The ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'' (commonly abbreviated ''ZfdA'') is a quarterly

peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

academic journal An academic journal or scholarly journal is a periodical publication in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as permanent and transparent forums for the presentation, scrutiny, and d ...

in the field of

German studies 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 ...

with emphasis on the older periods. It was established in 1841 and is the oldest periodical in early

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 ...

still publishing.

History

The journal was established in 1841 by

Moriz Haupt Moriz or Moritz Haupt (27 July 1808 – 5 February 1874), was a German philologist. Biography He was born at Zittau, Lusatia, Kingdom of Saxony, Saxony. His early education was mainly conducted by his father, Ernst Friedrich Haupt, burgomaster o ...

as the ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum'' (older spelling) with the objective of applying the same rigour to the

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

and textual criticism of medieval German texts as was already current with Greek and Latin. With volume 13 (1867) the ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum'' began a new series (german: Neue Folge). Kurt Ruh
"Kleine Chronik der Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur"
''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'' 100 (1971) 163–65, p. 163 In 1876, with volume 19 (New Series 7) its name was changed to the present ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'' and a supplement, the ''Anzeiger'', began publication as a journal of reviews; this sometimes overshadowed the parent journal.Ruh, "Chronik", p. 164. The journal has appeared in quarterly issues since 1931. It was originally published by the

Weidmannsche Buchhandlung Weidmannsche Buchhandlung is a German book publisher established in 1680 that remained independent until it was acquired by Verlag Georg Olms in 1983. History Weidmannsche Buchhandlung was established in 1680 in Frankfurt by Moritz Georg Weid ...

, first in

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 ...

, from 1856 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 ...

. With the third issue of volume 82 (1948/50),

Franz Steiner Verlag Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH is a German academic publishing house, with headquarters in Stuttgart. Founded in 1949 in Wiesbaden, its specialty is history, although it also publishes works in geography, philosophy, law, and musicology. Journals pu ...

took over publication.Ruh, "Chronik", p. 165. The current publisher is S. Hirzel Verlag. Since volume 140 (2011) the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

has been

Jürgen Wolf Jürgen Wolf (born 9 November 1952) is a German former cross-country skier. He competed in the men's 15 kilometre event at the 1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games (german: XII. O ...

(

University of Marburg The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...

). Joachim Heinzle, "Mitteilung des Herausgebers", ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'' 139 (2010), p. 417
pdf

Editors

* 1841 – 1874:

(only 16 volumes appeared) * 1874 – 1883:

Karl Müllenhoff Karl Viktor Müllenhoff (born September 8, 1818, in Marne, Duchy of Holstein; died February 19, 1884, in Berlin) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography He was born in Marne, Holstein as the second son of merchan ...

and Elias von Steinmeyer * 1874 – 1890: Elias von Steinmeyer * 1891 – 1926: Gustav Roethe and

Edward Schröder Edward Schröder (18 May 1858 – 9 February 1942) was a Germanist and mediaevalist who was a professor at the University of Göttingen and published editions of numerous texts. Life and career Born in Witzenhausen and educated in Kassel, Sch ...

* 1926 – 1931: Edward Schröder * 1932 – 1938: Edward Schröder and

Arthur Hübner Arthur Hübner (17 September 1885, Neudamm – 9 March 1937, Berlin) was a German philologist. He specialized in research of German literature from the Middle Ages (folk songs and folk tales, study of dialects, etc.). From 1904 to 1909, he st ...

* 1939 – 1955: Julius Schwietering * 1956 – 1963: Julius Schwietering and

Friedrich Ohly Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

* 1963 – 1969: Friedrich Ohly * 1969 – 1985: Kurt Ruh * 1986 – 1997: Franz Josef Worstbrock * 1998 – 2010: Joachim Heinzle * 2011 – present:

Editorial philosophy

Haupt wrote a statement of purpose in the first issue in which he set out the journal's range: "the literature, language, customs, legal history ndbelief of German antiquity". The major focus from the beginning was publishing editions of

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; german: Mittelhochdeutsch (Mhd.)) is the term for the form of German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High German and into Early New High German. High ...

works, which were presented for the most part for an academic readership, without explanatory material.Uwe Meves, "Die Entstehung und frühe Entwicklung der Germanischen Philologie", in ''History of the language sciences: an international handbook on the evolution of the study of language from the beginning to the present/Geschichte der Sprachwissenschaften: ein internationales Handbuch zur Entwicklung der Sprachforschung von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart/Histoire des sciences du langage: manuel international sur l'évolution de l'étude du langage des origines à nos jours'', ed. Sylvain Auroux ''et al''., Volume 2, Handbücher zur Sprache- und Kommunikationswissenschaft 18.2, Berlin: de Gruyter, 2001, , pp. 1286–93
p. 1260
/ref> The journal "quickly became the most important academic forum for the 'Berlin school'". In reaction to the narrowness of its approach, a quarterly named ''

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north- ...

'' was founded by

Franz Pfeiffer Franz Pfeiffer (February 27, 1815 – May 29, 1868), was a Swiss literary scholar who worked in Germany and Austria. Biography Franz Pfeiffer was born in Solothurn as a Bürger (citizen) of Bettlach. After studying at the University of Munich he ...

in 1856, with the objective of reflecting the broader approach 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 ...

and of classical philology and of therefore laying a greater emphasis on articles than editions. The foundation of the '' Zeitschrift für deutsche Philologie'' in 1868 was also a reaction to the ''ZfdAs restricted focus, in its case intended to supplement it. For at least a century, this emphasis on philology and relatively few changes of editor left the ''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'' largely untouched by changes in opinion in the field. Until the end of World War II, the editor was traditionally the Chairman of the Faculty of ''Germanistik'' 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 ...

. It was a relatively impersonal publication, sometimes accused of arrogance, and did not even include death notices for many decades.Ruh, "Zum hundertsten Jahrgang", p. 3.

References

External links

*
''Zeitschrift für deutsches Alterthum'', volume 1 (1841) – New Series volume 6 (volume 18, 1875)
online at DigiZeitschriften
''Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur'', New Series volume 7 (volume 19, 1876) – volume 136 (2007)
online at DigiZeitschriften {{DEFAULTSORT:Zeitschrift fur deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur Quarterly journals Cultural journals Publications established in 1841 German-language journals Germanic philology journals