Sigmund Feist (

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 ...

, 12 June 1865 -

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, 23 March 1943) was a

German Jew The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

ish pedagogue and historical linguist. He was the author of the

Germanic substrate hypothesis The Germanic substrate hypothesis attempts to explain the purportedly distinctive nature of the Germanic languages within the context of the Indo-European languages. Based on the elements of Common Germanic vocabulary and syntax which do not seem ...

as well as a number of important works concerning Jewish ethnic and racial identity. Feist served as the director of the Jewish Reichenheim Orphanage in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

from 1906 to 1935. In 1907 he became a member of the

Gesellschaft der Freunde ''Gemeinschaft'' () and ''Gesellschaft'' (), generally translated as "community and society", are categories which were used by the Germany, German Sociology, sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies in order to categorize social relation, social relationsh ...

society. Feist emigrated to

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in 1939 where he died four years later.

Correspondence with Jewish soldiers during World War I

As director of the Reichenheim Orphanage, Feist established and maintained close relationships with his wards, 77 of whom corresponded with him during their time of service in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The correspondence consists of 745 letters which Feist received between the years 1914 and 1918, and offers a glimpse into the lives of Jewish soldiers who served in World War I. Several of the soldiers who wrote the letters later went on to attain notoriety in academic circles, an example being

Hermann Teuchert Hermann August Teuchert (3 March 1880 − 13 January 1972) was a German historical linguist. Teuchert was born in Loppow (Neumark) In 1920 he was granted the newly created professorship for Low German Philology at the University of Rostock and s ...

. The collected correspondence has been archived in the

Centrum Judaicum The New Synagogue (german: Neue Synagoge) on Oranienburger Straße in Berlin is a mid-19th century synagogue built as the main place of worship for Berlin's Jewish community, succeeding the Old Synagogue which the community outgrew. Because ...

of the New Synagogue in Berlin since 1995. The letters were published as a collection in 2002.

Important works

Works in historical linguistics

* '' Einführung in das Gotische'' (1922) * '' Etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache'' (1923) * '' Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Gotischen Sprache mit Einschluss des Krimgotischen und sonstiger zerstreuter Überreste des Gotischen'' (1923) * '' Indogermanen und Germanen'' (1924) * '' Germanen und Kelten in der antiken Überlieferung'' (1925)

Works in Jewish history and ethnicity

* '' Stammeskunde der Juden. Die jüdischen Stämme der Erde in alter und neuer Zeit. Historisch-anthropologische Skizzen.'' (1925) * '' Die Ethnographie der Juden'' (with Lionel S. Reisz) (1926) * '' Rassenkunde des jüdischen Volkes'' (1930) * ''

Ein Zeitgenosse Alexander des Großen über die Juden Ein or EIN may refer to: Science and technology * Ein function, in mathematics * Endometrial intraepithelial neoplasia, a lesion of the uterine lining * Equivalent input noise, of a microphone * European Informatics Network, a 1970s computer netw ...

'' (?)

Referenced in

* Bibliography for Wulfila database: Feist, Sigmund. ''Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der Gotischen Sprache Mit Einschluss des Krimgotischen und sonstiger zerstreuter Überreste des Gotischen.'' Dritte neubearbeitete und vermehrte Auflage

E. J. Brill Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 275 ...

Leiden 1939 * ''An Analysis of *z loss in West Germanic''
"Studying the Jew"
* Listed in The

Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics The ''Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics'', first published in 1994 (edited by Ronald E. Asher), with a 2nd edition in 2006 (edited by Keith Brown), is an encyclopedia of all matters related to language and linguistics. Reception The ''Jo ...

The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics Electronic Index
at www1.elsevier.com

Related literature

* Römer, Ruth: ''Sigmund Feist und die Gesellschaft fuer deutsche Philologie in Berlin''. In: Muttersprache 103 (1993), 28-40 * Römer, Ruth: ''Sigmund Feist: Deutscher – Germanist – Jude''. In: Muttersprache 91 (1981), 249-308.

Notes

External links

U. Maas, Verfolgung und Auswanderung deutschsprachiger Sprachforscher 1933 - 1945, Vol. 1, Tübingen 2010, s. v. Feist, Si(e)gmund Samuel

Otto's encyclopedia

List of some available works

Review of ''Feldpostbriefe jüdischer Soldaten 1914 –1918''
by Prof. Dr.

Jörg Riecke Jörg or Joerg () is a German name, equivalent to George in English. * Jörg Bergmeister, German race car driver * Jörg Frischmann, German Paralympian athlete * Jörg Haider, Austrian politician * Jörg Andrees Elten (also Swami Satyananda), Germ ...

(German)
Review of ''Feldpostbriefe jüdischer Soldaten 1914 –1918''
by

Thea Koberstein Thea may refer to: * Thea (name), a given name * Ancient Greek term for goddess, including an alternative spelling of Theia * ''Thea'', the former name of the tea plant genus, now included in ''Camellia'' * Thea, a village in the municipal unit Mes ...

(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Feist, Sigmund 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers 19th-century linguists 20th-century linguists Linguists from Germany Historical linguists 20th-century German educators Jewish educators Judaic scholars Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Denmark Writers from Mainz 1865 births 1943 deaths People from Rhenish Hesse