Rolf Wilhelm Brednich is a German Europeanist ethnologist and ethnographer [Volkskundler] and folklorist.

Biography

Brednich studied Volkskunde, German studies

German studies

German studies is the field of humanities that researches, documents, and disseminates German language and literature in both its historic and present forms. Academic departments of German studies often include classes on German culture, German history, and German politics in addition to the...

, history

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

, and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at the universities of Tübingen

Tübingen

Tübingen is a traditional university town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.-Geography:...

 and Mainz

Mainz

Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

, in Germany, getting his doctorate from the latter with a dissertation entitled Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen.

Between 1963 and 1980 he was the leader of the Deutsches Volksliedarchiv in Freiburg. From 1965 through 1974 he was head of the commission for song, music and dance research within the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde. From 1969 und 1881, he taught at the Univversity of Freiburg, receiving his habilitation

Habilitation

Habilitation is the highest academic qualification a scholar can achieve by his or her own pursuit in several European and Asian countries. Earned after obtaining a research doctorate, such as a PhD, habilitation requires the candidate to write a professorial thesis based on independent...

 in 1973 with his
Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts.

In 1975 Brednich edited the Volkskunde-Bibliographie. In
1982 he became editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales

Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales

The Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales is a German reference work on international Folkloristics, which is anticipated to run to 14 volumes. It examines over two centuries of research into the folk narrative tradition...

 and co-editor of the journal Fabula. Between 1983 and 1999 he was head of the Volkskundliche Kommission für Niedersachsen e.V. and from 1991 through 1999 head of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkskunde e.V.. In 2000 he was designated Senior Honorary Research Fellow at Stout Centre of the Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington

Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...

 in New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. Since 2005 he has been Visiting Professor of Anthropology at the School of Social and Cultural Studies at that university. He has carried out research in Germany, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, and New Zealand.

Among the general German-speaking public, he made his name with collections of urban legends, starting with Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme.

Selected works

• Volkserzählungen und Volksglaube von den Schicksalsfrauen. Helsinki 1964
• Die Ebermannstädter Liederhandschrift. Kulmbach 1972
• Handbuch des Volksliedes. with Lutz Röhrich and Wolfgang Suppan, 2 volumes; Munich 1973/1975
• Die Liedpublizistik im Flugblatt des 15. bis 17. Jahrhunderts. 2 volumes; Baden-Baden 1974-75.
• Die Darfelder Liederhandschrift 1546-1565. Münster 1976.
• Deutsche Comics. Freiburg/Breisgau 1979.
• Die Brüder Grimm in Göttingen 1829-1837. Göttingen 1986.
• Die Spinne in der Yucca-Palme. Munich 1990.
• Die Maus im Jumbo-Jet. Munich 1991.
• Das Huhn mit dem Gipsbein. Munich 1993.
• Sagenhafte Geschichten von heute. München 1994.
• Die Ratte am Strohhalm. Munich 1996.
• Denkmale der Freundschaft. Göttinger Stammbuchkupfer - Quellen der Kulturgeschichte. Niedernjesa 1997.
• Die Hutterer. Freiburg i. Br. 1998
• Grundriß der Volkskunde. Berlin 2001.
• Neuseeland macht Spaß. MANA-Verlag, Berlin 2007.
• Tie und Anger. Historische Dorfplätze in Niedersachsen, Thüringen, Hessen und Franken. Friedland 2009.
• Pinguine in Rückenlage Munich.