Karl Viktor Müllenhoff (born September 8, 1818, in
Marne,
Duchy of Holstein; died February 19, 1884, in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
) was a German philologist who specialized in
Germanic studies.
Biography
He was born in
Marne,
Holstein as the second son of merchant Johann Anton Müllenhoff. In his youth, he received his education in the town of
Meldorf (1830–1837).
["Statement(s) based on translated text from an equivalent article at the German Wikipedia".] He later studied under
Gregor Wilhelm Nitzsch at the
University of Kiel, then continued his education at
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
(1839, under
Gottfried Hermann and
Moriz Haupt) and then in
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
(1839-1841), where his instructors included
Karl Lachmann and
Wilhelm Grimm. In 1841 he received his PhD at Kiel with a dissertation on
Sophocles
Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...
.
[biography]
@ NDB/ADB Deutsche Biographie
He taught classes in
German language
German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...
,
literature
Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
and
mythology
Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
at the University of Kiel, where in 1854 he became a full professor of German literature and
history
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
. Afterwards, he returned to Berlin as a professor of
German philology (1858-1884). In 1861 he became a member of the
Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Two of his well-known students in Berlin were
Wilhelm Scherer and
Elias von Steinmeyer.
[
In 1863 he introduced a theory involving the continuity of written language dating from the era of ]Old High German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
.[
From around 1875, he resided at Schellingstraße 7 ( Berlin-Tiergarten), a few years later, moving to a house on Lützowufer in the same district. He was buried in the Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof in Berlin-Schöneberg. In 1896, a thoroughfare called '' Müllenhoffstraße'' ( Berlin-Kreuzberg) was named in his honor.][
]
Publications
* ''Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg'', 1845 – Collection of sagas, fairy tales and songs from the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
* ''De Antiquissima Germanorum Poesi Chorica'', a treatise; cited as one of his greatest works (1847).
* ''Altdeutsche Sprachproben'', 1864 (4th edition, 1885. 5th edition, 1963).
* ''Denkmäler deutscher Poesie und Prosa aus dem 8. bis 12. Jahrhundert'', with Wilhelm Scherer (Berlin, 1864) – Monuments of German poetry and prose from the 8th-12th century.
* ''Deutsche Alterthumskunde'', left unfinished; cited as one of his greatest works (1870–99); five volumes.
** Vol. 1. ''Die Phoenizier. Pytheas von Massalia''.
** Vol. 2. ''Die Nord- und Ostnachbaren der Germanen. Die Gallier und Germanen''.
** Vol. 3. ''Der Ursprung der Germanen''.
** Vol. 4. ''Die Germania des Tacitus''.
** Vol. 5. ''Über die Voluspa. Über die ältere Edda''.WorldCat Identities
Most widely held works by K.Müllenhoff
Notes
References
*
*
Further reading
* Scherer and Schröder, ''Karl Müllenhoff'' (Berlin, 1896)
External links
*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullenhoff, Karl
1818 births
1884 deaths
People from Dithmarschen
German philologists
Germanic studies scholars
People from the Duchy of Holstein
University of Kiel alumni
Leipzig University alumni
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni
Academic staff of the University of Kiel
Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin