Karl Müllenhoff

Karl Viktor Müllenhoff (born September 8, 1818, in Marne, Duchy of Holstein; died February 19, 1884, in Berlin) was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.

Karl Müllenhoff
Born	(1818-09-08)8 September 1818 Marne, Duchy of Holstein
Died	19 February 1884(1884-02-19) (aged 65) Berlin, Germany
Nationality	German
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Kiel
Academic advisors	Karl Lachmann Wilhelm Grimm
Influences	Jacob Grimm
Academic work
Discipline	Germanic studies
Sub-discipline	German philology
Institutions	University of Kiel University of Berlin
Notable students	Wilhelm Scherer Gustaf Kossinna Oskar Seyffert Jakob Minor August Sauer Rudolf Meissner Rudolf Henning
Main interests	Early Germanic literature German folklore Germanic Antiquity Germanic linguistics

Biography

He was born in Marne, Holstein as the second son of merchant Johann Anton Müllenhoff. In his youth, he received his education in the town of Meldorf (1830–1837).^[1] He later studied under Gregor Wilhelm Nitzsch at the University of Kiel, then continued his education at Leipzig (1839, under Gottfried Hermann and Moriz Haupt) and then in Berlin (1839-1841), where his instructors included Karl Lachmann and Wilhelm Grimm. In 1841 he received his PhD at Kiel with a dissertation on Sophocles.^[2]

He taught classes in German language, literature and mythology at the University of Kiel, where in 1854 he became a full professor of German literature and history. Afterwards, he returned to Berlin as a professor of German philology (1858-1884). In 1861 he became a member of the Gesetzlose Gesellschaft zu Berlin. Two of his well-known students in Berlin were Wilhelm Scherer and Elias von Steinmeyer.^[1][2]

In 1863 he introduced a theory involving the continuity of written language dating from the era of Old High German.^[1]

From around 1875, he resided at Schellingstraße 7 (Berlin-Tiergarten), a few years later, moving to a house on Lützowufer in the same district. He was buried in the Alter St.-Matthäus-Kirchhof in Berlin-Schöneberg. In 1896, a thoroughfare called Müllenhoffstraße (Berlin-Kreuzberg) was named in his honor.^[1]

Publications

• Sagen, Märchen und Lieder der herzogthümer Schleswig, Holstein und Lauenburg, 1845 – Collection of sagas, fairy tales and songs from the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
• De Antiquissima Germanorum Poesi Chorica, a treatise; cited as one of his greatest works (1847).
• Altdeutsche Sprachproben, 1864 (4th edition, 1885. 5th edition, 1963).
• Denkmäler deutscher Poesie und Prosa aus dem 8. bis 12. Jahrhundert, with Wilhelm Scherer (Berlin, 1864) – Monuments of German poetry and prose from the 8th-12th century.
• Deutsche Alterthumskunde, left unfinished; cited as one of his greatest works (1870–99); five volumes.
  • Vol. 1. Die Phoenizier. Pytheas von Massalia.
  • Vol. 2. Die Nord- und Ostnachbaren der Germanen. Die Gallier und Germanen.
  • Vol. 3. Der Ursprung der Germanen.
  • Vol. 4. Die Germania des Tacitus.
  • Vol. 5. Über die Voluspa. Über die ältere Edda.^[3]