 25 April 2014 Paderborn University, edited by Volker Peckhaus. (Paderborn University Speeches 133)
• Philipp Aumann, The benefits of cybernetics? Gesellschaftliche Erwartung und Realität, in: Christine Pieper and Frank Uekötter (eds.), Vom Nutzen der Wissenschaft. Contributions to a precarious relationship, Stuttgart 2010 (Wissenschaft, Politik und Gesellschaft 6), pp. 211-233.
• Philipp Aumann, Fashion and Method. Cybernetics in the Federal Republic of Germany, Göttingen 2009 (Deutsches Museum. Abhandlungen und Berichte. NF 24)

In the printed finding aid of the University Archives on p. 43ff. Details of the former website of Prof. Dr. Helmar Frank with biographical information, the last seminars organised and an extensive literature list from 1955 to 1998.

Information can also be found on the blog of the Paderborn Computer Museum - "Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum" (HNF): blog.hnf.de/helmar-frank-von-berlin-nach-paderborn-und-zurueck/)

Further literature by and about Helmar Frank is listed in the German National Library:

Status: 10 October 2013, supplemented in March 2023