Klara Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt (born 9 February 1886 in Gröditz; died 24 August 1964 in Leipzig) was a German medievalist, professor of German philology at the University of Leipzig and head of the effort to publish the ''Old High German Dictionary''.

Biography

Karg-Gasterstädt was the daughter of Karl Gasterstädt, a factory director from

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

, and his wife, Sophie, née Schönleber. Klara attended a teachers' college in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

from 1909 to 1912, and after graduation she was allowed to teach middle and higher grades. From there she went on to work as a substitute teacher at the Königin-Katharina-Stift, and then became a full-time teacher at the Prieser Higher Girls' School. Starting in 1914, she studied German, English and Romance classics for two semesters at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (; ), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellenc ...

, and from 1915 to 1918 she studied old German languages from

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

professor

Eduard Sievers Eduard Sievers (; 25 November 1850 – 30 March 1932) was a German philologist of the classical and Germanic languages. Sievers was one of the '' Junggrammatiker'' of the so-called "Leipzig School". He was one of the most influential historical ...

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

In 1918, Karg-Gasterstädt was employed as a librarian at the German Institute of the University of Leipzig and received her Ph.D. there in 1920 with a dissertation titled, ''On the History of the Origins of

Parzival ''Parzival'' () is a medieval chivalric romance by the poet and knight Wolfram von Eschenbach in Middle High German. The poem, commonly dated to the first quarter of the 13th century, centers on the Arthurian hero Parzival (Percival in English) ...

'', which proposes "four different sound types" in the ancient

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

text written by knight-poet

Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...

. She started work on her

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

thesis for a postdoctoral degree but she abandoned that effort for reasons of time and health. With her doctorate in hand, she worked as a research assistant at the German Institute. In 1930, she was named a member of the Saxon Examination Commission for Higher Education. In 1932, working with collaborator Theodor Frings, she published works about the history of the German language and literature. She married the German

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 strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

professor Fritz Karg in 1922, but 1933, she was forced to leave her position at the university because of a ban on double incomes for married couples. After her divorce in 1934 (when her husband was convicted of fraud), she was named head of the Old High German Dictionary and contributed to the author's

lexicon A lexicon (plural: lexicons, rarely lexica) is the vocabulary of a language or branch of knowledge (such as nautical or medical). In linguistics, a lexicon is a language's inventory of lexemes. The word ''lexicon'' derives from Greek word () ...

, ''Die deutsche Literatur des Mittelalters'' (''The German Literature of the Middle Ages'').

Retirement years

In 1955, she retired from academic life and was elected a full member of the Saxon Academy of Sciences. On the occasion of her 75th birthday, the apolitical scholar was honored with the

Patriotic Order of Merit The Patriotic Order of Merit (German: ''Vaterländischer Verdienstorden'', or VVO) was a national award granted annually in the German Democratic Republic (GDR). It was founded in 1954 and was awarded to individuals and institutions for outstanding ...

of the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

in silver. Until her death on 24 August 1964 in Leipzig, Karg-Gasterstädt continued her efforts to improve the ''Old High German Dictionary''.

Selected works

* Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. ''On the origins of Parzival''. M. Niemeyer, Halle / Saale 1925. *Frings, Theodor, and Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt. ''

, born in Lippoldsberg ad Weser on 25 November 1850, died in Leipzig on 30 March 1932''. Teubner, 1933. *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. "FROM THE WORKSHOP OF THE OLD GERMAN DICTIONARY." ''Contributions to the History of German Language and Literature (PBB)'' 1938.62 (1938): 55-59. *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. "TO THE GLOSSES OF REICHENAUER MANUSCRIPT Rc (CARLSR. AUG. CCXX)." ''Contributions to the History of German Language and Literature (PBB)'' 1938.62 (1938): 454-456. *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth "ADDENDUMS TO THE OLD HIGH GERMAN GLOSSEN." ''Contributions to the history of the German language and literature (PBB)'' 1940.64 (1940): 263-271. *Frings, Theodor, Rudolf Große, Elisabeth Karg-Gasterstädt, Elias von Steinmeyer, and Siegfried Blum. ''Old High German dictionary''. Akademie-Verlag, 1952. *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. "Old High German thing — New High German thing." ''The story of a word, Berlin'' (1958). *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. "Eberhard Gottlieb Graff." ''New German biography, published by the historical commission at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences'' (1964): 730-731. *Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth. ''Old High German dictionary: on the basis of the collections left by Elias von Steinmeyer on behalf of the Saxon Academy of Sciences in Leipzig''. Vol. 2. Akademie-Verlag, 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karg-Gasterstädt, Elisabeth 1886 births 1964 deaths People from Gröditz 20th-century German educators Linguists from Germany German women editors 20th-century German philologists German women linguists Leipzig University alumni Academic staff of Leipzig University Recipients of the Patriotic Order of Merit in silver German women medievalists