Heinrich Zimmer
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Robert Zimmer (1890–1943) was an Indologist and historian of South Asia
n art, most known for his works, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization and Philosophies of India. He was the most important German scholar in Indian Philology
after Max Müller
(1823-1900). In 2010, a “Heinrich Zimmer Chair for Indian Philosophy and Intellectual History” was inaugurated at Heidelberg University.
, Germany
. Zimmer began his career studying Sanskrit
and linguistics
at the University of Berlin where he graduated in 1913.
to fill the Chair of Indian Philology
(1924-1938).
In 1938 he was dismissed by the Nazis
, and he emigrated to England
where between 1939-40 he taught at Balliol College, Oxford
. In 1940 he moved to New Rochelle
, New York
where he eventually accepted a Visiting Lecturer position in Philosophy
at Columbia University
. Here, Joseph Campbell
, who was then working on his first book, A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944) attended his lectures, the two men became good friends.
Zimmer died there, of pneumonia, the following year (1943). After his death, Campbell was given the task of editing and posthumously publishing Zimmer's papers, to which he did over the next 12 years to turning Zimmer’s lecture notes into four books, in the Bollingen Series: Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, Philosophies of India, The Art of Indian Asia, and The King and the Corpse, which in turn became Zimmer's lasting legacy.
n) philosophy and religious history to interpret art was at odds with traditional scholarship. His vast knowledge of Hindu mythology
and philosophy (particularly Puranic and Tantric
works) gave him insights into the art, insights that were appreciated by Joseph Campbell
among others. Campbell edited many of Zimmer's writings after his death. The psychiatrist Carl Jung
also developed a long-standing relationship with Zimmer, and incidentally edited a volume of Zimmer's entitled Der Weg zum Selbst (The Way to the Self), the two men first met in 1932, after which Zimmer, along with Richard Wilhelm
, became one of the few male friends of Jung.
Zimmer is credited by many for the popularizing of South Asia
n art in the West, as he was the first to identify the radical difference between Western classical and Indian art
.
.
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n art, most known for his works, Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization and Philosophies of India. He was the most important German scholar in Indian Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
after Max Müller
Max Müller
Friedrich Max Müller , more regularly known as Max Müller, was a German philologist and Orientalist, one of the founders of the western academic field of Indian studies and the discipline of comparative religion...
(1823-1900). In 2010, a “Heinrich Zimmer Chair for Indian Philosophy and Intellectual History” was inaugurated at Heidelberg University.
Early life and education
He was born in GreifswaldGreifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
, 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...
. Zimmer began his career studying Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
at the University of Berlin where he graduated in 1913.
Career
Between 1920-24 he lectured at the University of Greifswald, moving to Heidelberg UniversityRuprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg is a public research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386, it is the oldest university in Germany and was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire. Heidelberg has been a coeducational institution...
to fill the Chair of Indian Philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
(1924-1938).
In 1938 he was dismissed by the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
, and he emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
where between 1939-40 he taught at Balliol College, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. In 1940 he moved to New Rochelle
New Rochelle, New York
New Rochelle is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state.The town was settled by refugee Huguenots in 1688 who were fleeing persecution in France...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where he eventually accepted a Visiting Lecturer position in Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
. Here, Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
, who was then working on his first book, A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake (1944) attended his lectures, the two men became good friends.
Zimmer died there, of pneumonia, the following year (1943). After his death, Campbell was given the task of editing and posthumously publishing Zimmer's papers, to which he did over the next 12 years to turning Zimmer’s lecture notes into four books, in the Bollingen Series: Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization, Philosophies of India, The Art of Indian Asia, and The King and the Corpse, which in turn became Zimmer's lasting legacy.
Work
Zimmer's method was to examine religious images using their sacred significance as a key to their psychic transformation. His use of (IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n) philosophy and religious history to interpret art was at odds with traditional scholarship. His vast knowledge of Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology
Hindu religious literature is the large body of traditional narratives related to Hinduism, notably as contained in Sanskrit literature, such as the Sanskrit epics and the Puranas. As such, it is a subset of Nepali and Indian culture...
and philosophy (particularly Puranic and Tantric
Tantra
Tantra , anglicised tantricism or tantrism or tantram, is the name scholars give to an inter-religious spiritual movement that arose in medieval India, expressed in scriptures ....
works) gave him insights into the art, insights that were appreciated by Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
among others. Campbell edited many of Zimmer's writings after his death. The psychiatrist Carl Jung
Carl Jung
Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...
also developed a long-standing relationship with Zimmer, and incidentally edited a volume of Zimmer's entitled Der Weg zum Selbst (The Way to the Self), the two men first met in 1932, after which Zimmer, along with Richard Wilhelm
Richard Wilhelm
Richard Wilhelm was a German sinologist, as well as theologian and missionary. He is best remembered for his translations of philosophical works from Chinese into German that in turn have been translated into other major languages of the world, including English...
, became one of the few male friends of Jung.
Zimmer is credited by many for the popularizing of South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
n art in the West, as he was the first to identify the radical difference between Western classical and Indian art
Indian art
Indian Art is the visual art produced on the Indian subcontinent from about the 3rd millennium BC to modern times. To viewers schooled in the Western tradition, Indian art may seem overly ornate and sensuous; appreciation of its refinement comes only gradually, as a rule. Voluptuous feeling is...
.
Personal life
He married in 1929 Christiane, daughter of Austrian novelist, Hugo von HofmannsthalHugo von Hofmannsthal
Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal ; , was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist.-Early life:...
.
Works
- Kunstform und Yoga im Indischen Kultbild (Artistic Form and Yoga in the Sacred Images of India [1926];Translated and edited by Gerald Chapple, James B. Lawson and J. Michael McKnight [1984])
- Maya: Der Indische Mythos. (1936)
- Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization. Edited by Joseph Campbell. (1946)
- Hindu Medicine.Edited by Ludwig Edelstein.(1948)
- The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil. Edited by Joseph Campbell. (1948)
- Philosophies of India. Edited by Joseph Campbell. (1953). ISBN 0691017581.
- The Art of Indian Asia, its Mythology and Transformations. Completed and edited by Joseph Campbell. (1955)
- Heinrich Zimmer : Coming Into His Own. Edited by Margaret H Case. (1994)
Quotes
“On all levels there are rituals capable of transforming man. But it is everywhere the tradition and trend to rank the spiritual, sublime practices above the sensual and magical ones, since the general course of cultural development has favored the spiritual element over the material and feminine. This development has taken place under the predominance of the male principle. But with the cult of the Great Goddess in late Hinduism, the archaic heritage of sensual earth-bound rites rises once again overwhelmingly to the zenith.” (pp. 91-92 in Zimmer, Heinrich. The Indian World Mother [1938] from The Mystic Vision: Papers from The Eranos Yearbooks, Bollingen Series XXX, 6. Princeton University Press, 1968, Edited by Joseph Campbell and translated by Ralph Manheim.)- "We of the Occident are about to arrive at a crossroads that was reached by the thinkers of India some seven hundred years before Christ. This is the real reason, why we become both vexed and stimulated, uneasy and yet interested, when confronted with the concepts and images of Oriental wisdom." - Eastern Religious Thought - Hinduism, Edited by Allie M. Frazie. vol 1. p 17.
- "The radio station WOB, Wisdom of the BuddhaGautama BuddhaSiddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
, is broadcasting all the time: all we need is a receiving set."
- "The only man who gives me a genuine inferiority complexInferiority complexAn inferiority complex, in the fields of psychology and psychoanalysis, is a feeling that one is inferior to others in some way. Such feelings can arise from an imagined or actual inferiority in the afflicted person...
is Ananda K. Coomaraswamy."