German academics in British universities during the First World War: The case of Karl Wichmann

Despite the scholarly attention given to the treatment of Germans in Great Britain during the First World War, there are only sparse details in this historical literature about how those of German origin working specifically in higher education were treated. This article considers Professors of German of German origin in British higher education, focusing on the hitherto little-reported case of Karl Wichmann (better known as a minor German/English lexicographer), who was employed as Professor of German at the University of Birmingham from 1907 to 1917. It considers the circumstances leading to Wichmann's resignation in March 1917 and discusses the known details of what happened to him thereafter.