Helmut Birkhan

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Helmut Birkhan (born February 1, 1938 in Vienna ) is an Austrian Germanic medievalist and Celtologist .

Life

Helmut Birkhan was born the son of an engineer. After completing his Matura at the Bundesrealgymnasium Vienna VII , he first studied philosophy , psychology and German studies at the University of Vienna from 1956 and from 1958 shifted the focus to German studies (especially old German studies ), classical philology , philosophy and psychology. In 1962, he was there with a dissertation on "The transformation in the folk tale" doctorate .

From 1961 to 1962 Birkhan taught as a lecturer and assistant lecturer at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, and in 1963 he became an assistant at the German Institute of the University of Vienna. This was followed in 1968 by a two-year “Humboldt Research Fellowship” in Göttingen , including in archeology with Herbert Jankuhn , in Freiburg i. Br. Indo-European studies with Oswald Szemerényi and in Marburg Celtology with Josef Weisweiler , in Saarbrücken Scandinavian studies with Heinrich Beck .

In January 1970 , Birkhan qualified as a professor for ancient German studies with a thesis on "Teutons and Celts until the end of the Roman era".

On January 1, 1972, he was appointed full professor for older German language and literature at the University of Vienna. In March of the same year, Birkhan became a co-opted member of several commissions of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (commissions for dialect and name research, spelling issues, ancient German studies, Celtic studies, board of trustees of the Institute for Medieval Reality Studies in Austria, editorial committee of the magazine “Sprachkunst”). In 1973/74 Birkhan was appointed managing director of the Vienna German Institute.

In the 1980 summer semester, Birkhan taught for a research semester at the “ Université de Picardie ” in Amiens before he was elected to the “Membre étranger du Center d'études médiévales de l'Université de Picardie” in June. From March 1982 he was a member of the local examination committee of the "Thèses de troisième cycle".

From 1986 to 1988 he was director of the Vienna Institute for German Studies. In 1988 Birkhan initiated the Dutch studies trial .

In the 1993/94 winter semester, Birkhan accepted a visiting professorship at the University of Amsterdam .

In 1997 Helmut Birkhan completed his habilitation in Celtology with the thesis “Celts. Attempt to present an overall picture of their culture ”and thereby enabled the establishment of an individual double degree, which has been possible since the 2000 winter semester.

In autumn 2006, Birkhan retired and continues to teach as an emeritus at the University of Vienna.

Helmut Birkhan has been married to the philosopher Ingvild Birkhan (née Bach) since 1965 . The couple have two daughters, born in 1969 and 1974.

Focus of work

“I see the older German language and literature as well as Celtology primarily as cultural studies. Accordingly, my antiquity, literary and linguistic works seek to emphasize important relationships in terms of cultural history. With this objective it is inevitable to work in a relatively very broad area. The versatility and the encyclopedic aspect are therefore important characteristics of my research and teaching, at the same time a scandal in a time of pronounced and still increasing subject-specific specialization. "

- Self-definition Helmut Birkhan

Main areas of work are the German literature of the high and late Middle Ages in terms of cultural history; Germanic linguistics from Indo-European to Middle High German; the phonology , morphology and etymology ; Celtology in general, especially Germanic-Celtic cultural relations, Arthurian literature.

Secondary work area is archeology, religious studies and fairy tale research. Birkhan cultivates interdisciplinary cooperation with historians, philosophers and musicologists. Birkhan has also been involved in the history of alchemy for over 10 years and as a result of these studies u. a. the oldest alchemical original poems edited in a Germanic language ( Middle Dutch ).

Birkhan has published numerous books and articles in compilations as well as journal articles on his fields of work. There is also a lively international lecture activity.

In addition, he relativizes himself and his subject with parodies and satires. These include, for example, his translations of Struwwelpeter and the Little Prince into Middle High German.

student

Sabine Heinz (Celtology), Lydia Miklautsch, Oskar Pausch , Hermann Reichert , Richard Schrodt , Rudolf Simek , Ingrid Strasser and Christa Agnes Tuczay completed their habilitation with Helmut Birkhan as the main reviewer .

Honors

On May 17, 1994, he was elected a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. In addition, he is a corresponding or external member of the Heidelberg and Norwegian Academy of Sciences .

Publications (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://www.derstandard.de/story/2000112644311/wissenschafter-ueber-weihnachten-das-goettliche-kind-ist-eine-orientalische-vorstellung
  2. ↑ Homepage at the University of Vienna .
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: The alchemical didactic poetry of Gratheus filius Philosophi in Cod. Vind. 2372. At the same time a contribution to occult science in the late Middle Ages. Volume 1: Introduction, Investigations, Commentary; Volume 2: Text edition, translation, register, (= meeting reports of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Phil.-hist. Class 591), Vienna 1992.
  4. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: The Strûbel-Pêter. Ink bottle edition, Neckarsteinach, 2008, ISBN 978-3-937467-53-5 .
personal data
SURNAME Birkhan, Helmut
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian Germanist and Celtologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna