Hermann Bausinger
Hermann Bausinger (17 September 1926 – 24 November 2021) was a German cultural scientist. He was professor and head of the Ludwig Uhland Institute for empirical cultural science at the University of Tübingen from 1960 to 1992. The institute has focused on the culture of everyday life, the history of traditions, and the research of narration patterns and dialects. His history of literature from Swabia from the 18th century to the present was published for his 90th birthday. Early life. Born in Aalen, the son of a bank director ("Bankvorstand"), he was drafted into the Wehrmacht at age 17 , and subsequently became a prisoner-of-war. When he returned in 1946, he completed his "Abitur" at the in Aalen. He studied German studies, English studies, history and cultural studies (then called "Volkskunde"), graduating with the state exam in all four disciplines at the University of Tübingen in 1952. He was promoted to the doctorate in 1953, and habilitated in 1959. His habilitation work, "Volkskultur in der technischen Welt" ("Folk culture in a world of technology"), appeared in translations in English, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese. Career. Bausinger was appointed professor of "Volkskunde" at the university in 1962, at an  institute founded under the Nazi regime. He redirected it towards empirical cultural science ("Empirische Kulturwissenschaft"), successfully eliminating the "Völkisch" aspect that the Nazis had promoted, and also shifting the focus of the institute towards cultural studies of contemporary culture. In addition, he renamed the institute in 1971 after Ludwig Uhland, and headed it until he was emerited in 1992. The institute researched the culture of everyday life, the history of traditions and social developments, narration patterns, dialects and regional geography, including modern features such as pedestrian areas. Bausinger became a foreign member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters  in 1993, and a member of the Academia Europaea in 1994. He published, together with Walter Jens, an anthology of speeches related to Uhland, "Unser Uhland". He wrote a history of the literature of Swabia from the 18th century, with Wieland and Schubart, to contemporary writers such as Sibylle Lewitscharoff and Anna Katharina Hahn, which appeared for his 90th birthday. Bausinger was a longtime head of the jury of the Schubart-Literaturpreis of his hometown, which was founded in 1956, and which he joined in 1962. Personal life. He was married to Brigitte Bausinger, also a cultural scientist. Bausinger died  in Reutlingen at the age of 95.