Rolf Wilhelm Brednich (8 February 1935 – 30 November 2023) was a German Europeanist ethnologist and ethnographer (''Volkskundler'') and folklorist.

Biography

Rolf Wilhelm Brednich was born on 8 February 1935. He studied ''Volkskunde'',

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

, history, and

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 ...

at the Universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

and

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, in Germany, getting his doctorate from the latter with a dissertation entitled ''Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen''. Between 1963 and 1980 he was the leader of the

Deutsches Volksliedarchiv The Deutsche Volksliedarchiv, a research institute for Volkslied (folk song) in German, was founded in 1914 and was integrated into the University of Freiburg in 2014, now called Zentrum für Populäre Kultur und Musik (Centre of popular culture ...

in Freiburg. From 1965 through 1974 he was head of the commission for song, music and dance research within the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde. From 1969 und 1881, he taught at the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, receiving 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 1973 with his ''Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts''. In 1975 Brednich edited the ''Volkskunde-Bibliographie''. In 1982 he became editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of the Folktale and co-editor of the journal ''Fabula''. Between 1983 and 1999 he was head of the ''Volkskundliche Kommission für Niedersachsen e.V.'' and from 1991 through 1999 head of the ''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde e.V.''. In 2000 he was designated ''Senior Honorary Research Fellow'' at ''Stout Centre'' of the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Since 2005 he had been a visiting professor of anthropology at the ''School of Social and Cultural Studies'' at that university. He had carried out research in Germany, Canada, and New Zealand. Among the general German-speaking public, he made his name with collections of

urban legends Urban legend (sometimes modern legend, urban myth, or simply legend) is a genre of folklore concerning stories about an unusual (usually scary) or humorous event that many people believe to be true but largely are not. These legends can be e ...

, starting with ''Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme''. Brednich died on 30 November 2023, at the age of 88.

Honours and awards

* 2004 – Brüder-Grimm-Preis der Philipps-Universität Marburg

Selected works

*''Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen.'' Helsinki 1964 *''Die Ebermannstädter Liederhandschrift.'' Kulmbach 1972 *''Handbuch des Volksliedes.'' with Lutz Röhrich and Wolfgang Suppan, 2 volumes; Munich 1973/1975 *''Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts.'' 2 volumes; Baden-Baden 1974–75. *''Die Darfelder Liederhandschrift 1546-1565.'' Münster 1976. *''Mennonite Folklore and Folklife''. Ottawa 1977. *''Deutsche Comics.'' Freiburg/Breisgau 1979. *''The Bible and the Plough. The Lives of a Hutterite Minister and a Mennonite Farmer''. Ottawa 1981. *''Die Brüder Grimm in Göttingen 1829-1837.'' Göttingen 1986. *''Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme.'' Munich 1990. *''Die Maus im Jumbo-Jet.'' Munich 1991. *''Das Huhn mit dem Gipsbein.'' Munich 1993. *''Sagenhafte Geschichten von heute.'' Munich 1994. *''Die Ratte am Strohhalm.'' Munich 1996. *''Denkmale der Freundschaft.'' Göttinger Stammbuchkupfer - Quellen der Kulturgeschichte. Niedernjesa 1997. *''Die Hutterer.'' Freiburg i. Br. 1998 *''Grundriß der Volkskunde.'' Berlin 2001. *''Pinguine in Rückenlage'' Munich 2004. *''www.worldwidewitz.com. Humor im Cyberspace. Freiburg / Basel /Vienna 2005. *''Neuseeland macht Spaß.'' MANA-Verlag, Berlin 2007. *''Tie und Anger. Historische Dorfplätze in Niedersachsen, Thüringen, Hessen und Franken''. Friedland 2009. *''Erzählkultur. Beiträge zur kulturwissenschaftichen Erzählforschung''. Berlin / New York 2009. *''Augustus Koch - Mapmaker. The Life and Work of Augustus Koch (1834-1901): Artist, Designer, Draughtsman and Cartographer (with a contribution by Sascha Nolden)''. Wellington 2015 *''Überlieferunsgeschichten. Paradigmata volkskundlicher Kulturforschung''. Berlin/Boston 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brednich, Rolf Wilhelm 1935 births 2023 deaths German ethnologists German ethnographers German folklorists Academic staff of the University of Freiburg Academic staff of Victoria University of Wellington People from Worms, Germany People from Rhenish Hesse German male non-fiction writers