Wilhelm Heizmann (born 5 September 1953) is a German philologist who is Professor and Chair of the Institute for

Nordic Philology 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 ...

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 ...

. Heizmann specializes in

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 te ...

, and is a co-editor of the ''

Germanische Altertumskunde Online ''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 ...

''.

Biography

Wilhelm Heizmann was born in Eggenfelden, Germany on 5 September 1953. From 1974 to 1981, Heizmann studied

German philology 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 ...

, ancient and medieval history,

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, social, or sociocultural anthropology). ...

Nordic philology 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 ...

and Germanic Antiquity at the

and 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 hist ...

. He received his MA at Munich. From 1981 to 1982, Heizmann studied at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. With funding from the

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation. Organisation ''DAAD'' is a ...

, Heizmann subsequently stayed for two years as a researcher at the

Arnamagnæan Institute The Arnamagnæan Institute ( da, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, formerly ''Det Arnamagnæanske Institut'') is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, th ...

at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

, during which he also conducted research at

Reykjavík University Reykjavík University (RU; is, Háskólinn í Reykjavík) is the largest private university in Iceland with approximately 3,300 students (October 2020). It is chartered by the Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Icelandic Industries, and the ...

. He held a scholarship at the Studienstiftung from 1983 to 1984. From 1984 to 1993, Heizmann was a research assistant at the Scandinavian Seminar 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 ...

. He earned a PhD at the University of Munich in 1987, and completed his habilitation at Göttingen in 1994. Since 1994, Heizmann taught at the University of Göttingen, where he was appointed an associate professor in 1999. From 2000 to 2001, Heizman was a visiting professor at the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna. Since 2002, Heizmann has been Professor and Chair of the Institute for Nordic Philology at the University of Munich. He was appointed a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Brothers Grimm Society in 2002, an honorary professor at the University of Göttingen in 2004, and a corresponding 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 2009. Heizmann specializes in

. He researches and teaches

Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...

and

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narra ...

(including

Old Norse religion Old Norse religion, also known as Norse paganism, is the most common name for a branch of Germanic religion which developed during the Proto-Norse period, when the North Germanic peoples separated into a distinct branch of the Germanic peopl ...

and

Old Norse literature Old Norse literature refers to the vernacular literature of the Scandinavian peoples up to c. 1350. It chiefly consists of Icelandic writings. In Britain From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colon ...

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 ling ...

, as well as the scientific works of the

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859), were a brother duo of German academics, philologists, cultural researchers, lexicographers, and authors who together collected and published folklore. They are among the ...

. He is Co-Editor of ''

''.

Selected works

* ''Wörterbuch der Pflanzennamen im Altwestnordischen'', 1993 * ''Bilddenkmäler zur germanischen Götter- und Heldensage'', 2015

Sources

* 1944 births Alumni of the University of London Alumni of the University of Oxford German editors German male non-fiction writers German philologists Germanists Germanic studies scholars Living people Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich faculty Old Norse studies scholars Reykjavík University alumni Runologists Scandinavian studies scholars University of Copenhagen alumni University of Göttingen alumni University of Göttingen faculty University of Vienna alumni Academics of the University of Vienna Writers on Germanic paganism {{Philologist-stub

Biography

Selected works

See also

Sources