BRUNNHOFER, Gottlieb Hermann. Aarau 16.3.(21.3.?)1841 — Munich 28.10.1916. Swiss Indo-Iranian Scholar. Son of Gottlieb Br., a knifesmith, and Elisabeth Obrist. After Gymnasium in Aarau, studies of Philosophy at Zürich, Bonn, and Berlin, where Weber locked him to Indology. In 1866 assistant to Monier Williams in Oxford, 1867 to Max Müller for the Ṛgveda edition. In 1867 returned to Switzerland, taught two years in Frick, then at teachers’ school of Aargau. Ph.D. 1871 Zürich. From 1873 Librarian of Cantonal Library, Aarau. In 1889 moved to Courland, where he taught at the gymnasium of Goldingen (now Kuldĩga in Latvia), then invited by prince Uhtomskij to St.Petersburg to translate the Indian journal of the Czarevich into German. In 1899 came to Berlin, 1901 back to Switzerland. From 1901 taught prehistory and historic geography of the Orient, soon also Russian language, at Zürich University. In 1906 he was given a chair of Historic topography, in 1908 Professor’s title. Retired in 1914, lived first in Basel, and from January 1915 in Munich. Married 1876 Albertina Eggimann, at least one son.
Brunnhofer was an IE scholar who tried to explain the prehistory of IE peoples. For this purpose he studied the Ṛgveda and tried to find references to other countries in it. He became known of his bold hypotheses, which not often found support among colleagues. The original home of IE peoples he located in Armenia, and the Ṛgveda was supposedly written in Iran and dated between 3000–2000 BCE. The samudra in the Ṛgveda is identical with Caspian, also mentioned as Kaśyapa. In Ṛgveda 5, 19 vavri is Babylon, and Uṣas is Semiramis! He found Semitic, Altaic, and even Finno-Ugric words in the Veda. The Buddha should be a “Turanian”. At least to some extent his ideas were understood by Ludwig, and with much more caution by Hillebrandt. He was a humanist and participated in the peace movement. In 1884 he published a play entitled “Wetterprophet” under the pseudonym Alfred Werder.
Publications: Diss. Γάλα (Γάλακτος), Lac (Lactis), der graecoitalische Name der Milch. 44 p. Aarau 1871.
– Über den Geist der indischen Lyrik, mit Originalübersetzungen aus der Hymnensammlung des Rigveda, den Spruchdichtern und Halt’s Anthologie volkstümlicher Liebeslieder. 8+46 p. Lp. 1882.
– Die Indienfahrer Anquetil Duperron. 39 p. Öff. Vortr. geh. in der Schweiz 7. Basel 1883; Über den Ursitz der Indogermanen. 28 p. Ibid. 8:5. Basel 1884.
– “Über das gegenseitige Verhältniss der beiden Kâṇḍagruppen des Çatapaṭha-Brâhmaṇa”, BB 10, 1886, 234-266; “Über Dialektspuren im vedischen Gebrauche der Infinitivformen”, KZ 25, 1881, 329-377; “Emendationen zum Rigveda”, BB 26, 1901, 76-101, 145-147, & 168; “Worterklärungen zum Rigveda”, BB 26, 1901, 101-109; small articles on Indian, Iranian and IE philology, on Russia, on Giordano Bruno etc.
– Urgeschichte der Arier in Vorder- und Zentralasien. 1. Iran und Turan. Historisch-geographische und ethnologische Untersuchungen über den Aeltesten Schauplatz der indischen Urgeschichte. 27+250 p. Lp. 1889; 2. Vom Pontus bis zum Indus. Hist.-geogr. und ethnol. Skizzen. 23+223 p. Lp. 1890; 3. Vom Aral zur Ganga. Hist.-geogr. und ethnol. Skizzen. 25+245 p. Lp. 1892.
– Culturwandel und Völkerverkehr. 8+280 p. Lp. 1891; Homerische rätsel: die homerischen epitheta ornantia etymologisch und historisch-geographisch gedeutet. 16+135 p. Lp. 1898; Das Buch der Hundert Pfade. Die älteste Quelle der Ritualwissenschaft. 43 p. Bern 1910; Arische Urzeit. 420 p. Bern 1910.
– Oestliches Werden. Kulturaustausch und Handelsverkehr zwischen Orient und Okzident von der Urzeit bis zur Gegenwart. 8+437 p. Bern 1907 (collected essays).
Sources: E. Kuhn, ZDMG 71, 1917, 431-437 (with bibliography); R. Mumenthaler in Web HistLexSchweiz; Stache-Rosen 1990, 91f.; Windisch 386-392; German Wikipedia.
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