Lenard retired from Heidelberg University as professor of theoretical physics in 1931. He was removed from his honorary position by Allied occupation forces in 1945. The Helmholtz-Gymnasium Heidelberg had been named the Philipp Lenard Schule from 1927 until 1945. it was renamed in September 1945, The military government were removing Nazi street names and monuments . Lenard died in 1947 in Messelhausen, Germany.