Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian 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 ...

. Much was Professor and Chair of Germanic Linguistic History and

Germanic Antiquity Early Germanic culture refers to the culture of the early Germanic peoples. Largely derived from a synthesis of Proto-Indo-European and indigenous Northern European elements, the Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture that de ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hi ...

, during which he tutored generations of students and published a number of influential works, some of which have remained standard works up to the present day.

Biography

Rudolf Much was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 7 September 1862. He was the son of the lawyer Dr. Matthäus Much (1832–1909), who was also a prehistorian. At an early age, Much gained extensive knowledge of ancient history form his father. From 1880 he studied

classical philology Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Class ...

German philology 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 h ...

and

Nordic philology Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining ...

at the

. Passing his exams with great distinction, Much gained his PhD in 1887 with the dissertation ''On the Prehistory of Germany'' (''Zur Vorgeschichte Deutschlands''), and completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including ...

in 1892–1893 with a thesis on

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-c ...

. Since 1901, was Assistant Professor of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foo ...

and Germanic Antiquity and

Scandinavian Language The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is als ...

and

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 prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

at the University of Vienna. Since, 1904, Much served as Associate Professor, and then Professor of Germanic Linguistic History and Antiquity (''Germanische Sprachgeschichte und Altertumskunde'') at the University of Vienna. In this capacity he was also tasked with lecturing on Scandinavian literature. Throughout his academic career, Much served on the committees of many scholarly committees and was the editor of several scholarly journals. He declined to be the editor of the first edition of the ''

Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde ''Germanische Altertumskunde Online'', formerly called ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', is a German encyclopedia of the study of Germanic history and cultures, as well as the cultures that were in close contact with them. The first ...

'', to which he was nevertheless one of the most important contributors. Much retired from his Chair as Professor Emeritus in 1934, but continued to lecture at the University. A popular professor, Much acquired a large following of students at the University of Vienna, many of whom would later acquire prominent positions in the field. Students of Wolfram include Otto Höfler,

Julius Pokorny Julius Pokorny (12 June 1887 – 8 April 1970) was an Austrian-Czech linguist and scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism. He held academic posts in Austrian and German universities. Early life ...

, Walter Steinhauser, Richard Wolfram,

Siegfried Gutenbrunner Siegfried Gutenbrunner (26 May 1906 – 23 November 1984) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Siegfried Gutenbrunner was born in Vienna, Austria on 26 May 1906. He gained his PhD in Germanistics at the Univ ...

, Dietrich Kralik,

Lily Weiser-Aall Lily Weiser-Aall (18 December 1898 – 26 February 1987), born Elisabeth Augusta Jeanette Weiser, was an Austrian philologist and ethnologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Lily Weiser-Aall was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary on ...

, Gilbert Trathnigg and

Robert Stumpfl Robert Heinrich Viktor Stumpfl (4 June 1904 – 11 August 1937) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies and the history of theatre. Biography Robert Stumpfl was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary on 6 June 1904. His father w ...

Research

Much's research centered on Germanic studies. He was particularly interested in

Germanic linguistics 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 ...

Germanic paganism Germanic paganism or Germanic religion refers to the traditional, culturally significant religion of the Germanic peoples. With a chronological range of at least one thousand years in an area covering Scandinavia, the British Isles, modern Germ ...

, relationships between the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

and Celts, the origins of Germanic peoples, and the origin of the ethnonym ''

Germani The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

''. Much believed the Germanic peoples had originated in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

, to where their ancestors had migrated at an unknown point in time from the

Proto-Indo-European homeland The Proto-Indo-European homeland (or Indo-European homeland) was the prehistoric linguistic homeland of the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE). From this region, its speakers migrated east and west, and went on to form the proto-communities o ...

. Much was unsure of the location of the Proto-Indo-European homeland, but sympathized with theories suggesting a north-central European location. He believed ''Germani'' had originally been the name of one Germanic tribe, which had subsequently been applied by outsiders to the Germanic peoples as a whole. Much's ''Die Germania des Tacitus'' (1937), is considered the standard work on ''

'' by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, and continues to the basis for modern research on this book.

Personal life

Much was a German nationalist. He was in contact with the

Pan-German Pan-Germanism (german: Pangermanismus or '), also occasionally known as Pan-Germanicism, is a pan-nationalist political idea. Pan-Germanists originally sought to unify all the German-speaking people – and possibly also Germanic-speaking ...

movement of

Georg Ritter von Schönerer Georg Ritter von Schönerer (17 July 1842 – 14 August 1921) was an Austrian landowner and politician of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A major exponent of pan-Germanism and German nationalism in ...

, and was a member of the Deutsche Gemeinschaft. Much converted from

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

in 1893. Much never joined a political party, as he considered that incompatible with being a scholar. Much opposed the politicization of scholarship, and for this reason, he protested vigorously against appointing Nazis to positions at the University of Vienna. His son, the physician Horand Much, was executed by the Nazis in 1943.

Selected works

*''Deutsche Stammsitze − ein Beitrag zur ältesten Geschichte Deutschlands''. Niemeyer, Halle a. S. 1892. *''Der germanische Himmelsgott''. Niemeyer, Halle a. S. 1898. *''Deutsche Stammeskunde''. Göschen, Leipzig, Berlin (u.a.) 1900. *''Der Name Germanen''. Hölder, Wien 1920. *''Die Germania des Tacitus'', erläutert von Rudolf Much; Winter, Heidelberg 1937, 3. Auflage unter Bearbeitung durch Wolfgang Lange und

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 ...

, 1967.

Citations

Literature

* * * *

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author o ...

: ''Rudolf Much''. In: ''

Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie The ''Deutsche Biographische Enzyklopädie'' (''DBE'') is a biographical dictionary published by Walther Killy and Rudolf Vierhaus (from the third to fourth volume), the first edition of which was published from 1995 to 2003 in 13 volumes by K. ...

''. K. G. Saur Verlag, München u.a. 1996, * Wiesinger, Peter: ''150 Jahre Germanistik in Wien, außeruniversitäre Frühgermanistik und Universitätsgermanistik''; Peter Wiesinger/Daniel Steinbach, Wien: Ed. Praesens, 2001, 246 S.,

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Much, Rudolf 1862 births 1936 deaths Austrian non-fiction writers Austrian philologists Celtic studies scholars Converts to Lutheranism from Roman Catholicism Germanic studies scholars Germanists Indo-Europeanists Linguists of Germanic languages Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Old Norse studies scholars University of Vienna alumni Academics of the University of Vienna Writers on Germanic paganism