Karl Helm (full name Karl Hermann Georg Helm; 19 May 1871 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

– 9 September 1960 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 ...

) 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 ...

Biography

Karl Helm was born in Karlsruhe, Germany on 19 May 1871. He studied German philology in Heidelberg and Freiburg, earning his doctorate in 1895 with a study on 16th-century poetry. Helm's

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 ...

was on the literature surrounding the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

, published 1899 in

Giessen Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...

. After teaching in Giesen, Würzburg and Frankfurt, he received tenure in

as professor for early Germanic philology (''Altgermanistik'') in 1921. Helm took over editorship of the ''Althochdeutsche Grammatik'', ''Althochdeutsches Lesebuch'' and ''Gotische Grammatik'' from

Wilhelm Braune Theodor Wilhelm Braune (20 February 1850 in Großthiemig, Province of Saxony – 10 November 1926 in Heidelberg) was a German philologist and Germanist. Biography In 1869 Braune entered the University of Leipzig, where he was approved as an ins ...

, all standard works in Germanic studies. His own research focused on

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 ...

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

Germanic folklore Proto-Germanic paganism was the beliefs of the speakers of Proto-Germanic and includes topics such as the Germanic mythology, legendry, and folk beliefs of early Germanic culture. By way of the comparative method, Germanic philologists, a variety ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. students of Helm include Karl Bischoff, , Hans Kuhn, Nechama Leibowitz, Eduard Neumann and

Jost Trier Jost Trier (15 December 1894 – 15 September 1970) was a German philologist who was Chair of German Philology at the University of Münster from 1932 to 1961. Biography Jost Trier was born in Schlitz, Hesse, Germany on 15 December 1894, the so ...

. Helm adhered to a

national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity, communitarianism and the public role of religion. It shares aspects of traditionalist conservatism and social conserva ...

ideology throughout his life, expressing sympathy for the

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (, DNVP) was a national-conservative and German monarchy, monarchist political party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major nationalist party in Weimar German ...

(without however becoming a regular member). He was a member of the

Militant League for German Culture The Militant League for German Culture (German: ''Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur'', ''KfdK''), was a nationalistic anti-Semitic political society during the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era. It was founded in 1928 as the ''Nationalsozialistische Ge ...

from 1933, but he never became a member of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. In November 1933 Helm signed the ''

Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State officially translated into English as the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State was a document presented on 11 November 1933 at the Albert Hall in Leipzi ...

''. Helm retired from Marburg as professor emeritus in 1936, but continued hold lectures there until 1958. He died in Marburg on 9 September 1960.

Selected works

* ''Zur Rhythmik der kurzen Reimpaare des 16. Jahrhunderts'', 1895 * (Publisher) ''Das Evangelium Nicodemi'', 1902 * (Publisher) ''Dichtungen des Deutschen Ordens. 1: Die Apokalypse Heinrichs von Hesler: aus der Danziger Handschrift'', 1907 * ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte'', 1913 * ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2: Die nachrömische Zeit; Teil 1: Die Ostgermanen'', 1937 * ''Die Literatur des Deutschen Ritterordens'', 1951 * ''Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte. 2: Die nachrömische Zeit; Teil 2: Die Westgermanen'', 1953

References

Sources

* Peter Wengel: ''Karl Helm''. In: ''Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800-1950'', eds. König, Wägenbaur, Frindt, vol. 1, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin – New York 2003. . * Bernhard Maier: ''Karl Helm'', In: Heinrich Beck, Dieter Geuenich,

Heiko Steuer Heiko Steuer (born 30 October 1939) is a German archaeology, archaeologist, notable for his research into social and Economic history of Europe, economic history in early Europe. He serves as co-editor of Germanische Altertumskunde Online. Career ...

(eds.): ''

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 ...

'', vol.14, Berlin – New York 1999, * * ''

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. ...

'', 1996.

External links

*
Karl Helm
in the

OPAC The online public access catalog (OPAC), now frequently synonymous with ''library catalog'', is an online database of materials held by a library or Library consortium, group of libraries. Online catalogs have largely replaced the analog card c ...

Regesta Imperii Papal regesta are the copies, generally entered in special registry volumes, of the papal letters and official documents that are kept in the papal archives. The name is also used to indicate subsequent publications containing such documents, in c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Helm, Karl German medievalists Germanic studies scholars Linguists of Germanic languages German Germanists Militant League for German Culture members Pagan studies scholars 1871 births 1960 deaths German male non-fiction writers Writers on Germanic paganism Writers from Karlsruhe

Biography

Selected works

See also

References

Sources

External links