Otto Lauffer (20 February 1874 – 8 August 1949) was a
German folklorist
Folklore studies, less often known as folkloristics, and occasionally tradition studies or folk life studies in the United Kingdom, is the branch of anthropology devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currenc ...
and
cultural historian.
Life
Otto Lauffer was born in Weende (which is today is a district of
Göttingen) on 20 February 1874 and spent his childhood there, until 1886.
He studied German language and literature studies, history and art history in
Göttingen (enrolled on 22 August 1891),
Berlin,
Munich and again in Göttingen (enrolled 24 April 1894). In 1896 he was awarded his doctorate under the supervision of
Moritz Heyne
Moritz Heyne (June 8, 1837 in Weißenfels – March 1, 1906 in Göttingen) was a German Germanic peoples, Germanic linguistics, linguist (''Germanist'').
He taught as a professor at the University of Halle (1869-1870), University of Basel (1870-), ...
.
In 1902, Lauffer became an assistant at, and in 1907 director of the
Historical Museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
in
Frankfurt. From 1908 until the opening in 1922, he oversaw the building of the
Hamburg History Museum (now "hamburgmuseum"), continuing in his role as director until 1946.
In the same year that the
University of Hamburg was founded, Otto Lauffer was granted the first professorship in folklore in Germany, which he retained until 1939. In 1922/23, he was also rector of the University.
Lauffer died on 8 August 1949 in
Hamburg, and was buried in the
Ohlsdorf Cemetery there (grave reference: ''R9 (29-30)''). His collected works are to be found in the
Hamburg University Library. On 20 February 1984, a memorial plaque was dedicated to his memory in Weende.
The in Weende and the Otto Lauffer barge in Hamburg are named after him.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauffer, Otto
1874 births
1949 deaths
German folklorists
Cultural historians
Academic staff of the University of Hamburg
German male non-fiction writers
Burials at the Ohlsdorf Cemetery