Heiko Uecker (5 September 1939 – 30 May 2019) was a German philologist 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 ...

. He was Professor of Nordic Philology at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and a known expert on

Scandinavian literature Scandinavian literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway (including Svalbard), Sweden, and Scandinavia's associate ...

Biography

Heiko Uecker was born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, Germany on 5 September 1939. After graduating from , Uecker studied

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

and

German philology German studies is an academic field that researches, documents and disseminates German language, German literature, literature, and culture in its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies therefore often focus on Culture ...

at the universities of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. He received his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1966 with the thesis ''Die altnordischen Bestattungssitten in der literarischen Überlieferung'', which examined descriptions of

Norse funeral Norse funerals, or the burial customs of Viking Age North Germanic Norsemen (early medieval Scandinavians), are known both from archaeology and from historical accounts such as the Icelandic sagas and Old Norse poetry. Throughout Scandinavia, ...

s in

Old Norse literature Old Norse literature refers to the vernacular literature of the Scandinavian people up to c. 1350. It mainly consists of Icelandic writings. In Britain From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colon ...

. Uecker completed his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1977, and subsequently served as a

visiting professor In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting scientist, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic fo ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

. In 1982, Uecker was appointed Professor of Nordic Philology at the

. He served as Head of the Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Bonn. From 1982 to 1988, and 2006 to 2010, Uecker was the Chairman of the . Uecker specialized in the study of

. He was an authority on both medieval and modern Scandinavian literature, and also

early Germanic literature Early Germanic culture was the culture of the early Germanic peoples. The Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture located along the central part of the Elbe River in central Germany. From there it spread north to the ocean, ...

, on which he was the author of numerous works. He is known for his research on Norwegian authors

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

and

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to conscio ...

. He contributed significantly to the improvement of

Germany–Norway relations Germany–Norway relations are foreign relations between Germany and Norway. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1905, after Norway's independence. During World War II, Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany, lasting from 1940 unti ...

. In 2004, Uecker received both the

Willy Brandt Prize The Willy Brandt Prize is an annual prize awarded by the Norwegian-German Willy Brandt prize foundation (in German: ''Norwegisch-Deutsche Willy-Brandt-Stiftung'') since 2000. It is awarded to persons or institutions that make significant contribut ...

and the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

. Uecker was married to Kari Uecker. He was the father of actor

Georg Uecker Georg Uecker (born 6 November 1962 in Munich) is a German actor. Since 1985, he has played the character of ''Dr. Carsten Flöter'' on the popular German TV series Lindenstraße on ARD. Controversially, in 1987, he kissed ''Gert Weinbauer'' (pla ...

. Uecker retired from the

in 2004. He died in Bonn on 30 May 2019.

Selected works

* ''Geschichte der altnordischen Literatur''. Stuttgart: Reclam 2004. . * (mit Joachim Trinkwitz): ''Die Klassiker der skandinavischen Literatur. Die großen Autoren vom 18. Jahrhundert bis zur Gegenwart''. Essen: Meysenburg 2002. . (Überarbeitete Neuauflage der Ausgabe Düsseldorf: Econ 1990.) * ''Germanische Heldensage''. Stuttgart: Metzler 1972 (=Sammlung Metzler, Bd. 106).

Sources

1939 births 2019 deaths German philologists Germanic studies scholars Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni Old Norse studies scholars Writers from Nuremberg Academic staff of the University of Bonn {{Germany-linguist-stub

Biography

See also

Selected works

Sources