Heinitz, Wilhelm, 1883-1963

Wilhelm Heinitz (9 December 1883 in Altona – 31 March 1963 in Hamburg) was a German musicologist. After training and working as a bassoonist, Heinitz became a member of staff at the Phonetics Laboratory of the University of Hamburg in 1915 and studied musicology there. He received his doctorate (PhD) on a topic of phonetics in 1920 in Kiel and his habilitation in 1931 with the paper Strukturprobleme in primitiver Musik at the University of Hamburg, where he subsequently headed the research department for comparative musicology until 1949. In November 1933 he signed the vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State. Heinitz died at the age of 79.