Karl Krumbacher (23 September 1856 – 12 December 1909) was a German scholar who was an expert on

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Greek

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

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 ...

, history and culture. He was one of the principal founders of

Byzantine Studies Byzantine studies is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the history, culture, demography, dress, religion/theology, art, literature/epigraphy, music, science, economy, coinage and politics of the Eastern Roman Empire. ...

as an independent academic discipline in modern universities.

Life and career

Krumbacher was born at Kürnach im Allgäu in the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

. He studied Classical Philology and

Indo-European linguistics Indo-European studies () is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical p ...

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

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 ...

. In 1879 he passed the State Exam (Staatsexamen) and was thereafter active as a school teacher until 1891. In 1883 he gain his doctorate (Promotion) and in 1885 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 Medieval and Modern Greek philology. From 1897 he was professor of

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 ...

and

Modern Greek Language Modern Greek (, or , ), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of the language sometimes referred to ...

and Literature 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 ...

and held the newly created Chair of Byzantine Studies, the first professorial chair in this subject in the world. Krumbacher founded the ''

Byzantinische Zeitschrift Byzantinische Zeitschrift (abbr. BZ and ByzZ) is a Byzantine studies journal established in 1892 by Karl Krumbacher. It is currently published by De Gruyter. After Krumbacher's death it was edited by Paul Marc (1909–1927) and Kaspar Ernst August ...

'' (1892), the oldest academic journal of Byzantine Studies, and the ''Byzantinisches Archiv'' (1898). His collaborator at the time was

Božidar Prokić Božidar Prokić ( Zabojnica, near Kragujevac, Principality of Serbia, 11 October 1859 – Belgrade, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 6 May 1922) was a Serbian historian who was among the first Byzantinists. He was the principal founder of Byzantine Studies ...

, the renowned Belgrade Byzantinist. He died in

in 1909. His successor as Professor of Byzantine Studies was August Heisenberg, father of physicist

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg (; ; 5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist, one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics and a principal scientist in the German nuclear program during World War II. He pub ...

. His most important work is ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur von Justinian bis zum Ende des oströmischen Reiches (527-1453)'' (History of Byzantine Literature from

Justinian Justinian I (, ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 527 to 565. His reign was marked by the ambitious but only partly realized ''renovatio imperii'', or "restoration of the Empire". This ambition was ...

to the Fall of the

East Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

) in 1891. A second edition was published in 1897, with the collaboration of

Albert Ehrhard Albert Joseph Maria Ehrhard (14 March 1862 – 23 September 1940) was a German Catholic theologian, church historian and Byzantinist. He was the author of numerous works on Early Christianity. Biography Born in Herbitzheim (Alsace), Ehrhard stu ...

(section on

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

) and

Heinrich Gelzer Heinrich Gelzer (1 July 1847 – 11 July 1906) was a German classical scholar. He wrote also on Armenian mythology. He was the son of the Swiss historian Johann Heinrich Gelzer (1813–1889). He became Professor of classical philology and an ...

(general sketch of Byzantine history, AD 395–1453). The value of the work was greatly enhanced by its lengthy bibliographies and it remained a standard textbook for decades. Krumbacher's extensive travels in Greece and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

became the basis of his ''Griechische Reise'' (1886). His notable works include studies of the poetry of

Michael Glykas Michael Glykas or Glycas () was a 12th-century Byzantine historian, theologian, mathematician, astronomer and poet. He was probably from Corfu and lived in Constantinople. He was a critic of Manuel I Komnenos, and was imprisoned and blinded due to ...

(1894) and

Kassia Kassia, Cassia, Kassiane, or Kassiani (, ; – before 865) was a Byzantine-Greek composer, hymnographer and poet. She holds a unique place in Byzantine music as the only known woman whose music appears in the Byzantine liturgy. Approximately ...

(1897) and ''Populäre Aufsätze'' (1900). In ''Das Problem der neugriechischen Schriftsprache'' (1902) he strongly opposed the efforts of the

Katharevousa Katharevousa (, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contemporary vernacular, Demotic ...

purists to introduce the classical style into modern Greek language and literature. A full list of his works was published in the memorial edition of ''Byzantinische Zeitschrift''.''Byzantinische Zeitschrift'' 19 (1910) 700–708

References

External links

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Themenportal bei Propylaeum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krumbacher, Karl 1856 births 1909 deaths German classical scholars German Lutherans Scholars of Medieval Greek Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences German Byzantinists 19th-century Lutherans Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Scholars of Byzantine literature German literary scholars Foreign members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts

Life and career

See also

References

Further reading

External links