Rolf Wilhelm Brednich (born February 1935 in

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

) is a German Europeanist ethnologist and ethnographer (''Volkskundler'') and folklorist.

Biography

Brednich studied ''Volkskunde'',

German studies 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 ...

, history, and

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 the ...

at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

and

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

, in Germany, getting his doctorate from the latter with a dissertation entitled ''Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen''. Between 1963 and 1980 he was the leader of the

Deutsches Volksliedarchiv The Deutsche Volksliedarchiv, a research institute for Volkslied (folk song) in German, was founded in 1914 and was integrated into the University of Freiburg in 2014, now called Zentrum für Populäre Kultur und Musik (Centre of popular culture ...

in Freiburg. From 1965 through 1974 he was head of the commission for song, music and dance research within the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde. From 1969 und 1881, he taught at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisg ...

, receiving 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 ...

in 1973 with his ''Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts''. In 1975 Brednich edited the ''Volkskunde-Bibliographie''. In 1982 he became editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of the Folktale and co-editor of the journal ''Fabula''. Between 1983 and 1999 he was head of the ''Volkskundliche Kommission für Niedersachsen e.V.'' and from 1991 through 1999 head of the ''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde e.V.''. In 2000 he was designated ''Senior Honorary Research Fellow'' at ''Stout Centre'' of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well know ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Since 2005 he has been Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the ''School of Social and Cultural Studies'' at that university. He has carried out research in Germany,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and New Zealand. Among the general German-speaking public, he made his name with collections of

urban legends An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

, starting with ''Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme''.

Preise und Auszeichnungen

* 2004 -

Brüder-Grimm-Preis der Philipps-Universität Marburg Brothers Grimm Prize of the University of Marburg is a literary prize of Hesse. Winners * 1943 Karl Helm * 1950 Georg Baeseke * 1952 Erik Rooth * 1954 Hermann Teuchert * 1957 Gesenius G. Kloeke * 1959 Luis Hammerich * 1961 Emil Öhmann * 19 ...

Selected works

*''Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen.'' Helsinki 1964 *''Die Ebermannstädter Liederhandschrift.'' Kulmbach 1972 *''Handbuch des Volksliedes.'' with

Lutz Röhrich Lutz Röhrich (9 October 1922 – 29 December 2006) was a German folklorist and scholar studying topics relating to literature, oral stories, and similar types of media. He enjoyed a long and prestigious career, starting as a professor at the Phil ...

and Wolfgang Suppan, 2 volumes; Munich 1973/1975 *''Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts.'' 2 volumes; Baden-Baden 1974-75. *''Die Darfelder Liederhandschrift 1546-1565.'' Münster 1976. *''Mennonite Folklore and Folklife''. Ottawa 1977. *''Deutsche Comics.'' Freiburg/Breisgau 1979. *''The Bible and the Plough. The Lives of a Hutterite Minister and a Mennonite Farmer''. Ottawa 1981. *''Die Brüder Grimm in Göttingen 1829-1837.'' Göttingen 1986. *''Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme.'' Munich 1990. *''Die Maus im Jumbo-Jet.'' Munich 1991. *''Das Huhn mit dem Gipsbein.'' Munich 1993. *''Sagenhafte Geschichten von heute.'' München 1994. *''Die Ratte am Strohhalm.'' Munich 1996. *''Denkmale der Freundschaft.'' Göttinger Stammbuchkupfer - Quellen der Kulturgeschichte. Niedernjesa 1997. *''Die Hutterer.'' Freiburg i. Br. 1998 *''Grundriß der Volkskunde.'' Berlin 2001. *''Pinguine in Rückenlage'' Munich 2004. *''www.worldwidewitz.com. Humor im Cyberspace. Freiburg / Basel /Wien 2005. *''Neuseeland macht Spaß.'' MANA-Verlag, Berlin 2007. *''Tie und Anger. Historische Dorfplätze in Niedersachsen, Thüringen, Hessen und Franken''. Friedland 2009. *''Erzählkultur. Beiträge zur kulturwissenschaftichen Erzählforschung''. Berlin / New York 2009. *''Augustus Koch - Mapmaker. The Life and Work of Augustus Koch (1834-1901): Artist, Designer, Draughtsman and Cartographier (with a contribution by Sascha Nolden)''. Wellington 2015 *''Überlieferunsgeschichten. Paradigmata volkskundlicher Kulturforschung''. Berlin/Boston 2015. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brednich, Rolf Wilhelm 1935 births Living people German ethnologists German ethnographers German folklorists Victoria University of Wellington faculty People from Worms, Germany People from Rhenish Hesse German male non-fiction writers