Karl Müllenhoff

Karl Müllenhoff
Born(1818-09-08)8 September 1818
Died19 February 1884(1884-02-19) (aged 65)
NationalityGerman
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic advisors
InfluencesJacob Grimm
Academic work
DisciplineGermanic studies
Sub-disciplineGerman philology
Institutions
Notable students
Main interests

Karl Viktor Müllenhoff (born September 8, 1818, in Marne, Duchy of Holstein; died February 19, 1884, in Berlin) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.

Biography

[edit]

He was born in Marne, Holstein as the second son of merchant Johann Anton Müllenhoff. In his youth, he received his education in the town of Meldorf (1830–1837).[1] He later studied under Gregor Wilhelm Nitzsch at the University of Kiel, then continued his education at Leipzig (1839, under Gottfried Hermann and Moriz Haupt) and then in Berlin (1839-1841), where his instructors included Karl Lachmann and Wilhelm Grimm. In 1841 he received his PhD at Kiel with a dissertation on Sophocles.[2]

He taught classes in German language, literature and mythology at the University of Kiel, where in 1854 he became a full professor of German literature and history. Afterwards, he returned to Berlin as a professor of German philology (1858-1884). In 1861 he became a member of the Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Two of his well-known students in Berlin were Wilhelm Scherer and Elias von Steinmeyer.[1][2]

In 1863 he introduced a theory involving the continuity of written language dating from the era of Old High German.[1]

From around 1875, he resided at Schellingstraße 7 (Berlin-Tiergarten), a few years later, moving to a house on Lützowufer in the same district. He was buried in the Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof in Berlin-Schöneberg. In 1896, a thoroughfare called Müllenhoffstraße (Berlin-Kreuzberg) was named in his honor.[1]

Publications

[edit]
  • Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg, 1845 – Collection of sagas, fairy tales and songs from the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
  • De Antiquissima Germanorum Poesi Chorica, a treatise; cited as one of his greatest works (1847).
  • Altdeutsche Sprachproben, 1864 (4th edition, 1885. 5th edition, 1963).
  • Denkmäler deutscher Poesie und Prosa aus dem 8. bis 12. Jahrhundert, with Wilhelm Scherer (Berlin, 1864) – Monuments of German poetry and prose from the 8th-12th century.
  • Deutsche Alterthumskunde, left unfinished; cited as one of his greatest works (1870–99); five volumes.
    • Vol. 1. Die Phoenizier. Pytheas von Massalia.
    • Vol. 2. Die Nord- und Ostnachbaren der Germanen. Die Gallier und Germanen.
    • Vol. 3. Der Ursprung der Germanen.
    • Vol. 4. Die Germania des Tacitus.
    • Vol. 5. Über die Voluspa. Über die ältere Edda.[3]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Statement(s) based on translated text from an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia".
  2. ^ a b biography @ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie
  3. ^ WorldCat Identities Most widely held works by K.Müllenhoff

References

[edit]
  • Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1879). "Müllenhoff, Karl Victor" . The American Cyclopædia.
  • This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainGilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Müllenhoff, Karl Viktor" . New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Scherer and Schröder, Karl Müllenhoff (Berlin, 1896) (in German)
[edit]