Karl Krumbacher (23 September 1856 – 12 December 1909) was a German scholar who was an expert on

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

Greek

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

, history and culture. He was one of the principal founders of

Byzantine Studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman ...

as an independent academic discipline in modern universities. Krumbacher was born at Kürnach im Allgäu in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. He studied Classical Philology 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 pr ...

at the Universities of

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

and

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 ...

. In 1879 he passed the State Exam (Staatsexamen) and was thereafter active as a school teacher until 1891. In 1883 he gain his doctorate (Promotion) and in 1885 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 ...

in Medieval and Modern Greek philology. From 1897 he was professor of

Medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and

Modern Greek Language Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of th ...

and Literature at the

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 ...

and held the newly created Chair of Byzantine Studies, the first professorial chair in this subject in the world. Krumbacher founded the '' Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' (1892), the oldest academic journal of Byzantine Studies, and the ''Byzantinisches Archiv'' (1898). His collaborator at the time was Božidar Prokić, the renowned Belgrade Byzantinist. He died in

in 1909. His successor as Professor of Byzantine Studies was August Heisenberg, father of physicist

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a Über quantentheoretische Umdeutung kinematis ...

. His most important work is ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur von Justinian bis zum Ende des oströmischen Reiches (527-1453)'' (History of Byzantine Literature from

Justinian Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renova ...

to the Fall of the

East Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

) in 1891. A second edition was published in 1897, with the collaboration of Albert Ehrhard (section on

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

) and Heinrich Gelzer (general sketch of Byzantine history, AD 395–1453). The value of the work was greatly enhanced by its lengthy bibliographies and it remained a standard textbook for decades. Krumbacher's extensive travels in Greece and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

became the basis of his ''Griechische Reise'' (1886). His notable works include studies of the poetry of

Michael Glykas Michael Glykas or Glycas ( gr, Μιχαὴλ Γλυκᾶς) was a 12th-century Byzantine historian, theologian, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He was probably from Corfu and lived in Constantinople. He was a critic of Manuel I Komnenos, and was ...

(1894) and Kassia (1897) and ''Populäre Aufsätze'' (1900). In ''Das Problem der neugriechischen Schriftsprache'' (1902) he strongly opposed the efforts of the

Katharevousa Katharevousa ( el, Καθαρεύουσα, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contempor ...

purists to introduce the classical style into modern Greek language and literature. A full list of his works was published in the memorial edition of ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift''.''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 19 (1910) 700–708

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External links

* *
Themenportal bei Propylaeum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krumbacher, Karl 1856 births 1909 deaths German classical scholars German Lutherans Scholars of Medieval Greek Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences German Byzantinists 19th-century Lutherans Corresponding Fellows of the British Academy Scholars of Byzantine literature

See also

References

Further reading

External links