Rudolf Much

Rudolf Much
Rudolf Much
Born	7 September 1862; Vienna, Austrian Empire
Died	8 March 1936 (aged 73); Vienna, Austria
Nationality	Austrian
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Vienna;
Thesis	Zur Vorgeschichte Deutschlands (1887)
Academic advisors	Richard Heinzel
Academic work
Discipline	Classical philology; Germanic philology;
Institutions	University of Vienna;
Notable students	Otto Höfler; Julius Pokorny; Walter Steinhauser; Richard Wolfram; Siegfried Gutenbrunner; Dietrich Kralik; Lily Weiser-Aall; Gilbert Trathnigg; Robert Stumpfl;
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 in

Germanic Antiquity at the University 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.

Biography

Rudolf Much was born in

Germanic studies in 1892–1893 with a thesis on Germania.^[1]

Since 1901, was Assistant Professor of

Reallexikon 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 include Otto Höfler, Julius Pokorny, Walter Steinhauser, Richard Wolfram, Siegfried Gutenbrunner, Dietrich Kralik, Lily Weiser-Aall, Gilbert Trathnigg and Robert Stumpfl.

Research

Much's research centered on Germanic studies. He was particularly interested in

Germani.^[1]

Much believed the Germanic peoples had originated in Scandinavia, to where their ancestors had migrated at an unknown point in time from the Proto-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 believed Germani 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's Die Germania des Tacitus (1937), is considered the standard work on Germania by Tacitus, and continues to the basis for modern research on this book.^[1]

Personal life

Much was a

Roman Catholicism to Protestantism 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]

Selected works

Rudolf Much in a Zille, 1932

Rudolf Much at work, 1935

Deutsche Stammsitze − ein Beitrag zur ältesten Geschichte Deutschlands. Niemeyer, Halle a. S. 1892.
Der germanische Himmelsgott. Niemeyer, Halle a. S. 1898.
Deutsche Stammeskunde. Göschen, Leipzig, Berlin (u.a.) 1900.
Der Name Germanen. Hölder, Wien 1920.
Die Germania des Tacitus, erläutert von Rudolf Much; Winter, Heidelberg 1937, 3. Auflage unter Bearbeitung durch Wolfgang Lange und Herbert Jankuhn, 1967.