Gustav Roethe (5 May 1859, Graudenz – 17 September 1926,

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein ( is a spa town in the St. Johann im Pongau District. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it is known for the Gastein waterfall and a variety of grand hotel buildings. Geography Bad Gastein i ...

) was a 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 ...

Life

Roethe studied classical and

Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philology, philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a Comparative method, comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, wi ...

Göttingen Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

, obtaining his PhD in 1881 (doctoral advisor, Friedrich Zarncke). In 1888 he succeeded

Karl Goedeke Karl Friedrich Ludwig Goedeke (15 April 1814 – 28 October 1887) was a German historian of literature, an author, and a professor. He was born at Celle and was educated at University of Göttingen, Göttingen (1833-1838), where he attended lect ...

as an associate professor of German philology at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, and two years later, succeeded Wilhelm Konrad Hermann Müller as a full professor of

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 ...

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 novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

. In 1902 he relocated to the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

, where in 1923/24 he served as rector.Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Gustav Roethe, Rektor der Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin His studies largely dealt with

Middle High German literature Middle High German literature refers to literature written in German between the middle of the 11th century and the middle of the 14th. In the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year " ...

German Romanticism German Romanticism () was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German vari ...

and "

Goethe Johann Wolfgang (von) Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

-research". His ''Die Gedichte Reinmars von Zweter'' ("Poetry of Reinmar von Zweter") formed the basis for research involving the history of

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 ...

'' Sangspruchdichtung'' (epigrammatic poetry). From 1908 onward, he was tasked with reorganization of the "''

Deutsches Wörterbuch The ''Deutsches Wörterbuch'' (; "German Dictionary"), abbreviated ''DWB'', is the largest and most comprehensive dictionary of the German language in existence.Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

. From 1891 to 1926, with Edward Schröder, he was editor of the "'' Zeitschrift für deutsches Altertum und deutsche Literatur''". In 1921 he was named president of the Goethe Society.

Selected works

* ''Reinmars von Zweter, Herkunft und Aufenthalt in Oesterreich unter Leopold VII'', 1883. * ''Die Gedichte Reinmars von Zweter'', 1887. * ''Die Reimvorreden des Sachsenspiegels'', 1899. * ''Jacob Grimms Vorlesungen über deutsche Litteraturgeschichte'', 1899. * ''Brentanos 'Ponce de Leon' : eine Säcularstudie'', 1901. * ''Nibelungias und Waltharius'', 1909. * ''Das geraubte deutsche Westpreußen'', 1926. * ''Goethe : gesammelte Vorträge und Aufsätze'', 1932.WorldCat Search
published works

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roethe, Gustav 1859 births 1926 deaths People from Grudziądz People from West Prussia Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin Academic staff of the University of Göttingen German philologists