Willy Krogmann (13 September 1905 – 20 March 1967) 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

Willy Krogmann was born in

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

, Germany on 13 September 1905. He was the son of a timber merchant. Since 1924, Krogmann studied German, philosophy and history at the universities of

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 ...

and

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. He received his

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 ...

at Rostock in 1928. From 1933 to 1936, Krogmann worked on the production of the Deutsches Wörterbuch. He

habilitated 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 excellen ...

at the

University of Königsberg The University of Königsberg () was the university of Königsberg in Duchy of Prussia, which was a fief of Poland. It was founded in 1544 as the world's second Protestant Reformation, Protestant academy (after the University of Marburg) by Duke A ...

in 1939, and subsequently taught Frisian at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. He served as a

sonderführer ''Sonderführer'' (; "special leader"; in full: , "special leader with military command power"), abbreviated Sdf or Sf, was a specialist role introduced in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in 1937 for the mobilization plan of the German armed for ...

in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

during

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 ...

. After the war, Krogmann took over the leadership of the Frisian Institute in Hamburg, and worked on the production of a dictionary of

Heligoland Frisian Heligolandic (''Halunder'') is the dialect of the North Frisian language spoken on the German island of Heligoland in the North Sea. It is spoken today by some 500 of the island's 1,650 inhabitants and is also taught in schools. Heligolandic is c ...

. From 1952 to 1967, Krogmann lectured in Frisian philology at the University of Hamburg. He was also a specialist in

Germanic linguistics 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 ...

in general, and on

runology Runology is the study of the runic alphabets, runic inscriptions, and their history. Runology forms a specialized branch of Germanic linguistics. History Runology was initiated by Johannes Bureus (1568–1652), who was interested in the ling ...

and

Germanic Antiquity Early Germanic culture was the culture of the early Germanic peoples. The Germanic culture started to exist in the Jastorf culture located along the central part of the Elbe River in central Germany. From there it spread north to the ocean, ...

. Krogmann died in Hamburg on 20 March 1967.

Selected works

* ''Untersuchungen zum Ursprung der Gretchentragödie.'' Wismar 1928 (Dissertation) * ''Der Name der Germanen.'' Wismar 1933 * ''Goethes 'Urfaust'.'' Berlin: 1933 (= ''Germanische Studien,'' Band 143) * ''Der Rattenfänger von Hameln.'' Berlin 1934 * ''Die Heimatfrage des Heliand im Lichte des Wortschatzes.'' Wismar 1937 * als Herausgeber: ''Der Todtentanz in der Marienkirche zu Berlin.'' Berlin 1937. * ''Breiz da Vreiziz! ("Die Bretagne den Bretonen!"). Zeugnisse zum Freiheitskampf der Bretonen.'' Halle 1940 (= ''Schriftenreihe der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Keltische Studien,'' Band 6) * als Herausgeber: ''Hermann Boßdorf. Gesammelte Werke.'' 11 Bände, Hamburg 1952–1957 * ''Helgoländer Wörterbuch.'' Mainz 1957–1969 (5 Lieferungen, mehr nicht erschienen) * ''Das

Lachsargument In Indo-European studies, the salmon problem or salmon argument (also known by the German language, German term ''Lachsargument'') is an outdated argument in favour of placing the Indo-European urheimat in the Baltic region, as opposed to the ...

.'' In: ''Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung'' 76, 1960, S. 161–178 * (mit Ulrich Pretzel:) ''Bibliographie zum Nibelungenlied und zur Klage.'' 4. Aufl. Berlin 1966

Sources

* Wolfgang Bachofer, Walter Röll: ''Bibliographie Willy Krogmann''. Wiesbaden 1972 *

Christoph König Christoph König (born in Dresden in 1968) is a German conductor. Biography Raised in Dresden, the son of a flautist mother, König became a member of the Dresden Kreuzchor at age 9. From 1988 to 1993, he studied orchestral conducting at the Hoc ...

(Hrsg.), unter Mitarbeit von Birgit Wägenbaur u. a.: '' Internationales Germanistenlexikon 1800–1950.'' Band 2: ''H–Q.'' de Gruyter, Berlin/New York 2003, , S. 1023–1025. * 1905 births 1967 deaths German Army personnel of World War II German Germanists Germanic studies scholars People from Wismar Runologists Academic staff of the University of Hamburg University of Rostock alumni 20th-century German philologists {{Germany-linguist-stub