Friedrich Meinecke stepped down as rector of Freie Universität Berlin for health reasons at the start of the 1949 winter semester. His successor was art historian and Freie Universität co-founder Edwin Redslob (born September 22, 1884, in Weimar; died January 24, 1973, in Berlin).

On September 1, 1920, Redslob was named the General Director of Museums in Württemberg and National Art Commissioner. In this position, he was responsible for all government issues regarding art and culture under the Weimar Republic until 1933. In April of that year, he distanced himself from the Nazi Party, which he had been asked to join. In response, the ruling Nazi regime dismissed him from all of his positions.

In 1945, Redslob co-founded the Berlin daily newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, and in 1948, he became one of the co-initiators of the founding of Freie Universität Berlin. He designed the university’s emblem, which is still in use to this day, with the core academic values of veritas, justitia, and libertas (truth, justice, and freedom). From 1948 to 1954, he taught at Freie Universität Berlin as a professor of art history and cultural history, and from 1949 to 1950 he served as the university’s rector.