Karl Olzscha

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Karl Olzscha (* 1898 ; † November 7, 1970 ) was a German linguist . He was mainly concerned with the Etruscan language and was one of the most famous Etruscologists of his time.

life and work

Karl Olzscha attended the grammar school in Zwickau , where his father Friedrich Theodor Olzscha was deputy director and taught Latin and Greek . As a young man, Olzscha took part in the First World War. After the end of the war he studied Greek , Latin, history , philosophy , German , music and theater studies . 1923 doctorate he in Leipzig as a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD.) . Economic difficulties during the inflation forced him to forego a habilitation at first and to enter the school service. Like his father, he taught Latin and Greek as a high school teacher. In 1938 he completed his habilitation with a text on the interpretation of the Agramer mummy bandage .

In 1939, the outbreak of World War II ruined his chances for a professorship . After the end of the war in 1945 he passed two theological state exams without any major studies . In 1952 he turned down an offer to become a private lecturer at Bonn University because of poor pay, as the salary would have been 240 D-Marks . In 1956 he was transferred from Stade to the learned school of the Johanneum , a humanistic grammar school in Hamburg , where he taught until his retirement in 1963. In 1958 Olzscha suffered his first heart attack . In 1970, at the age of 72, he died of another heart attack while working on new scientific projects.

For the interpretation of Etruscan texts, Olzscha developed parallel to Massimo Pallottino the cultural-historical or bilingual method, which is based on the conviction that the Etruscan language can only be understood in its historical context. Accordingly, for a proper reading of Etruscan inscriptions, a study of Etruscan culture, especially religion and art, is necessary. Each inscription should first be understood in its cultural context, with the help of similar inscriptions in other languages ​​from areas culturally related to Etruria. In this respect, the reading must correspond to the cultural context and a previously identified grammatical structure. This approach is still represented today by well-known Etruscologists. He wrote other linguistic articles for the Encyclopædia Britannica and the Brockhaus Encyclopedia, among others . In addition to many other honors, he was appointed to the Accademia Etrusca in Florence .

Olzscha made a significant contribution to reading the Agramer mummy bandage (Liber Linteus). Olzscha compared the text with other early writings such as the Iguvinian tablets in Umbrian and the Latin hymn to Mars, which has been passed down by Cato . Olzscha was able to provide an interpretation of the text and explain that the Liber Linteus is a liturgical text that describes certain offerings that were to be made for different gods during the year. Although many of the translations suggested by Olzscha turned out to be inaccurate, his work provided a deep insight into the meaning of the text. He was also able to contribute essential aspects to deciphering the Etruscan counting words on the cubes of Tuscania .

Karl Olzscha was a very talented man and an excellent music connoisseur. Though the scope not quite met as a teacher to his ability and offered him as a scientist little appropriate tasks, he was above-average zeal educator . His political view of the world was shaped by his experiences at the front in World War I and negative experiences in the time of National Socialism and the post-war period in the Soviet occupation zone . He rejected both western and socialist materialism . He saw the democratic principles from Cicero's De re publica as fundamental for the community. Nevertheless, he regarded the philosophical rule after Plato's Politeia as the ideal form of government.

Publications (selection)

  • Structure and structure in the parallel passages of the Agramer mummy bandages. In: Studi Etruschi. 8, 1934, pp. 247-290 and 9, 1935, pp. 191-224.
  • The name Italia and Etruscan Italian. In: Studi Etruschi. 10, 1936, pp. 263-275.
  • The language of the Etruscans, problems and new ways of interpretation. Teubner, Leipzig 1936.
  • Formulas of gods and monthly dates in the large Etruscan inscription of Capua. In: Glotta . 34, 1954, pp. 71-93.
  • Interpretation of the Agramer mummy bandage. In: Klio . Supplement 40, Dieterich, Leipzig 1939, new edition Scientia Verlag, Aalen 1962.
  • The etymology of rite. Olschki, Florence 1955.
  • Scripture and language of the Etruscans. In: Historia . Volume 6, Issue 1, 1957, pp. 34-52.
  • The Umbrian perfect in nki. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1958.
  • The calendar dates of the Agramer mummy bandages. In: Aegyptus. 39, 1959, pp. 340-355.
  • The inscription on the Situla Providence. In: Otto-Herman Frey (ed.): The Situla in Providence (Rhode Island). A contribution to the situle art of the Osthallstattkreis. Berlin 1962, pp. 85-86.
  • The Punic-Etruscan inscriptions from Pyrgi. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1966.
  • The possessive "s" in Etruscan. In: Glotta. 45, 1967, pp. 235-245.
  • The inscription of S. Manno and the plural v in Etruscan. In: Indo-European Research . 72, 1967, pp. 287-303.
  • Etruscan sounds and etera. In: Glotta. 46, 1968, pp. 212-227.
  • Some Etruscan forms on -cva and -chva. In: Commemorative letter W. Brandenstein. Innsbruck 1968, pp. 191–196.
  • Etruscan thu "one" and Indo-European du-o "two". In: Indo-European Research. 73, 1968, pp. 146-153.
  • Etruscan literature review. In: Glotta. 47, 1969, pp. 279-323.
  • Etruscan Literature Report II. Part 1969. The smaller inscriptions. In: Glotta. 48, 1970, pp. 260-294.
  • The Etruscan Hannibal inscription. In: Gymnasium. Journal of Ancient Culture and Humanistic Education. Volume 77, Issue 6, 1970.
  • The aisera problem. In: Studi Etruschi. 39, 1971, pp. 93-105.

literature

  • Karl Olzscha: From the farewell speech of the senior student adviser Dr. phil. habil. Karl Olzscha on March 12, 1964. In: The Johanneum. Announcements from the association of former students of the Johanneum Scholars' School. Hamburg, born 1964, issue 57, pp. 51–52. ( online )
  • Wolfgang Knauer, Bodo Zeuner: Dr. Karl Olzscha (praec. Joh. 1956–63) 1898–1970. In: The Johanneum. Announcements from the association of former students of the Johanneum Scholars' School. Hamburg, born 1971, issue 2, pp. 18-20. ( online )
  • Giuliano Bonfante , Larissa Bonfante : The Etruscan Language. An Introduction. 2nd Edition. Manchester University Press, Manchester / New York 2002, ISBN 0719055407 .
  • Miles Beckwith: Review of LB van der Meer, Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis. In: Rasenna: Journal of the Center for Etruscan Studies. Volume 1, Issue 1, Article 4, 2007.
  • Alessandro Naso (Ed.): Etruscology. Walter de Gruyter, Boston 2017, ISBN 9781934078488 .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Wolfgang Knauer, Bodo Zeuner: Dr. Karl Olzscha (praec. Joh. 1956–63) 1898–1970. P. 18.
  2. ↑ http://digital.ub.uni-duesseldorf.de/ulbdsp/periodical/titleinfo/7578969 (January 24, 2018)
  3. ^ Karl Olzscha: From the farewell speech of the senior student councilor Dr. phil. habil. Karl Olzscha on March 12, 1964. P. 51.
  4. ↑ a b Wolfgang Knauer, Bodo Zeuner: Dr. Karl Olzscha (praec. Joh. 1956–63) 1898–1970. P. 19.
  5. ↑ Alessandro Naso (Ed.): Etruscology. P. 105.
  6. ^ Giuliano Bonfante, Larissa Bonfante: The Etruscan Language. An Introduction. S. XIII.
  7. ^ Miles Beckwith: Review of LB van der Meer, Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis. P. 2
  8. ↑ Wolfgang Knauer, Bodo Zeuner: Dr. Karl Olzscha (praec. Joh. 1956–63) 1898–1970. P. 20.
personal data
SURNAME Olzscha, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German linguist
DATE OF BIRTH 1898
DATE OF DEATH November 7, 1970