Adolf Wahrmund
Encyclopedia
Adolf Wahrmund was a German
orientalist
. He was born in Wiesbaden
, Germany
and died in Vienna
. From 1853 until 1861 he was at the Hofbibliothek, from 1862 he taught at the Orientalischen Akademie in Wien (Oriental Academy of Vienna). He fathered Ludwig Wahrmund.
Adolf Wahrmund was responsible for purchasing the bulk of the collection of the Austrian National Ethnographic Museum, and thus may be considered its founder.
Wahrmund was a passionate anti-Semite. In Das Gesetz des Nomadenthums und die heutige Judenherrschaft("The Law of the Nomad and Today's Jewish Dominion") he systematically compares the Jews to the Arab nomads of the Middle Eastern deserts, on the assumption, then common, that the Jews of Europe (as well as of the rest of the world) were racial relatives of the Arab Semites, and thus alien to the "Aryan
" West. Both, he suggests, aim to prosper by raiding and robbing. In one passage, he compares stock market raids by Jewish speculators to raids on desert caravans. The Jews, like the Arabs, aim at world domination, thus facing the beneficial (as Wahrmund sees it) aims of western imperialism. Wahrmund's solution is to deport Europe's Jews to areas set aside only for them. He believes that once they find themselves without others to attack, the Jews will "rip each other apart."
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
orientalist
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
. He was born in Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and died in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. From 1853 until 1861 he was at the Hofbibliothek, from 1862 he taught at the Orientalischen Akademie in Wien (Oriental Academy of Vienna). He fathered Ludwig Wahrmund.
Adolf Wahrmund was responsible for purchasing the bulk of the collection of the Austrian National Ethnographic Museum, and thus may be considered its founder.
Wahrmund was a passionate anti-Semite. In Das Gesetz des Nomadenthums und die heutige Judenherrschaft("The Law of the Nomad and Today's Jewish Dominion") he systematically compares the Jews to the Arab nomads of the Middle Eastern deserts, on the assumption, then common, that the Jews of Europe (as well as of the rest of the world) were racial relatives of the Arab Semites, and thus alien to the "Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
" West. Both, he suggests, aim to prosper by raiding and robbing. In one passage, he compares stock market raids by Jewish speculators to raids on desert caravans. The Jews, like the Arabs, aim at world domination, thus facing the beneficial (as Wahrmund sees it) aims of western imperialism. Wahrmund's solution is to deport Europe's Jews to areas set aside only for them. He believes that once they find themselves without others to attack, the Jews will "rip each other apart."
Publications
- Das Gesetz des Nomadenthums und die heutige Judenherrschaft— (1874–1877)
- Handwörterbuch der neuarabischen und deutschen Sprache, 3 volumes — Pocket Dictionary of the Arab and German Languages (1874–1877)
- Praktisches Handbuch der neupersischen Sprache — Practical Handbook of the Persian Language (1875)
- Praktisches Handbuch der osmanisch-türkischen Sprache — Practical Handbook of the Turkish Language (1884)
- Also dramaDramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
s and poems