Otto Gschwantler (13 April 1930 – 31 October 2016) was an Austrian philologist who was head of the Institute for

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 ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

. He specialized in the study of

early Germanic literature Early Germanic culture refers to the culture of the early Germanic peoples. Largely derived from a synthesis of Proto-Indo-European and indigenous Northern European elements, the Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture that de ...

Biography

Otto Gschwantler was born in

Brixen im Thale Brixen im Thale is a municipality situated at the highest point of the Brixental valley in the Austrian state of Tyrol. Every year on the Feast of Corpus Christi, the village celebrates the traditional ''Antlassritt''. It is also the birthplace ...

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

, Austria, on 13 April 1930. His father was a shoemaker. Initially trained as a shoemaker by his father, Gschwantler studied at

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 ...

under

Otto Höfler Otto Eduard Gotfried Ernst Höfler (10 May 1901 – 25 August 1987) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. A student of Rudolf Much, Höfler was Professor and Chair of German Language and Old German Literature at the Univ ...

. Gschwantler became a close assistant of Höfler, whom he accompanied to the

in 1957. At Vienna, Gschwantler gained his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

with a thesis on

. For this thesis he was awarded the

Sub auspiciis Praesidentis (Latin for ''Doctoral graduation under the auspices of the Federal President''), often abbreviated as doctoral graduation (German: ), is a special form of doctoral graduation and the highest possible distinction for academic achievements for a ...

by President

Adolf Schärf Adolf Schärf (; 20 April 1890 – 28 February 1965) was an Austrian politician of the Socialist Party of Austria (SPÖ). He served as Vice-Chancellor from 1945 to 1957 and as President of Austria from 1957 until his death. Life Schärf was bor ...

, which is the highest possible distinction for academic achievements in Austria. Gschwantler was known for his humility. 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 ...

under the supervision of Höfler in 1971 with a thesis on

Germanic philology 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 ...

. Along with

Helmut Birkhan Helmut Birkhan (born 1 February 1938) is an Austrian philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Ancient German Language and Literature and the former Managing Director of the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna. Having stud ...

and

Peter Wiesinger Peter Wiesinger (born 15 May 1938) is an Austrian philologist who specializes in Germanic studies. Biography Peter Wiesinger was born in Vienna, Austria on 15 May 1938. He received his PhD at the University of Vienna, was subsequently a researc ...

, Gschwantler belonged to the circle of Höfler's closest students, who jokingly called themselves the "Drachenrunde" ("dragon club"). Gschwantler was a specialist on the

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poem ...

runology Runology is the study of the Runic alphabets, Runic inscriptions and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. History Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was very interested in the lingu ...

, early Germanic literature and the

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

of 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 ear ...

. Gschwantler led the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna until 1996. In 1992, after a long effort, Gschwantler succeeded in establishing

Scandinavian Studies 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 ...

as a distinct study at the University. He eventually retired as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

, but continued to teach and research, particularly on his native

Southern Bavarian Southern Bavarian or South Bavarian, is a cluster of Upper German dialects of the Bavarian group. They are primarily spoken in Tyrol (i.e. the Austrian federal state of Tyrol and the Italian province of South Tyrol), in Carinthia and in the west ...

dialect. Gschwantler was a devout

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 lette ...

and actively engaged in

mountain sport A mountain sport or Alpine sport is one of several types of sport that take place in hilly or mountainous terrain. All these sports require special equipment, carry a higher level of risk and require specialised training before they can be underta ...

s. He contracted

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in his later life after a traffic accident, and was for many years admirably cared for by his beloved wife Gertraud. Gschwantler died in Vienna on 31 October 2016 at the age of 86.

Selected works

* ''Christus, Thor und die Midgardschlange.'' In: ''Festschrift für Otto Höfler zum 65. Geburtstag.'' Hrsg. Helmut Birkhan und Otto Gschwantler. Bd. I, Wien 1968, S. 145–168. * ''Versöhnung als Thema einer heroischen Sage.'' In: ''Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur (West) 97'' (1975), S. 230–262. * ''Die Heldensage von Alboin und Rosimund.'' In: ''Festgabe für Otto Höfler zum 75. Geburtstag.'' Hrsg. Helmut Birkhan. Wien, Stuttgart 1976 ''(= Philologica Germanica 3)'', S. 214–254. * ''Formen langobardischer mündlicher Überlieferung.'' In: ''Jahrbuch für Internationale Germanistik 11'' (1979), S. 58–85. * ''Älteste Gattungen germanischer Dichtung.'' In: ''Neues Handbuch der Literaturwissenschaft, Bd.6. Europäisches Frühmittelalter.'' Hgrs. Klaus von See. Wiesbaden 1985, S. 91–123. * ''Zeugnisse zur Dietrichsage in der Historiographie von 1100 bis gegen 1350.'' In: ''Heldensage und Heldendichtung im Germanischen''. Hrsg. Heinrich Beck. Berlin/New York 1988 ''(= Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 2)'', S. 35–80. * ''Heldensage als Tragoedia. In: 2. Pöchlarner Heldenliedgespräch. Die historische Dietrichepik.'' Hrsg.: Klaus Zatloukal. ''(= Philologica Germanica 13)''. Wien 1992, S. 39–67. * ''Runeninschriften als Quelle der Frömmigkeitsgeschichte''. In: ''Runeninschriften als Quellen interdisziplinärer Forschung.'' In Zusammenarbeit mit Sean Nowak, Hrsg. Klaus Düwel. Berlin / New York 1998 ''(= Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 15),'' S. 738–765. * Vollständige Bibliographie der wissenschaftlichen Schriften in: ''Otto Gschwantler, Heldensage und Bekehrungsgeschichte. Gesammelte Aufsätze zur germanischen Heldensage in der Historiographie des Mittelalters und zur Bekehrungsgeschichte Skandinaviens.'' Hrsg. Rudolf Simek, Wien 2010, S. 507–511.

References

Sources

* * * 1930 births 2016 deaths Austrian non-fiction writers Austrian philologists Neurological disease deaths in Austria Deaths from Parkinson's disease Germanists Germanic studies scholars Knights of the Order of the Falcon Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Old Norse studies scholars People from Tyrol (state) Runologists Scandinavian studies scholars University of Vienna alumni Academics of the University of Vienna {{Austria-linguist-stub

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Sources