Wilhelm Wisser (27 August 1843 in Klenzau (

Ostholstein Ostholstein (; da, Østholsten) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the southwest and clockwise) the districts of Stormarn, Segeberg and Plön, the Baltic Sea and the city of Lübeck. History The district was es ...

district) – 13 October 1935 in

Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to: Places *Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica *Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany **Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony *Olde ...

) was a German teacher and

dialectologist Dialectology (from Greek , ''dialektos'', "talk, dialect"; and , ''-logia'') is the scientific study of linguistic dialect, a sub-field of sociolinguistics. It studies variations in language based primarily on geographic distribution and their assoc ...

. He is remembered as a collector of

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

legends and fairy tales. He took classical studies at the Universities of

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

, obtaining his doctorate in 1869 with a thesis on the ancient poet

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a fe ...

, "''Quaestiones Tibullianae''". Beginning in 1877, he taught classes at the ''Mariengymnasium'' in

Jever Jever () is the capital of the district of Friesland in Lower Saxony, Germany. The name Jever is usually associated with a major brand of beer, Jever Pilsener, which is produced there. The city is also a popular holiday resort. Jever was granted c ...

. From 1887 to 1902, he was a senior instructor in

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Ostholstein, Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of 2020, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic origin. I ...

, afterwards teaching classes at the gymnasium in Oldenburg (1902–1908). Wilhelm Wisser Biographie + Literaturliste – T-Online
biography of Wisser Klenzau - Wilhelm-Wisser-Gedenkstein

While working as a schoolteacher in Eutin and Oldenburg, he compiled Low German fairy tales by conducting interviews with numerous individuals. From 1898 to 1909, he interviewed in the region between the cities of

Fehmarn Fehmarn (, da, Femern; from Old Wagrian Slavic "''Fe More''", meaning "''In the Sea''") is an island in the Baltic Sea, off the eastern coast of Germany's northernmost state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is Germany's third-largest island, after Rüg ...

and

Lübeck Lübeck (; Low German also ), officially the Hanseatic City of Lübeck (german: Hansestadt Lübeck), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 217,000 inhabitants, Lübeck is the second-largest city on the German Baltic coast and in the stat ...

, approximately 230 men and women, mostly elderly and rural persons, who still had recollections of the old tales. These stories were then edited and published by Wisser. Today he is commemorated by a thoroughfare in Lübeck, (''Wilhelm-Wisser-Weg'') and by a junior high school in Eutin (''Wilhelm-Wisser-Realschule'').

Selected works

* ''Wat Grotmoder vertellt : ostholsteinische Volksmärchen'', 1904 – "Wat Grotmoder vertellt". Ostholstein folk tales; Reprint 1921, 3 volumes. * ''Plattdeutsche Volksmärchen; Ausgabe für Erwachsene'', 1913–1922 – Low German folk tales; Issue for adults... * ''Auf der Märchensuche : die Entstehung meiner Märchensammlung'', 1926 – In the search for fairy tales; the development of my collection of fairy tales.de.Wikisource
Bibliography of Wisser

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wisser, Wilhelm 1843 births 1935 deaths University of Kiel alumni Leipzig University alumni People from Ostholstein Dialectologists German schoolteachers Collectors of fairy tales