In 1938, he was made Chair of Indo-European Studies and Runology and also succeeded Neckel as Director of the Department for Old Norse Philology.

[4][5] In 1943, he was made Director of the Runic Division of the Ahnenerbe; however, his institute was renamed the Lehr- und Forschungsstätte für Runen- und Sinnbildkunde (Teaching and Research Institute for Runic and Symbological Studies) and he was forced to accept as assistant director for Symbology Karl Theodor Weigel [de], whom he had long criticised as a dilettante, and who outranked him in the Ahnenerbe despite having never completed his doctorate.

In 1950, his Department for Nordic Philology was combined with his Institute for Runic Studies to form a Scandinavian Seminar under his leadership.

For more than thirty years, Krause had been one of the most influential personalities at the University of Göttingen, not only because of his scientific achievements, but also because of his abilities as an educator.

[1] A large number of students earned their PhDs and habilitations under his supervision, and many went on to become prominent scholars in the field of Old Norse studies.