Ines Köhler-Zülch (1941–2019) was a German

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

. She is remembered for her contributions from 1974 to the

Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales The ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'' (''Enzyklopädie des Märchens'') is a German language, German reference work on international folkloristics, which runs to fifteen volumes and is acknowledged as the most comprehensive work in its field. It ex ...

(Enzyklopädie des Märchens). Her work focused in particular on sagas and fairy tales from southeastern Europe. Backing her husband Tilman Zülch who founded the

Society for Threatened Peoples The Society for Threatened Peoples International STPI (-International, GfbV-International) is an international NGO and human rights organization with its headquarters in Göttingen, Germany. Its aim is to create awareness of and protect minorit ...

, she created a regional group in

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 ...

campaigning for the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. She provided support for refugees from Bangladesh, Biafra, East Timor, Guatemala, Iraq and Bosnia until she suffered from serious illness in 2017.

Early life and education

Born during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

on 10 June 1941 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

, Ines Köhler experienced first the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

and later the

German Federal Republic BRD ( ; English: FRG/Federal Republic of Germany) is an unofficial abbreviation for the Federal Republic of Germany, informally known in English as West Germany until 1990, and just Germany since reunification. It was occasionally used in the Fede ...

, She began her studies in

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

, focusing initially on Latin. She then moved to

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

where she studied Slavic languages, especially Bulgarian, as well as Romance languages, including Romanian and German. In this connection, she spent half a year at the

Bulgarian National Library The SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library () is the national library of Bulgaria, situated in the capital city of Sofia. Founded on 4 April 1878, the library received the status of Bulgarian National Library three years later and the Bulgari ...

in Sofia as well as several months in Romania at the university libraries of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...

and

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

. She graduated in 1972.

Career

During her studies in Hamburg, in 1969 she took part in activities in support of

Biafra Biafara Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicized as Biafra ( ), officially the Republic of Biafra, was a List of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, partially recognised state in West Africa that declared independence from Nigeria ...

(Biafrahilfe) and in 1970 in the closely related Society for Threatened Peoples, founded by Tilman Zülch whom she later married. In 1974, she moved to

in order to contribute to research in connection with the ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales''. There she established the first regional group of the Society for Threatened Peoples in 1974, recruiting campaigners to fight for the rights of ethnic and religious minorities. Thanks to her success, her husband was able to rely on her developments when he moved to Göttingen. She went on to organize visits to German of American Indians from North and Latin America, allowing them to reveal details of their mistreatment. She also made a significant contribution to the Third World Romani Congress which was held in Göttingen in 1981. Köhler-Zülch spent a total of 32 years at the

Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Göttingen Academy of Sciences (name since 2023 : )Note that the German ''Wissenschaft'' has a wider meaning than the English "Science", and includes Social sciences and Humanities. is the oldest continuously existing institution among the eig ...

editing the ''Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales'', in particular in connection with research in southeastern Europe on old and ancient sagas and stories. Ines Köhler-Zülch died in Göttingen on 24 April 2019 after suffering from a lengthy illness.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kohler-Zulch, Ines 1941 births 2019 deaths People from Magdeburg Fairy tale scholars German folklorists German women folklorists 20th-century German writers 20th-century German women writers 21st-century German writers 21st-century German women writers University of Marburg alumni University of Hamburg alumni