Celtic Studies in The German-speaking World and The Netherlands
German Celtic studies (Keltologie) is seen by many as having been established by Johann Kaspar Zeuss (1806–1856) (see above). In 1847, he was appointed as a professor of linguistics in Munich. Until the middle of the 19th century, Celtic studies progressed largely as a subfield of linguistics. Franz Bopp (1791–1867) carried out further studies in comparative linguistics to link the Celtic languages to the Proto-Indo-European language. He is credited with having finally proven Celtic to be a branch of the Indo-European language family. From 1821 to 1864, he served as a professor of oriental literature and general linguistics in Berlin.
In 1896, Kuno Meyer and Ludwig Christian Stern founded the Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie (ZCP), the first academic journal solely devoted to aspects of Celtic languages and literature and still in existence today. In the second half of the century, significant contributions were made by the Orientalist Ernst Windisch (1844–1918). He held a chair in Sanskrit at the University of Leipzig, however is most remembered for his numerous publications in the field of Celtic studies. In 1901, the Orientalist and Celtologist Heinrich Zimmer (1851–1910) was made professor of Celtic languages at Friedrich Wilhelm University in Berlin, the first position of its kind in Germany. He was followed in 1911 by Kuno Meyer (1858–1919), who, in addition to numerous publications in the field, was active in the Irish independence movement.
Perhaps the most important German speaking Celticist is the Swiss scholar Rudolf Thurneysen (1857–1940). A student of Windisch and Zimmer, Thurneysen was appointed to the chair of comparative linguistics at Freiberg in 1887; the succeeded to the equivalent chair in Bonn in 1913. His notability arises from his work on Old Irish. For his masterwork, Handbuch des Altirischen (1909, meaning "Handbook of Old Irish"), translated into English as A Grammar of Old Irish, he located and analysed a multitude of Old Irish manuscripts. His work is considered as the basis for all succeeding studies of Old Irish.
In 1920, Julius Pokorny (1887–1970) was appointed to the chair of Celtic languages at Berlin. Despite his support for German nationalism and Catholic faith, he was forced out of his position by the Nazis on account of his Jewish ancestry. He subsequently emigrated to Switzerland and returned to Germany again in 1955 to teach at Munich. In Berlin, he was succeeded in 1937 by Ludwig Mühlhausen, a devout Nazi.
After the World War II, German Celtic studies took place predominantly in West Germany and Austria. Studies in the field continued at Freiburg, Bonn, Marburg, Hamburg as well as Innsbruck, however an independent professorship for Celtic studies has not yet been arranged anywhere. In this period, Hans Hartmann, Heinrich Wagner and Wolfgang Meid made notable contributions to the scientific understanding of the boundaries of the Celtic language area and the location of the homeland of the Celtic peoples. In East Germany, the Berlin chair in Celtic languages has not been occupied since 1966.
Today, Celtic studies is only taught at a handful of German universities, including those of Bonn, Trier, and Mannheim. the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, and the Philipps University of Marburg. It is also taught at the University of Vienna. Only Marburg, Vienna and Bonn maintain formal programs of study, however even then as a subsection of comparative or general linguistics. No Celtic studies research has taken place in the former centres of Freiberg, Hamburg or Berlin since the 1990s. The last remaining chair in Celtic studies, that at Humboldt University in Berlin, was abolished in 1997.
The only Chair of Celtic studies in Continental Europe is at Utrecht University (the Netherlands). It was established in 1923, when Celtic studies were added to the Chair of Germanic studies on the special request of its new professor A.G. van Hamel.
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“I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, a plant, an inanimate object, indeed lost to us until the day, which for some never arrives, when we find that we pass near the tree, or come to possess the object which is their prison. Then they quiver, call us, and as soon as we have recognized them, the spell is broken. Freed by us, they have vanquished death and return to live with us.”
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