Wolfgang Friedrich-Karl Lange (29 June 1915 – 29 July 1984) was a German philologist who specialized 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 ...

Biography

Wolfgang Lange was born in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern 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 Jutland ...

, Germany on 29 June 1915. After gaining his abitur in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

in 1934, Lange did labor service in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. Since 1935, Lange studied German, history, philosophy, anthropology, music and art at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

. At Kiel, Lange came under the influence of

Otto Höfler Otto Eduard Gotfried Ernst Höfler (10 May 1901 – 25 August 1987) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. A student of Rudolf Much, Höfler was Professor and Chair of German Language and Old German Literature at the Uni ...

, who inspired himself to specialize in

, particularly Old Norse studies. In 1939, Lange accompanied Höfler to the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he gained his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

under the supervision Höfler with a thesis on

dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

in early Germanic literature. Lange served as an officer in the Wehrmacht throughout

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was imprisoned at the end of the war, and was a slave laborer in a Polish mine until 1949. Lange's enslavement interrupted his academic career and left him in permanently poor health. Upon the recommendation of

Wolfgang Krause Wolfgang Krause (18 September 1895, Steglitz – 14 August 1970, Göttingen) was a German philologist and linguist. A professor at the University of Göttingen for many years, Krause specialized in comparative linguistics, and was an authority on ...

, Lange was in 1950 made an assistant of at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vo ...

. At Hamburg, Lange came under the influence of Hans Kuhn, who had a strong influence on him. Upon the recommendation of Krause and Eduard Neumann, Lange habilitated at Kiel in 1955 with a thesis on Christian

Skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...

. The thesis was printed in 1956, and became a standard work on the subject. Lange joined the faculty of 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 ...

in 1956, where he in 1963 was appointed a professor. After the retirement of Krause in 1964, Lange was appointed Director of the Scandinavian Seminar at the University of Göttingen. Lange became known as one of Germany's foremost authorities in the study of Germanic Antiquity. His strongest expertise was in early Germanic literature, especially

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 ...

. In the 1960s he worked with

Herbert Jankuhn Herbert Jankuhn (8 August 1905 – 30 April 1990) was a German archaeologist of Prussian Lithuanian heritage who specialized in the archaeology of Germanic peoples. He is best known for his excavations at the Viking Age site of Hedeby, and for h ...

and on the third edition of

Rudolf Much Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian who specialized in Germanic studies. Much was Professor and Chair of Germanic Linguistic History and Germanic Antiquity at the University of Vienna, dur ...

's commentary on '' Germania''. Lange's assistant

Klaus Düwel Klaus Düwel (10 December 1935 – 31 December 2020) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. A professor at the University of Göttingen, he was recognized as one of the world's leading experts on Germanic Antiquity. Biogra ...

was also involved in this work. Lange was also interested in modern

Scandinavian literature Scandinavian literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, and Scandinavia's assoc ...

, such as the works of

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, Point of view ...

. The health issues rising from Lange's years a slave laborer worsened as he became older, and Lange retired prematurely from Göttingen in 1977. He continued to be continued to his field of study, both as a writer and researcher, and as the editor of the journal ''Skandinavistik''. Lange died in Göttingen on 29 July 1984.

Sources

* Klaus Düwel: ''Wolfgang Lange.'' In: Christoph König (Hrsg.), unter Mitarbeit von Birgit Wägenbaur u. a.: '' Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800–1950.'' Band 2: ''H–Q.'' De Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2003, , S. 1053–1054
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de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

Online). * Fritz Paul: ''Wolfgang Lange (1915–1984) in memoriam.'' In: ''Skandinavistik'' 15, 2 (1985), S. 157–160. 1915 births 1984 deaths German philologists Germanic studies scholars Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Old Norse studies scholars Academic staff of the University of Göttingen University of Kiel alumni Academic staff of the University of Kiel 20th-century philologists {{Germany-linguist-stub