Friedrich von der Leyen (19 August 1873 – 6 June 1966) was a German philologist who specialized in

Germanic studies Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary tex ...

Biography

Friedrich von der Leyen was born in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...

, Germany on 19 August 1873, and belonged to the

House of Leyen The House von der Leyen und zu Hohengeroldseck is an ancient German noble family of princely and historically sovereign rank. As a former ruling and mediatized family, it belongs to the Hochadel (high nobility). History The origin can be ...

. He was the son of the railroad lawyer Alfred Friedrich von der Leyen (1844–1934) and Luise Isabella Kapp. Luise was the daughter of

Friedrich Kapp Friedrich Kapp (13 April 1824 – 27 October 1884) was a German-American lawyer, writer, and politician. He was an outspoken opponent of Germany's colonization fervor during his time as a National Liberal Party (Germany), National Liberal Reichsta ...

and sister of

Wolfgang Kapp Wolfgang Kapp (24 July 1858 – 12 June 1922) was a German civil servant and journalist. A strict nationalist, he is best known for being the leader of the Kapp Putsch. Early life Kapp was born in New York City where his father Friedrich Kapp ...

. von der Leyen studied at the universities of

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approximate ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, receiving his Ph.D. at Berlin in 1894 under the supervision of Karl Weinhold with a thesis on

Medieval German literature Medieval German literature refers to the literature of Medieval Germany. It can be subdivided into two main periods: *Old High German literature (750–1050) is the product of the monasteries and is almost exclusively religious in nature *Middle H ...

. He

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operatio ...

in 1899 with a thesis on

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period ...

. From 1920 to his retirement in 1937, von der Leyen was Chair of

German Philology German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German hi ...

at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. Upon his retirement, von der Leyen published his ''Die Götter der Germanen'' (1938), which examined gods in

Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. Origins As the Germanic language ...

. von der Leyen was a known specialist on

German folklore German folklore is the folk tradition which has developed in Germany over a number of centuries. Partially it can be also found in Austria. Characteristics It shares many characteristics with Nordic folklore and English folklore due to thei ...

. Together with

Eugen Diederichs Eugen Diederichs (June 22, 1867 – September 10, 1930) was a German publisher born in Löbitz, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Prussian Province of Saxony. Diederichs started his publishing company in Florence, Italy, in 1896. He moved on to Leipzi ...

and , he founded and edited the '. Following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, von der Leyen returned to the University of Cologne, where he served as an honorary professor from 1947 to 1953. He died in

Kirchseeon Kirchseeon is a market town in the Upper Bavarian district of Ebersberg and lies 15 km east of Munich city limits. The nearest communities are Grafing and Ebersberg. The Bavarian capital, Munich, can be reached by S-Bahn (line S4), which runs ...

, Germany on 6 June 1966.

Selected works

* ''Des armen Hartmann Rede vom Glouven. Eine deutsche Reimpredigt des 12. Jahrhunderts.'' Marcus: Breslau 1897 (= Dissertation Berlin). * ''Kleine Beiträge zur deutschen Litteraturgeschichte im 11. und 12. Jahrhundert''. Niemeyer: Halle/S. 1897. * ''Das Märchen in den Göttersagen der Edda''. Reimer: Berlin 1899. * ''Deutsche Universität und deutsche Zukunft. Betrachtungen''. Diederichs: Jena 1906. * ''Einführung in das Gotische''. Beck: München 1908. * ''Das Märchen. Ein Versuch''. Quelle & Meyer: Leipzig 1911 (4. Auflage 1958). * ''Das Studium der deutschen Philologie''. Reinhardt: München 1913. * ''Deutsche Dichtung in neuerer Zeit''. Diederichs: Jena 1922. * ''Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung. Ein Überblic''k. Bruckmann: München 1926. * ''Volkstum und Dichtung. Studien zum Ursprung und zum Leben der Dichtung''. Diederichs: Jena 1933. * ''Deutsche Dichtung und deutsches Wesen''. Schaffstein: Köln 1934. * ''Die Götter der Germanen''. Beck: München 1938. * ''Die deutsche Dichtung und die Weltliteratur''. Verlag der Löwe: Köln 1950. * ''Deutsche Philologie. Eine Einführung in ihr Studium''. Klett: Stuttgart 1952. * ''Das Heldenliederbuch Karls des Grossen. Bestand, Gehalt, Wirkung''. Beck: München 1954. * ''Leben und Freiheit der Hochschule. Erinnerungen''. Reykers: Köln 1960. * ''Das deutsche Märchen und die Brüder Grimm.'' Diederichs: Düsseldorf 1964.

Sources

* Hugo Kuhn and

Kurt Schier Kurt Schier (born 27 February 1929) is a German philologist who specializes in Germanic studies. Biography Kurt schier was born in the village of Ober-Maxdorf, near modern-day Jablonec nad Nisou, Czech Republic. From 1949, Schier studied German ...

(ed.): ''Märchen, Mythos, Dichtung. Festschrift zum 90. Geburtstag Friedrich von der Leyens am 19. August 1963''. Beck, München 1963. * Karl Otto Conrady: ''Völkisch-nationale Germanistik in Köln. Eine unfestliche Erinnerung.'' SH-Verlag, Schernfeld 1990, (über Ernst Bertram und Friedrich von der Leyen). * * Michael Löffelsender: ''Möglichkeiten und Grenzen eines nationalsozialistischen Modefachs. Deutsche Volkskunde an der Universität Köln 1919–1945''. In: Geschichte im Westen 23 (2008), S. 89–117
pdf
. *

: ''Leyen, Friedrich von der.'' In: ''

Enzyklopädie des Märchens The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It examines over two ...

'', Band 8, 1996, Sp. 1005–1011. 1873 births 1966 deaths German philologists Germanists Germanic studies scholars House of Leyen Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Writers from Bremen Old Norse studies scholars Academic staff of the University of Cologne Writers on Germanic paganism {{Germany-linguist-stub