Adolf Holtzmann

Adolf Holtzmann (2 May 1810 in Karlsruhe – 3 July 1870 in Heidelberg) was a German professor and philologist. His name is associated with a Proto-Germanic sound law known as Holtzmann's law.

Adolf Holtzmann
Adolf Holtzmann
Born	(1810-05-02)2 May 1810 Karlsruhe
Died	3 July 1870(1870-07-03) (aged 60) Heidelberg
Education	University of Halle
Alma mater	Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin
Known for	Holtzmann's law
Spouse	Luise
Scientific career
Fields	Philology
Institutions	Heidelberg University
Academic advisors	Friedrich Schleiermacher

He studied theology at the University of Halle and the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Berlin, where he was a student of Friedrich Schleiermacher. He later studied philology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where his influences included Johann Andreas Schmeller. Holtzmann also attended classes at the University of Paris given by Eugène Burnouf, and beginning in 1837, spent a number of years working as a tutor to members of Baden royalty. From 1852, he was a professor of German literature and Sanskrit at Heidelberg University, and a notable philologist of his day.

Holtzmann was the father-in-law of Albrecht Kossel, German biochemist and 1910 Nobel laureate, by his marriage to Holtzmann's daughter, Luise, in 1886.

Selected works

• Ueber den griechischen Ursprung des indischen Thierkreises, 1841 – On the Greek origin of the Indian zodiac.
• Über den Umlaut. Zwei Abhandlungen, 1843 – On umlaut: two treatises.
• Über den Ablaut, 1844 – On ablaut.
• Beiträge zur Erklärung der persischen Keilinschriften, 1845 – Contributions to the explanation of Persian cuneiform inscriptions.
• Indische Sagen, 1st part 1845 and 3rd part 1847 (2nd ed. in two volumes 1854) – Indian legends.
• Untersuchungen über das Nibelungenlied, 1854 – Investigations of the "Nibelungenlied".
• Kelten und Germanen. Eine historische Untersuchung, 1855 – Celts and Germans, a historical study.
• Der große Wolfdieterich, 1865 – Wolfdietrich.
• Altdeutsche Grammatik, umfassend die gotische, altnordische, altsächsische Sprache, 1870-75 (with Alfred Holder) – Old Germanic grammar; spanning Gothic, Old Norse and Old Saxon.
• Germanische Alterthümer. Mit Text, Übersetzung und Erklärung von Tacitus Germania, 1873 – Germanic antiquities with text, translation and explanation of Tacitus' "Germania".
• Deutsche Mythologie, 1874 (edited by Alfred Holder; published posthumously) – German mythology.

See also

• Holtzmann's law

External links

• Works by or about Adolf Holtzmann at the Internet Archive