Kurt Ranke (14 April 1908 – 6 June 1985) was a German ethnologist who specialized in the study of

fairy tales A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...

Biography

Kurt Ranke was born in

Blankenburg Blankenburg may refer to: Places * Blankenburg am Harz, a German town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt * Blankenburg Castle (Harz), the castle in Blankenburg am Harz (see above) * Bad Blankenburg, a German town in the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt dis ...

, Germany on 14 April 1908. His father was a postal inspector. Growing up in

Essen Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and D ...

, Ranke studied

Germanistics The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

ethnology Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...

and history at the universities of

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

from 1927 to 1930. Ranke subsequently transferred to 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 ...

, where he in 1933 gained a PhD on

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic (paranormal), magic, incantation, enchantments, and mythical ...

s under the supervision of Karl Wesle. 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 ...

comparative religion Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts (including migration) of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yie ...

, ethnology and ancient history in 1938 at Kiel under the supervision of Wesle. His habilitation thesis centered on the cult of the dead in

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 � ...

. After gaining his habilitation, Ranke lectured at Kiel on ethnology and ancient history, but was drafted into the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

during

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 ...

. In 1951 he resumed lecturing at Kiel. He began publishing the '' Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' in 1957, and founded the journal '' Fabula'' in 1958, of which he served as editor. In 1958 he was appointed an associate professor at Kiel. Ranke co-founded the International Society for Folk Narrative Research in 1959, serving as its first President, and appointed its Honorary President in 1974. In 1960, Ranke succeeded

Will Erich Peuckert Will-Erich Peuckert (11 May 1895 – 25 October 1969) was a German folklorist. Life Peuckert was born in Töppendorf in Lower Silesia on May 1, 1895. He studied History and ''Volkskunde'' at the University of Breslau, where he delivered his diss ...

as Professor and Chair of Ethnology at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

. Ranke played a leading role in the publishing of the second edition of the ''

Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde ''Germanische Altertumskunde Online'', formerly called ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', is a German encyclopedia of the study of Germanic history and cultures, as well as the cultures that were in close contact with them. The first ...

'', and was a co-editor of several of its volumes. He was also an editor of '' Folklore Fellows’ Communications''. Ranke retired from the University of Göttingen in 1973. He was elected a Member of the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (german: Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen)Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the second oldest of the se ...

in 1977. He died in Stadensen, West Germany on 6 June 1985.

Selected works

* ''Die zwei Brüder. Eine Studie zur vergleichenden Märchenforschung'', 1934 * ''Indogermanische Totenverehrung'', 1951 * ''Schleswig-holsteinische Volksmärchen'', 1955-1962 * ''Die Welt der einfachen Formen'', 1978

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Sources

Further reading