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 Solothurn ( ; ; ; ; ) is a town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Solothurn in Switzerland. It is located in the north-west of Switzerland on the banks of the Aare and on the foot of the Weissenstein Jura mountains. The town is ...

as a

Bürger Bürger or Buerger is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Gottfried August Bürger, German poet * Heinrich Bürger, German physicist and biologist * Heinrich Otto Wilhelm Bürger, German zoologist * Karl-Heinz Bürger, German S ...

(citizen) of Bettlach. After studying at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

he went to

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 ...

, where in 1846 he became librarian to the royal library. In 1856 Pfeiffer founded ''Germania'', a quarterly periodical devoted to German antiquarian research. In 1857, having established himself as one of the foremost authorities on German

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

literature and

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 ...

, he was appointed professor of these subjects at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, and in 1860 was made a member of the

Imperial Academy of Sciences The Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS; ''Rossíyskaya akadémiya naúk'') consists of the national academy of Russia; a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation; and additional scientific and social units such ...

. In his later years he traveled regularly to Überlingen am Bodensee to take the waters at the city's spa. He died in Vienna.

Works

Pfeiffer's most significant work is arguably the second volume of his ''Die deutschen Mystiker'' (German Mysticism). In this volume Pfeiffer collected the surviving German texts of the 14th Century mystic

Meister Eckhart Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart (), Master Eckhart or Eckehart, claimed original name Johannes Eckhart,

, who was at that time largely forgotten. This publication of the German Eckhartian corpus led to the modern revival of interest in Eckhart. Though there was subsequent dispute as to how many of the texts in Pfeiffer's edition are genuinely by Eckhart, his edition remains a classic reference, though it has been superseded by the critical edition begun in 1936 under the aegis of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and only now nearing completion. The early translators of Eckhart into English, Evans and Blakney, depended largely on Pfeiffer for their source material. His own work: *''Zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte'' *''Freie Forschung: kleine Schriften zur Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur und Sprache'' (1867) *''Über Wesen und Bildung der hofischen Sprache in mittelhochdeutscher Zeit'' *''Der Dichter des Nibelungenliedes'' (1862) *''Forschung und Kritik auf dem Gebiete des deutschen Altertums'' *''Altdeutsches Übungsbuch''. He edited: * '' Barlaam und Josaphat'',

Rudolf von Ems Rudolf von Ems ( – 1254) was a Middle High German narrative poet. Life Rudolf von Ems was born in the Vorarlberg in Austria. He took his name from the castle of Hohenems near Bregenz, and was a knight in the service of the Counts of Montfor ...

(1843) * ''Der Edelstein'',

Ulrich Boner Ulrich Boner, or Bonerius (fl. early 14th century), was a German-speaking Swiss writer of fable. He was born in Bern, descended of an old Bernese family and, as far as can be ascertained, took clerical orders and became a monk; yet as it appears ...

(1844) * ''Die deutschen Mystiker des 14. Jahrhunderts'' (1845-1857) *

Nikolaus von Jeroschin Nikolaus von Jeroschin (c. 1290 – 1341) was a 14th-century German chronicler of the Teutonic Knights in Prussia. Nikolaus joined the Teutonic Order as a chaplain of the Grand Masters of the Teutonic Knights, during the time of Grand Master Gottf ...

, ''Deutsche Ordenschronik'' ("Chronicle of the

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

," 1854) * ''Buch der Natur of Konrad von Megenberg'', a 14th-century writer (1861) * ''Die Predigten des

Berthold von Regensburg Bertold of Regensburg (c. 1210 – 14 December 1272), also known as Berthold of RatisbonCoulton, G. G. (1923) ''Life in the Middle Ages''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press was a German preacher during the high Middle Ages. Life He was a nat ...

'', vol. 1 and vol. 2 (1862, 1880) * Poems of

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (; ) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs ('' Sprüche'') in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or s ...

(1864; 6th ed., 1880) This work was his contribution to a series he founded called Deutsche Klassiker des Mittelalters ("German classics of the Middle Ages").

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Biographical sketch by

Karl Bartsch Karl Friedrich Adolf Konrad Bartsch (25 February 1832, in Sprottau – 19 February 1888, in Heidelberg) was a German medievalist. He studied philology at the universities of Breslau (from 1848) and Berlin (1851/52), where he was a pupil of Wil ...

in Franz Pfeiffer, ed., ''Uhlands Briefwechsel mit Freiherrn von Lassberg'' (1870) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeiffer, Franz 1815 births 1868 deaths Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Academic staff of the University of Vienna German librarians Austrian non-fiction writers German non-fiction writers Swiss non-fiction writers Swiss male writers Immigrants to the Austrian Empire German male non-fiction writers People from Solothurn Writers from the Austrian Empire