Wilhelm Havers

Wilhelm Maria Hubert Havers (born January 5, 1879 in Aachen , † March 2, 1961 in Vienna ) was a German-Austrian linguist , especially Indo-European .

Life

Origin and education

Wilhelm Havers was born on January 5, 1879 in Aachen as the son of the main teacher Johann Josef Havers (1849–1928) and his wife Maria Agnes Havers (née Spiertz, 1851–1879). After graduating from Kaiser-Karls-Gymnasium in his hometown in Easter 1899, Havers devoted himself to studying philology and linguistics in Tübingen , Munich and Münster . In 1903 Havers passed the state examination for classical philology at the University of Münster .

From 1903 to 1905, Havers continued his studies at the University of Leipzig , in what was then the "capital" of Indo-European Studies. On 13 December 1905 he was with a dissertation on The pronoun That deixis in Greek doctorate . In his curriculum vitae in the appendix to his dissertation, he names the following teachers: “The following professors taught him: Bohnenberger, Brugmann, v. Christ, Furtwängler, v. Herzog, Hirt, Hosius, Jostes, Kuhn, Leskien, Lindner, Marquart, Meister, v. Müller, Paul, v. Schwabe, Schmid, Sievers, Sonnenburg, Stahl, Storck (†), Streitberg, Weymann, Windisch. "

This was followed by a seminar year from Easter 1905 to Easter 1906, the two-year school trial year from Easter 1906 to Easter 1908, and one year of military service .

Scientific career

Nevertheless, Havers found time in the academic year 1908/1909 to deepen his studies at the Friedrich Wilhelms University in Berlin . On December 18, 1909 , Havers completed his habilitation with studies on the case syntax of the Indo-European languages with Albert Thumb at the University of Strasbourg . On May 2, 1913, at the instigation of Karl Brugmann, the rehabilitation took place in Leipzig . From 1909 to 1915 he taught as a private lecturer at both universities - Strasbourg and Leipzig . In 1914 Havers was called up for military service as a lieutenant in the reserve . He was wounded right at the beginning of the First World War .

On October 1, 1915 it reached the appointment to the University of Bern as a professor of Indo-European linguistics and classical philology . Since he initially had to continue serving as an officer , he was only able to meet the call in autumn 1917. On January 22, 1917, Wilhelm Havers married Maria Christina, née Ommer. Four children were born to them.

As early as July 21, 1920 Havers received a call to the University of Würzburg , which he obeyed on October 1, 1920. On October 1, 1929, Havers moved to the University of Breslau as a full professor .

The Viennese years

Finally, on October 1, 1937, he succeeded Paul Kretschmer as full professor for general and Indo-European linguistics at the University of Vienna , where he also took care of English studies due to a longer vacancy in the 1940s . Havers was a member of the National Socialist Teachers League , the National Socialist People's Welfare and Reichsluftschutzbund . However, the fact that he was not a member of the NS organization "responsible" for him as a university professor, the National Socialist German Lecturers ' Association, suggests a distance from the NS regime. This is also supported by the fact that he was appointed to the “special commission” that decided in 1945/1946 on measures to be taken by professors close to the Nazis. Havers himself had previously been classified as unencumbered ("not objectionable"), so that he did not have to go through a denazification process.

In 1950, after his retirement, Havers was awarded the title of honorary professor. This made it possible to continue to offer studies in Indo-European Studies in Vienna. At that time there was no suitable successor available in Austria, and appointments from abroad were de facto excluded at the time. Havers fulfilled this task until his final retirement in 1953.

Wilhelm Havers died on March 2, 1961 in Vienna after numerous honors.

family

Havers married a woman named Maria, née Ommers, who came from Lindlar . She was the daughter of the baker, retailer and innkeeper Karl Ommer (1857-1948) and a granddaughter of the innkeeper Christian Ommer (1820-1900). From this marriage came the son Leo Havers (1919–1989), who, as professor of anesthesia at the University of Bonn, built up the first area of ​​anesthesia there.

Awards

• 1959 Austrian Decoration of Honor for Science and Art
• 1960 City of Vienna Prize for Humanities

Fonts (selection)

• Investigations into the case syntax of the Indo-European languages . Trübner, Strasbourg 1911.
• The distinction between conditions and driving forces in the study of human speech. Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1928 (special print from: Germanisch-Romanische Monatsschrift , vol. 16 (1928), pp. 13–31).
• Explanatory Syntax Manual. An attempt to research the conditions and driving forces in syntax and style . Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1931.
• Newer literature on language taboo (= Academy of Sciences in Vienna , Philosophical-Historical Class, Session Reports, 223rd Volume, 5th Treatise). Rohrer, Vienna 1946.
• On the origin of a so-called sacred u-element in the Indo-European languages . Vienna 1947 (special print from: Anzeiger der Philosophisch-Historischen Klasse of the Austrian Academy of Sciences , No. 15 (1947), pp. 139–165).

Furthermore, Wilhelm Havers wrote around 50 articles in magazines and edited volumes.

literature

• Georg Renatus Solta :  Havers, Wilhelm. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 8, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1969, ISBN 3-428-00189-3 , p. 137 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Heinz Kronasser : Festschrift for Wilhelm Havers. For completion of the eightieth year of life (= Die Sprach , Volume 6, ISSN  0376-401X ). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden / Verlag der Wiener Sprachgesellschaft, Vienna 1960, Swets & Zeitlinger, Amsterdam 1966 [© 1949] OCLC 18810521 (German, English, French, First published in 1949 as a separate publication of the " Die Sprache ", Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft , volume 1).
• Roman Pfefferle, Hans Pfefferle: Lightly denazified, the professorships of the University of Vienna from 1944 in the post-war years, with professor portraits (= University of Vienna , archive: writings of the archives of the University of Vienna , Volume 18), V & R Unipress, Göttingen / Vienna University Press , Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-8471-0275-5 / ISBN 978-3-8470-0275-8 (online edition as e-book , chargeable), pp. 77, 94, 116, 290.

Web links

• Literature by and about Wilhelm Havers in the catalog of the German National Library
• Overview of the courses of Wilhelm Havers at the University of Leipzig (winter semester 1913 to summer semester 1914)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roman Pfefferle, Hans Pfefferle: Glowly denazified. The professorships at the University of Vienna from 1944 in the post-war years . Vienna University Press, Vienna 2014, ISBN 978-3-8471-0275-5 , p. 290.
2. ↑ Roman Pfefferle, Hans Pfefferle: Glowly denazified. The professorships at the University of Vienna from 1944 in the post-war years . Vienna University Press, Vienna 2014, pp. 77 and 116.
3. ↑ Roman Pfefferle, Hans Pfefferle: Glowly denazified. The professorships at the University of Vienna from 1944 in the post-war years . Vienna University Press, Vienna 2014, p. 94.
4. ↑ Jan Carstensen: A humanist and gentleman served medicine and culture - Prof. Leo Havers - doctor and friend of the homeland, connected with Lindlar. Rheinisch-Bergischer calendar 1992. Heider-Verlag Bergisch Gladbach. Page 212.