Hans Kuhn (13 July 1899 – 8 October 1988) 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 te ...

. He was Professor of

Nordic philology Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining to ...

at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

Biography

Hans Kuhn was born in

Minden Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the greatest town between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district (''Kreis'') of Minden-Lübbecke, which is part of the region of Detm ...

, Germany on 13 July 1899. After gaining his PhD, Kuhn initially worked as a high school teacher. He completed his

habilitation 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 ...

under the supervision of

Karl Helm Karl Helm (full name Karl Hermann Georg Helm, born 19 May 1871 in Karlsruhe, died 9 September 1960 in Marburg) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies Biography Karl Helm was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on 19 May 1871. He stud ...

in 1931 at the

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

, where he subsequently lectured for several years. Kuhn was a professor 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 ...

from 1938 to 1941, and a professor at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

from 1941 to 1946. He was elected a Member of the

Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...

in 1943. From 1946 to 1964, Kuhn was Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Kiel. In 1959, Kuhn gained much attention for his proposal that there existed a

Nordwestblock The Nordwestblock (German, "Northwest Block") is a hypothetical Northwestern European cultural region that some scholars propose as a prehistoric culture in the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, northern France, and northwestern Germany, in an a ...

in the area around the lower

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

, which was neither

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

or Germanic. He was also the author of numerous works on

Old Norse literature Old Norse literature refers to the vernacular literature of the Scandinavian peoples up to c. 1350. It chiefly consists of Icelandic writings. In Britain From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colon ...

. Prominent students of Kuhn at the University of Kiel include Klaus von See and Dietrich Hofmann.

Selected works

* ''Das Füllwort of-um im Altwestnordischen'', 1929 * ''Island. Das Heimatland der Sagas'', 1935 * ''Vor- und frühgermanische Ortsnamen in Norddeutschland und den Niederlanden'', 1959 * (with Rolf Hachmann and Georg Kossack): ''Völker zwischen Germanen und Kelten'', 1962 * ''Grenzen vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Ortsnamentypen'', 1963 * ''Kleine Schriften'', 1969-1978 * ''Das alte Island'', 1971 * ''Das Dróttkvætt'', 1983 * ''Das altnordische Seekriegswesen'', 1991

Sources

Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie The ''Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'' (''DBE'') is a biographical dictionary published by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (from the third to fourth volume), the first edition of which was published from 1995 to 2003 in 13 volumes by K. ...

. Vol. 6: K. Saur, München 1997, . * Wolfgang Meid: Hans Kuhns „Nordwestblock“-Hypothese. Zur Problematik der „Völker zwischen Germanen und Kelten“. In: Heinrich Beck (Hrsg.): Germanenprobleme in heutiger Sicht. de Gruyter, Berlin u. a. 1986, , S. 183–212 * 1899 births 1988 deaths Etymologists German non-fiction writers German philologists Germanic studies scholars Germanists Humboldt University of Berlin faculty Linguists of Germanic languages Linguists from Germany Old Norse studies scholars People from Minden University of Basel alumni University of Marburg alumni University of Marburg faculty University of Kiel faculty Leipzig University faculty 20th-century linguists 20th-century non-fiction writers 20th-century philologists {{Germany-scientist-stub

Biography

Selected works

See also

Sources