Otto Höfler

Otto Höfler
Born	(1901-05-10)10 May 1901 Vienna,Austria-Hungary
Died	25 August 1987(1987-08-25)(aged 86) Vienna,Austria
Nationality	Austrian
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Thesis	Altnordische Lehnwortstudien(1926)
Academic advisors	Rudolf Much Andreas Heusler
Influences	Georges Dumézil
Academic work
Discipline	Philology
Sub-discipline	Germanic philology
Institutions	University of Vienna University of Munich
Doctoral students	Otto Gschwantler Helmut Birkhan Peter Wiesinger Edith Marold Hermann Reichert Waltraud Hunke Wolfgang Lange
Notable students	Heinrich Beck Klaus Düwel
Main interests	Early Germanic culture Medieval German literature Old Norse literature
Influenced	Stig Wikander Georges Dumézil

Otto Eduard Gotfried Ernst Höfler(10 May 1901 – 25 August 1987) was an Austrian philologist who specialized inGermanic studies.A student ofRudolf Much,Höfler was Professor and Chair ofGerman Languageand OldGerman Literatureat theUniversity of Vienna.Höfler was also aNazifrom 1922 and a member of theSS Ahnenerbebefore theSecond World War.Höfler was a close friend ofGeorges DumézilandStig Wikander,with whom he worked closely on developing studies onIndo-European society.He tutored a significant number of future prominent scholars at Vienna, and was the author of works onearly Germanic culture.Julia Zernackrefers to him as the "perhaps most famous and probably most controversial representative" of the "Vienna School" of Germanic studies founded by Much.

Early life and education

Otto Höfler was born inViennaon 10 May 1901 to a highly educatedupper middle classfamily. His father,Alois Höfler,was Professor ofPhilosophyandPedagogyat theUniversity of Vienna.Alois was a passionate admirer ofRichard Wagner,and the author of a book on theGermanicgodOdin.Otto's mother, Auguste Dornhöffer, was fromBayreuthand also a Wagner admirer.

Höfler studiedGermanandNordic philologyat the University of Vienna from 1920 to 1921 underRudolf Much.Höfler joined theWiener Akademischer Verein der Germanisten,avölkischgroup of German academics in 1921. He joined the AustrianNazi Partyin 1922 after hearing Hitler speak in Vienna.

He subsequently continued his studies in Nordic philology at the universities ofLund,Kiel(underAndreas Heusler),MarburgandBasel.He completed hisPhDat the University of Vienna in 1926 with the dissertationAltnordische Lehnwortstudien,which examined loanwords inOld Norse.

Career

From 1928 to 1934, Höfler was a lecturer inGermanatUppsala University.At Uppsala, Höfler befriended the fellow philologistsStig WikanderandGeorges Dumézil,who would remain lifelong friends and intellectual collaborators.He completed hishabilitationat the University of Vienna in 1931 with the dissertationKultische Geheimbünde der Germanen,which examinedsecret societiesof the earlyGermanic peoples.It had a major influence on the future research of Wikander and Dumézil, who would later examine similar societies amongIndo-IraniansandIndo-Europeans.

From 1935 he lectured at the University of Kiel. In that same year he became a member of the selection committee for theReichsberufswettkampf,an organization associated with theSS.From 1938, Höfler was Professor and Chair ofGermanic Philology and Ethnologyat theUniversity of Munich.Also in 1938, he became a leader of theSS Ahnenerbe,an organization he had joined in 1937,and which was partially responsible for him receiving his position in Munich.His research centered onearly Germanic culture,particularlyearly Germanic religionandliterature.HöflersDeutsche Heldensage(1941), which examinedMedieval German literature,was highly influential, and republished in 1961. Höfler argued in favor of cultural continuity between modernGermansand earlyGermanic peoples.

Höfler was fired from the University of Munich in 1945, and was subsequently prohibited from teaching. In 1950, he received a license to teachScandinavian studies.In 1954, Höfler was appointed Associate Professor of Nordic Philology and Germanic Antiquity at the University of Munich. Although nominally Associate Professor, Höfler was for all practical purposes a full Professor during this time. Among his notable students at Munich wereHeinrich BeckandOtto Gschwantler.

In 1957, Höfler was appointed Professor and Chair ofGerman Languageand OldGerman Literatureat the University of Vienna.Gschwantler accompanied him as an assistant, and would eventually become a full professor. A talented and highly popular teacher, Höfler taught and supervised a generation of very influential scholars at Vienna, includingHelmut Birkhan,Hermann Reichert,Peter Wiesinger,Erika Kartschoke,Edith Marold,Klaus Düwel,Waltraud HunkeandWolfgang Lange.A group of Höfler's most dedicated students, which included Gschwantler, Birkhan, Wiesinger and Kartschoke, were affectionately known as theDrachenrunde.Highly sociable, Höfler played an important role at the university as a host of seminaries and parties at hisvineyard,and arranged memorable excursions toRavennaand other places, which were attended by his students and fellow professors and friends, such asRichard WolframandEberhard Kranzmayer.

Retirement and death

Höfler retired from teaching 1971, but continued to teach and research.After his retirement, Höfler worked on refining his earlier theories, and authored extensive studies onDietrich von BernandSiegfried,the two most important characters in Medieval German literature. He argued that Siegfried was derived from the Germanic chieftainArminius,who defeated theRoman armyin theBattle of the Teutoburg Forestin 9 AD.

Höfler died in Vienna on 25 August 1987.

Legacy

Höfler's scholarship and legacy are controversial.Höfler had a major influence on Georges Dumézil'strifunctional hypothesisofIndo-European society.He worked closely with Dumézil and scholars such as Stig Wikander,Émile BenvenisteandJan de Vrieson developing study onIndo-European mythology,and has been credited with having significantly contributed to reviving the field ofcomparative mythology.According to Price, though Höfler's early career was shaped by the political changes of the times, the actual content of his works were of high quality and not tainted by political bias.Rowe says that though criticized by some, Höfler's key theories has never been refuted.Price argues Höfler's research has continued to be of great relevance up to the present day.

On the other hand,Julia Zernackargues that Höfler’s work is "an example of the self-subjugation of Germanic scholarship to völkisch-nationalistic and National Socialistic ideologies."Jan Hirschbiegel argues that Höfler's work served less to uncover new academic knowledge than to create an ideological foundation for the Nazi state,that Höfler's cultic group of Odin's warriors was meant as spiritual predecessor of the Nazi "death cult" and its "death symbolism",and that Höfler never distanced himself from thevölkischelements of his earlier work.Wolfgang Behringer andKlaus von Seesimilarly point to hisKultische Geheimbünde der Germanenas, in Behringer's words, a "sensationalist apology for the SS".Courtney Marie Burrell writes that while several of Höfler's ideas have become popular or achieved consensus in scholarship as of 2023, the scholars who have accepted them ignore the ideological background of Höfler's theories, the essentially unprovable nature of his main theses, and the objections of other folklorists.

Selected works

Otto Höfler lecturing his predecessorDietrich Kralikand students during an excursion to theMausoleum of TheodoricinRavenna,Italy

Otto Höfler congratulating the family of his studentOtto Gschwantleras Gschwantler is awarded theSub auspiciis Praesidentisby PresidentAdolf Schärffor outstanding scholarship

• Kultische Geheimbünde der Germanen,1934
• Das germanische Kontinuitätsproblem,1937
• Die politische Leistung der Völkerwanderungszeit,1937
• Friedrich Gundolf und das Judentum in der Literaturwissenschaft,1940
• Deutsche Heldensage,1941
• Germanisches Sakralkönigtum,1952
• Balders Bestattung und die nordischen Felszeichnungen,1952
• Zur Diskussion über den Rökstein,1954
• Das Opfer im Semnonenhain und die Edda,1952
• Goethes Homunculus,1963
• Verwandlungskulte, Volkssagen und Mythen,1973
• Theoderich der Große und sein Bild in der Sage,1975
• Siegfried, Arminius und der Nibelungenhort,1978
• Kleine Schriften,1992

See also

Sketch of Otto Höfler playing theflutelikeOrpheus

• Helmut Birkhan
• Robert Nedoma
• Rudolf Simek
• Herwig Wolfram
• Walter Steinhauser
• Franz Rolf Schröder
• Hans Kuhn (philologist)
• Werner Betz
• Kurt Schier
• Dietrich Kralik
• Blanka Horacek
• Friedrich Ranke
• Dennis Howard Green

Sources

• Beck, Heinrich(2000)."Höfler".Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde(in German). Vol. 15.Walter de Gruyter.pp. 30–34.ISBN3110166496.
• Behringer, Wolfgang (1998). "Das" Ahnenerbe "der Buchgesellschaft. Zum Neudruck einer Germanen-Edition des NS-Ideologen Otto Höfler".SoWi. Sozialwissenschaftliche Informationen. Das Journal für Geschichte, Politik, Wirtschaft und Kultur.27(4): 283–290.
• Birkhan, Otto(13 November 2016)."Nachrufe auf Univ.-Prof. Dr. Otto Gschwantler".University of Vienna.RetrievedSeptember 6,2020.
• Hirschbiegel, Jan (1992)."Die 'germanische Kontinuitätstheorie' Otto Höflers".Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Schleswig-Holsteinische Geschichte.117:181–198.
• Birkhan, Helmut;Gschwantler, Otto,eds. (1968).Festschrift Für Otto Höfler Zum 65. Geburtstag(in German). Verlag Notring.
• Birkhan, Helmut,ed. (1976).Festgabe für Otto Höfler zum 75. Geburtstag.Philologica Germanica(in German). Vol. 3. W. Braumüller.ISBN3700301316.
• Burrell, Courtney Marie (2023).Otto Höfler’s Characterisation of the Germanic Peoples: From Sacred Men’s Bands to Social Daemonism.de Gruyter.doi:10.1515/9783111032917.
• Lincoln, Bruce(1999).Theorizing Myth: Narrative, Ideology, and Scholarship.University of Chicago Press.ISBN0226482022.
• Price, Neil(2019).The Viking Way: Magic and Mind in Late Iron Age Scandinavia.Oxbow Books.ISBN978-1842172605.
• Rowe, Elizabeth Ashman(2005)."Germanic Religion: History of Study".In Jones, Lindsay (ed.).Encyclopedia of Religion.Vol. 5 (2 ed.).Macmillan Reference USA.pp. 3458–3461.ISBN0-02-865997-X.
• Zernack, Julia (2018). "On the Concept of 'Germanic' Religion and Myth". In Clunies Ross, Margaret (ed.).The Pre-Christian Religions of the North: Research and Reception, Volume II: From c. 1830 to the Present.pp. 527–542.

External links

• Otto Höflerat the website of theUniversity of Vienna