Hermann Güntert (5 November 1886 – 23 April 1948) was a German linguist who specialized in Germanic and

Indo-European linguistics Indo-European studies is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical pro ...

Biography

Hermann Güntert was born in

Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants . A pre-Roman foundation, Worms is one of the oldest cities in northern Europe. It wa ...

on 5 November 1886. His father was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

merchant, and his mother was a

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

. Güntert became fluent in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

as a high school student, graduating at the top of his class in 1905. Güntert subsequently studied

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

and

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 Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

. He studied comparative linguistics under

Hermann Osthoff Hermann Osthoff (18 April 1847, Billmerich – 7 May 1909, Heidelberg) was a German linguist. He was involved in Indo-European studies and the Neogrammarian school. He is known for formulating Osthoff's law, and published widely on Indo-Eur ...

Indo-Iranian languages The Indo-Iranian languages (also Indo-Iranic languages or Aryan languages) constitute the largest and southeasternmost extant branch of the Indo-European language family (with over 400 languages), predominantly spoken in the geographical subre ...

under , and religious studies under Albrecht Dieterich and Franz Boll. He received his PhD with the dissertation ''Zur Geschichte der griechischen Gradationsbildungen'', which was about the

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), southe ...

. It was published in ''

Indogermanische Forschungen ''Indogermanische Forschungen'' (English: ''Indo-European Researches''; subtitled ''Zeitschrift für Indogermanistik und historische Sprachwissenschaft/Journal of Indo-European Studies and Historical Linguistics'') is an annual peer-reviewed academ ...

'' in 1909. Güntert subsequently studied for one semester at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 Decemb ...

. In 1909, Güntert passed the

staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, publi ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, Greek and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, and subsequently worked as a gymnasium teacher in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

from 1909 to 1921. He completed his habilitation in 1912/1913 in

and classics with the thesis ''Reimwortbildung im Arischen und Altgriechischen'', which examined rhymes in Indo-Iranian and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

. He was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Heidelberg in 1918. In 1921, Güntert succeeded as Professor of Comparative Linguistics at the

University of Rostock The University of Rostock (german: link=no, Universität Rostock) is a public university located in Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Founded in 1419, it is the third-oldest university in Germany. It is the oldest university in continen ...

. In 1926, he succeeded Bartholomae as Professor at the University of Heidelberg. He was elected Member of the

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The Academ ...

in 1931. From 1933, Güntert was also a lecturer 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 te ...

. Since 1938, he was the editor of '' Wörter und Sachen''. Since the spring of 1938, Güntert suffered from declining health, which forced him to reduce his activity at the University. He retired in December 1945, and died in Heidelberg on 23 April 1948.

Research

Güntert's research centered on Indo-Iranian, Ancient Greek and Germanic. He was critical of the North European hypothesis of Gustav Kossinna. Instead he supported the

steppe hypothesis The Kurgan hypothesis (also known as the Kurgan theory, Kurgan model, or steppe theory) is the most widely accepted proposal to identify the Proto-Indo-European homeland from which the Indo-European languages spread out throughout Europe and par ...

of Otto Schrader and Guntërt's Heidelberg colleague Ernst Wahle. In his ''Der Ursprung der Germanen'' (1934), Güntert suggested that the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and e ...

emerged through the conquest of the

Funnelbeaker culture The Funnel(-neck-)beaker culture, in short TRB or TBK (german: Trichter(-rand-)becherkultur, nl, Trechterbekercultuur; da, Tragtbægerkultur; ) was an archaeological culture in north-central Europe. It developed as a technological merger of lo ...

by Indo-European invaders of the

Corded Ware culture The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between ca. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a v ...

. Güntert has been referred to as one of the most influential

mythographer Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...

s of his era. His ''Der arische Weltkönig und Heiland'' (1923) is widely regarded as the finest work ever published on

Indo-European religion Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, the hypothetical speakers of the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested � ...

.. "Güntert’s masterpiece, which treats the imagery of bonds and bondage (social, religious, legal, cosmic and existential), also the promise of liberation from them.8 Vast in its scope, exquisite in its philological detail, and awesome for its nuanced readings of sources, it is widely – and rightly – regarded as the finest book ever devoted to the religion of the Indo-European-speaking peoples." Güntert's research on Indo-European religion has had a strong influence on the later work of Georges Dumézil,

Mircea Eliade Mircea Eliade (; – April 22, 1986) was a Romanian historian of religion, fiction writer, philosopher, and professor at the University of Chicago. He was a leading interpreter of religious experience, who established paradigms in religiou ...

, Herman Lommel and other scholars.

Personal life

Güntert married Gisela Wachenfeld in 1923.

Selected works

*''Zur Geschichte der griechischen Gradationsbildungen'', 1909 *''Über Reimwortbildungen im Arischen und Altgriechischen'', 1914 *''Indogermanische Ablautprobleme. Untersuchungen über Schwa secundum, einen zweiten indogermanischen Murmelvokal'', 1916 *''Kalypso. Bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der indogermanischen Sprachen'', 1919 *''Von der Sprache der Götter und Geister. Bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zur homerischen und eddischen Göttersprache'', 1921 *''Der arische Weltkönig und Heiland. Bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen zur indo-iranischen Religionsgeschichte und Altertumskunde'', 1923 *''Grundfragen der Sprachwissenschaft'', 1925 *''Zur Frage nach der Urheimat der Indogermanen'', 1930 *''Labyrinth. Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Untersuchung'', 1932 *''Am Nornenquell (Gedichte)'', 1933 *''Der Ursprung der Germanen'', 1934 *''Das faustische Wesen des germanischen Menschen'', 1934 *''Das germanische Erbe in der deutschen Seele'', 1934 * ''Runen, Runenbrauch und Runeninschriften der Germanen'', 1934 *''Altgermanischer Glaube nach Wesen und Grundlage'', 1937 * ''Geschichte der germanischen Völkerschaften'', 1943

References

Sources

* Wolf H. Goegginger: ''Hermann Güntert als Religionsforscher''. ''

Numen Numen (plural numina) is a Latin term for " divinity", "divine presence", or "divine will." The Latin authors defined it as follows:For a more extensive account, refer to Cicero writes of a "divine mind" (''divina mens''), a god "whose numen eve ...

'' 1967, pp. 150–158. * *

Manfred Mayrhofer Manfred Mayrhofer (26 September 1926 – 31 October 2011) was an Austrian Indo-Europeanist who specialized in Indo-Iranian languages. Mayrhofer served as professor emeritus at the University of Vienna. He is noted for his etymological dictionar ...