Waltraud Hunke (28 April 1915 – 2004) was a German philologist, publisher and philanthropist 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

Waltraud Hunke was born in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

, Germany on 28 April 1915, the daughter of the publisher (1879-1953) and Hildegard Lau (1879-1944). Her mother was the daughter of engineer Thies Peter Lau (1844-1933) and Walewska Berta Anna Artelt (1856-1943). She had two sisters, including

Sigrid Hunke Sigrid Hunke (26 April 1913 – 15 June 1999) was a German author and representative of a unitarian neopaganism. Hunke is regarded as a critic of Christianity while at the same time admiring Islam and Arabism and as a pioneer of the New Right. S ...

. Hunke received her

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philology, philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a Comparative method, comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, wi ...

at the

Ludwig Maximilian 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 ...

in 1941 under the supervision 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 ...

. She subsequently worked as an assistant to the historian

Ernst Anrich Ernst Anrich (born 9 August 1906 in Strasbourg, died 21 October 2001 in Seeheim-Jugenheim) was a German modern historian, sociologist, university professor, academic administrator and publisher, who was the principal founder (in 1949) and managing ...

and philologist Siegfried Gutenbrunner at

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 ...

. After

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 ...

, Hunke returned to her hometown of Kiel, where she made a fortune as a publisher and bookstore owner. She donated large sums to the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

, particularly for the purpose of supporting female academics. Upon the death of Hunke in 2004, her estate was donated to the University.

Selected works

* ''Die Trojaburgen und ihre Bedeutung''. Dissertation. München 1941. * ''Goethe-Gesellschaft Kiel 1947–1987''. Goethe-Gesellschaft, Kiel 1987. * mit Oswald Hauser, Wolfgang J. Müller: ''Das Haus Glücksburg und Europa''. Mühlau, Kiel 1988, . * mit Thiel J. Martensen: ''100 Jahre Universitätsbuchhandlung Walter G. Mühlau. Eine Chronik.'' Mühlau, Kiel 2002, .

Sources

* Friedrich Schmidt-Sibeth: ''Hunke, Heinrich''. In: ''Biographisches Lexikon für Schleswig-Holstein und Lübeck''. Wachholtz, Neumünster 1982–2011. Bd. 9 – 1991. , S. 154. 1915 births 2004 deaths German philologists 20th-century German publishers (people) German Germanists Germanic studies scholars Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni 20th-century German philologists {{Germany-linguist-stub

Biography

See also

Selected works

Sources