Wilhelm Wackernagel (23 April 1806,

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 ...

– 21 December 1869,

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

) was a German-Swiss

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

specializing 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 tex ...

. He was the father of

Indo-Europeanist 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 pro ...

Jacob Wackernagel Jacob Wackernagel (11 December 1853 – 22 May 1938) was a Swiss linguist, Indo-Europeanist and scholar of Sanskrit. He was born in Basel, son of the philologist Wilhelm Wackernagel (1806–1869). Biography Jacob Wackernagel was born on 11 ...

. He studied Classical and Germanic literature at the

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...

as a pupil of

August Boeckh August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named ''Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month in ...

and

Karl Lachmann Karl Konrad Friedrich Wilhelm Lachmann (; 4 March 1793 – 13 March 1851) was a German philologist and critic. He is particularly noted for his foundational contributions to the field of textual criticism. Biography Lachmann was born in Bruns ...

. In 1833 he moved to Basel, where from 1835 to 1869, he was a professor of

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

and literature at the

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

. While at Basel, he turned down offers for professorships in Berlin,

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

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

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

.A History of Poetics: German Scholarly Aesthetics and Poetics
by Sandra Richter

Works

He was considered the leading

Germanist 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 ...

after the death of

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...

in 1863. A number of Wackernagel's significant works were published posthumously. The following are some of his principal writings: * ''Geschichte des deutschen Hexameters und Pentameters bis auf Klopstock'', 1831 – History of German

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...

s and

pentameter Pentameter ( grc, πεντάμετρος, 'measuring five (feet)') is a poetic meter. А poem is said to be written in a particular pentameter when the lines of the poem have the length of five feet, where a 'foot' is a combination of a particular ...

s prior to

Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outsid ...

. * ''Gedichte Walthers von der Vogelweide'' (edited with

Karl Joseph Simrock Karl Joseph Simrock (28 August 1802 – 18 July 1876) was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of ''Das Nibelungenlied'' into modern German. Life He was born in Bonn, where his father was a music publisher. He s ...

) – Poetry of

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170c. 1230) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs (" Sprüche") in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundr ...

. * ''Deutsches Lesebuch'', 1835–1843 (3 volumes) – German

basal reader Basal readers are textbooks used to teach reading and associated skills to schoolchildren. Commonly called "reading books" or "readers" they are usually published as anthologies that combine previously published short stories, excerpts of longe ...

. * ''Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur : ein Handbuch'', 1848-1855 – History of German literature. * ''Die deutsche glasmalerei: Geschichtlicher entwurf mit belegen'', 1855 – German

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

; historical design. * ''Kleinere Schriften von Wilhelm Wackernagel'', 1872 – Smaller writings. * ''Poetik, Rhetorik und Stilistik: Academische Vorlesungen'', 1873 (edited by Ludwig Sieber) – Poetics, rhetoric and stylistics; Academic lectures. * ''Johann Fischart von Strassburg'', 1874 – monograph on

Johann Fischart Johann Baptist Fischart (c. 1545 – 1591) was a German satirist and publicist. Biography Fischart was born, probably, at Strasbourg (but according to some accounts at Mainz), in or about the year 1545, and was educated at Worms in the house of K ...

. * ''Altdeutsches handwörterbuch'', 1878 (edited by Maximilian Rieger) –

Old German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

dictionary. * ''Kleineres altdeutsches Lesebuch'', 1880 – Smaller Old German basal reader.Google Books
published works

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wackernagel, Wilhelm 1806 births 1869 deaths Writers from Berlin Swiss philologists Germanic studies scholars Linguists of Germanic languages Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Basel Linguists from Germany