Ernst Anrich

Ernst Anrich (born 9 August 1906 in Strasbourg, died 21 October 2001 in Seeheim-Jugenheim) was a German modern historian, sociologist, university professor, academic administrator and publisher, who was the principal founder (in 1949) and managing director (from 1953 to 1966) of the Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft (WBG) publishing company in Darmstadt, one of Germany's leading academic publishing companies and also one of the largest book clubs in Germany.

In his opus magnum Die englische Politik im Juli 1914 ("The English Policy on the July 1914 Crisis"), he traces the origin of the First World War to the great powers' power interests, and finds the main flaw of German prewar policies to be the German rejection of a British alliance offer.

However, in 1931, at the age of 25, he was expelled from the Nazi party on the personal order of Adolf Hitler due to a conflict with Baldur von Schirach, who successfully prevented him from being readmitted as a member.

In addition to his scholarly work in modern history, he was interested in parapsychology, depth psychology and natural sciences, and secured Hans Bender a lectureship at the University of Strasbourg when he was dean.

His book Moderne Physik und Tiefenpsychlogie (1963) was an in-depth philosophical discussion of the boundaries of physics, psychology and philosophy.