Robert Priebsch (11 June 1866 - 25 May 1935) was a Bohemian-German philologist, paleographer, and expert on medieval literature in both Anglo-Saxon and other Germanic languages. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1895 or 1896, and embarked on a successful academic career, teaching first at the University of Liverpool and then acquiring a full professorship at University College, London, where he worked from 1898–1931 and served as chair of the German department from 1902–1931.
Robert Priebsch was born in Tannwald on 11 June 1866 in the Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire (modern Tanvald in the Czech Republic). He was the second of four sons, and his family were Sudeten Germans. He was afflicted by foot problems from an early age, an ailment that never left him, with the sole comfort that his difficulty in moving about lead to a lifetime love of reading books. He studied at the Realgymnasium of Reichenberg (Liberec) from 1879&ndas;1886, with the exception of 1882 where he studied at a German gymnasium in Neustadt-Prag. He proceeded to various German-speaking universities in the years afterward, studying German literature, Germanic mythology, philosophy, and the Anglo-Saxon language. He completed his doctoral thesis under Anton Schönbach at the University of Graz. [1]
Priebsch married in 1898. The couple had a daughter, Hannah, together. [1]
Priebsch moved to the United Kingdom in 1895 or 1896 in order to inspect and catalog medieval manuscripts in both public and private collections. His work impressed others as to his skill in German paleography, and he soon acquired a lecturer position at the University of Liverpool with the support of Kuno Meyer. Friedrich Althaus, a professor of German at University College London, died in 1897. Priebsch was hired to replace him; his tenure as professor would last from 1898 to 1931. He became chair of the German department in 1902, a position he held until retirement. [1] With one of his students, W. E. Collinson, he published The German Language (1934). [2] His two-volume Deutsche Handschriften in England (Erlangen 1896–1901) is a standard in the field. [3]
His extensive collection of books and manuscripts was left to his daughter Hannah and his son-in-law August Closs; [4] augmented significantly by Closs, the collection included 2300 volumes of 17th to 19th-century books which now comprise the Priebsch-Closs collection of the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies in London. [5]
His correspondence with Elias von Steinmeyer was edited and published by Closs. [2] [3]
Priebsch died on 25 May 1935 in a Waldsanatorium near Vienna. In his study, an incomplete work on the Letter from Heaven (Himmelsbrief) was found; it was published posthumously in 1936, including a full Bibliography of Priebsch's work. [1]
Karl Viktor Müllenhoff was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.
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Moritz Steinschneider was a Moravian bibliographer and Orientalist. He is credited as having invented the term antisemitism.
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August Max Closs was a professor of German studies. Born in Austria, he studied German and English language and literature, and in 1929 moved to London. There he taught at University College, and became friends with the German scholar Robert Priebsch, whose daughter Hannah he married. In 1931 he began teaching at the University of Bristol, where he stayed until his retirement in 1964. He was a prolific author on and editor and anthologizer of German poetry. In addition, he was a dedicated collector of manuscripts and books; part of his collection was sold to Princeton University, and the rest forms the Priebsch-Closs Collection Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies. He is remembered also for his efforts to bring about German-English reconciliation after the Second World War, especially between the cities of Bristol and Hannover.
Hannah Margaret Mary Closs (1905-1953) was an art critic and novelist. She wrote three novels and a book on aesthetics.
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Ernst Schwarz was an Austro-Hungarian-born German philologist who was Professor of Ancient German language and Literature at Charles University, and later Professor of Germanic and German Philology at the University of Erlangen–Nuremberg. Schwarz specialized in Germanic studies, especially dialectology and onomastics, with a particular focus on the Sudeten Germans.
Georg Paul Rudolf Meissner or Meißner or Meiszner was a German philologist who specialized in Germanic studies.
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