Rudolf Much | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1862-09-07)7 September 1862 |
| Died | 8 March 1936(1936-03-08) (aged 73) Vienna,Austria |
| Nationality | Austrian |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | Zur Vorgeschichte Deutschlands (1887) |
| Academic advisors | Richard Heinzel |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | |
| Institutions |
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| Notable students | |
| Main interests | Germanic Antiquity |
| Notable works | Die Germania des Tacitus (1937) |
Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian who specialized inGermanic studies. Much was Professor and Chair ofGermanic Linguistic History andGermanic Antiquity at theUniversity of Vienna, during which he tutored generations of students and published a number of influential works, some of which have remained standard works up to the present day.
Rudolf Much was born inVienna,Austria on 7 September 1862. He was the son of the lawyer Dr.Matthäus Much (1832–1909), who was also a prehistorian. At an early age, Much gained extensive knowledge of ancient history form his father. From 1880 he studiedclassical philology,German philology andNordic philology at theUniversity of Vienna. Passing his exams with great distinction, Much gained his PhD in 1887 with the dissertationOn the Prehistory of Germany (Zur Vorgeschichte Deutschlands), and completed hishabilitation inGermanic studies in 1892–1893 with a thesis onGermania.[1]
Since 1901, was Assistant Professor ofCeltic andGermanic Antiquity andScandinavian Language andLiterature at the University of Vienna. Since, 1904, Much served as Associate Professor, and then Professor of Germanic Linguistic History and Antiquity (Germanische Sprachgeschichte und Altertumskunde) at the University of Vienna. In this capacity he was also tasked with lecturing on Scandinavian literature. Throughout his academic career, Much served on the committees of many scholarly committees and was the editor of several scholarly journals. He declined to be the editor of the first edition of theReallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, to which he was nevertheless one of the most important contributors.
Much retired from his Chair as Professor Emeritus in 1934, but continued to lecture at the University. A popular professor, Much acquired a large following of students at the University of Vienna, many of whom would later acquire prominent positions in the field.[1] Students of Wolfram includeOtto Höfler,Julius Pokorny,Walter Steinhauser,Richard Wolfram,Siegfried Gutenbrunner,Dietrich Kralik, Eberhard Kranzmayer,Lily Weiser-Aall,Gilbert Trathnigg andRobert Stumpfl. Accordingly, Much's pan-German stance and perceptions had a profound uptake and dissemination in the fields ofGerman ethnology,German dialectology,German linguistics and, most directly, German pre-medieval studies ("Deutsche Altertumskunde") that is lasting, often in unexpressed ways via one of his many students,[2] to the present via an unbroken chain[3] of knowledge transmission.[4]
Much's research centered on Germanic studies. He was particularly interested inGermanic linguistics,Germanic paganism, relationships between theGermanic peoples and Celts, the origins of Germanic peoples, and the origin of the ethnonymGermani.[1]
Much believed the Germanic peoples had originated inScandinavia, to where their ancestors had migrated at an unknown point in time from theProto-Indo-European homeland. Much was unsure of the location of the Proto-Indo-European homeland, but sympathized with theories suggesting a north-central European location. He believedGermani had originally been the name of one Germanic tribe, which had subsequently been applied by outsiders to the Germanic peoples as a whole.[1]
Much'sDie Germania des Tacitus (1937), is considered the standard work onGermania byTacitus, and continues to the basis for modern research on this book.[1]
Much was aGerman nationalist. He was in contact with thePan-German movement ofGeorg Ritter von Schönerer, and was a member of theDeutsche Gemeinschaft. Much converted fromRoman Catholicism toProtestantism in 1893.[1]
Much never joined a political party, as he considered that incompatible with being a scholar. Much opposed the politicization of scholarship, and for this reason, he protested vigorously against appointing Nazis to positions at the University of Vienna. His son, the physician Horand Much, was executed by the Nazis in 1943.[1]
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