Lily Weiser-Aall (18 December 1898 – 26 February 1987), born Elisabeth Augusta Jeanette Weiser, was an Austrian philologist and ethnologist 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

Lily Weiser-Aall was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

on 18 December 1898 to an

upper middle class In sociology, the upper middle class is the social group constituted by higher status members of the middle class. This is in contrast to the term '' lower middle class'', which is used for the group at the opposite end of the middle-class stra ...

family. Her father was a lawyer and her mother was a singer and pianist. After gaining her

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

, Weiser-Aall studied

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

and Nordic philology at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

under

Rudolf Much Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian who specialized in Germanic studies. Much was Professor and Chair of Germanic Linguistic History and Germanic Antiquity at the University of Vienna, d ...

. She became one of Much's favourite students, and gained her Ph.D. in 1922 under his supervision with a thesis on

Yule Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern ...

. Her thesis was published in 1923. After gaining her Ph.D., Weiser-Aall held an internship at a museum in

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 ...

, and worked as a teacher at a Viennese middle school for girls. During this time Weisser-All attended scholarly conferences in Sweden and Italy, where she established contacts with

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 ...

s such as and Eugen Fehrle. With Much and Fehrle, Weiser-Aall conducted her post-doctoral thesis, which examined the männerbund among early

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

. This thesis had a strong influence on subsequent research, particularly that of

Otto Höfler Otto Eduard Gottfried Ernst Höfler (10 May 1901 – 25 August 1987) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. A student of Rudolf Much, Höfler was Professor and Chair of German Language and Old German Literature at the Un ...

and Neil Price. In 1928, Weiser-Aall married Norwegian philosopher

Anathon Aall Anathon August Fredrik Aall (15 August 1867 – 9 January 1943) was a Norwegian academic, philosopher and psychologist. Originally educated as a theology, theologian, he became a professor of philosophy at University of Oslo. Background He was bo ...

, and subsequently moved to

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 ...

. Lily and Anathon had three children. In 1933, Weiser-Aall was awarded the by the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

for the research on religious symbology. During this time Weiser-Aall published a number of articles on

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

and magic in scholarly journals. She also became a noted authority on

experimental psychology Experimental psychology is the work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, anim ...

. She was elected a full member of the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

in 1937. By

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 ...

, Weiser-Aall had become a widower, and in order to support her three young children she became an associate of the

Ahnenerbe The (, "Ancestral Heritage") was a pseudoscientific organization founded by the ''Schutzstaffel'' in Nazi Germany in 1935. Established by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler in July 1, 1935 as an SS appendage devoted to promoting racial the ...

, with whom she had been in contact since 1937. She was assigned to the Seminar for Religious Studies at the

Reichsuniversität Straßburg The Reichsuniversität Straßburg was founded in 1941 by the Nazis in Alsace after the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by Nazi Germany. The University of Strasbourg had moved to Clermont-Ferrand in 1939. The university's purpose was to restore ...

under Otto Huth, and tasked with translating specialist

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 ...

into German. Weiser-Aall despised

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. She helped

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and refused to collaborate after being questioned by the SS. After World War II, Weiser-Aall was a member of and became the senior conservator at Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. She retired in the 1960s. Weiser-Aall died in Oslo on 26 February 1987.

Selected works

* ''Jul, Weihnachtsgeschenke und Weihnachtsbaum. Eine volkskundliche Untersuchung ihrer Geschichte.'' Stuttgart 1923. * «Germanische Haustgeister und Kobolde.» ''Niederdeutsche Zeitschrift für Volkskunde 4,'' 1926. * ''Altgermanische Jünglingsweihen und Männerbünde. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen und nordischen Altertums- und Volkskunde.'' Bühl 1927. * «Hexe.» ''Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens.'' Berlin 1931. * «Zur Sage vom Hundekönig.» ''Wiener Prähistorischen Zeitschrift,'' XIX, 1932. * «Zur Geschichte der altgermanischen Todesstrafe und Friedlosigkeit.» ''Archiv für Religionswissenschaft'' 33, 1933. * «Zum Aufbau religiöser Symbolerlebnisse.» ''Zeitschrift für Religionspsychologie'' 1934. * «'Verdens uro' i Norge.» ''Maal og minne'' 1937. * ''Volkskunde und Psychologie. Eine Einführung.'' Berlin 1937. * «Weihnacht.» ''Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens.'' Berlin 1941. * «Volkskundliche Arbeit in Norwegen, 1942-1946.» ''Archiv für Volkskunde'' 44, 1947. * «Magiske tegn på norske trekar?» ''By og Bygd'' 1947. * ''Vassbæring i Norge.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1953. * ''Juletreet i Norge.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1953. * ''Julehalmen i Norge.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1953. * ''Julenissen og julegeita i Norge.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1953. * ''Menn med øreringer i Norge.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1953. * «Syncretism in Nordic folk medicine. Critical periods during pregnancy.» ''Scripta instituti donneriani Aboensis,'' v. 3, 1957. * «Påskeegg i Norge – kilder og problemer.» ''By og bygd'' 1958. * «Om haren i norsk overlevering – kilder og problemer.» Norveg 10, 1963. * «Jul.» ''Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder'' 8. København. * «Gelehrte Tradition über angeborene Fehler in der Volkstradition.» ''Arv'' 1962/63. * ''Svangerskap og fødsel i nyere norsk tradisjon.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1968. * ''Omkring de nyfødtes stell i nyere norsk overlevering.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1973.

References

Sources

* Andreas Ropeid: Lily Weiser-Aall. Minnetale. ''Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi Årbok'' 1987. * Andreas Ropeid: Lily Weiser-Aall 1898–1987. ''Ethnologia Scandinavica'' 1987. * Ann Helene Bolstad Skjelbred: Lily Weiser-Aall. Norsk etnologisk granskings førstedame. ''Forskning og fornyelse'' (By og bygd nr. 45). Oslo 2013. * Anne Moestue og Reimund Kvideland (red.): ''Verden var hennes tekst. Forskeren Lily Weiser-Aall. En minnebok 1898–1998.'' Småskrifter fra Norsk etnologisk gransking. Oslo 1998.Søkbar digitalkopi av ''Verden var hennes tekst. Forskeren Lily Weiser-Aall. En minnebok 1898–1998''
/ref> * Anne Moestue: ''Lily Weiser-Aall og spørrelistearbeidet ved Norsk etnologisk gransking.'' Oslo 1998. * Carlo Ginzburg: Germansk mytologi og nazisme. om en gammel bok af Georges Dumézil. ''Spor. Om historie og historisk metode.'' København 1999. * Malte Garsche: Norge og prosjektet Germanische wissenschaftseinsatz. Hans Schwalrn og Ahnenerbes fiasko i Norge 1942-1944. Terje Emberland og Jorunn Sem Fure (red.): ''Jakten på Germania. Fra nordensvermeri til SS-arkeologi.'' Oslo 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weiser-Aall 1898 births 1987 deaths Austrian ethnologists Germanic studies scholars Old Norse studies scholars Academics from Vienna University of Vienna alumni Writers on Germanic paganism 20th-century Austrian philologists

Biography

See also

Selected works

References

Sources