Walther Heissig was an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n Mongolist

Greater Mongolia

Greater Mongolia as a region, is the contiguous territories primarily inhabited by ethnic Mongols. It approximately includes the modern state of Mongolia, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the People's Republic of China , and the Buryat Republic as well as a few smaller territories in...

. He was born 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...

. He studied prehistory

Prehistory

Prehistory is the span of time before recorded history. Prehistory can refer to the period of human existence before the availability of those written records with which recorded history begins. More broadly, it refers to all the time preceding human existence and the invention of writing...

, ethnology

Ethnology

Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...

, historical geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, sinology

Sinology

Sinology in general use is the study of China and things related to China, but, especially in the American academic context, refers more strictly to the study of classical language and literature, and the philological approach...

 and Mongolian

Mongolian language

The Mongolian language is the official language of Mongolia and the best-known member of the Mongolic language family. The number of speakers across all its dialects may be 5.2 million, including the vast majority of the residents of Mongolia and many of the Mongolian residents of the Inner...

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 and Vienna, and got his doctoral degree in 1941 in Vienna. Afterwards he traveled to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, worked at the Fu-jen University in Beijing

Beijing

Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...

 and visited Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia

Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...

. in 1945/46 he had to leave China in an affair about alleged espionage for Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 by German nationals
In 1951 he obtained 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...

 at Göttingen, but, on failing to obtain a position there, he undertook to pursue his second habilitation at the Bonn

University of Bonn

The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...

 in 1957.
In 1964, he was appointed the Chair

Chair

A chair is a stable, raised surface used to sit on, commonly for use by one person. Chairs are most often supported by four legs and have a back; however, a chair can have three legs or could have a different shape depending on the criteria of the chair specifications. A chair without a back or...

 of the Central Asian seminar at Bonn University.

Academic interests

His major fields of study were Mongolian history, literature, and also Mongolian maps

Mongolian manuscript maps

Mongolian manuscript maps usually mapped administrative divisions in Greater Mongolia. They gave a bird's eye view of the area depicted, making them somewhat similar to Pictorial maps...

. He not only made a number of invaluable contributions in the academic field, but also edited several popular books on Mongolian history and culture, for example Ein Volk sucht seine Geschichte. He also published several books on Mongolian epics, proverbs, and folk tales.

He worked extensively on the Gesar and other epics circulating in Mongolia. In 1978, he initiated a project for the study of epics. Also, with the help of Heissig, the five-volume series "Folklore mongol" by B. Rinchen

Byambyn Rinchen

Yünsiyebü Byambyn Rinchen was one of the founders of modern Mongolian literature, a translator of literature and a scientist in various areas of Mongolian studies, especially linguistics.- Descent :Like Dashdorjiin Natsagdorj, he was a direct descendant of Genghis Khan on both his...

 was published between 1960–1972, followed by a 13-volume series of epics, Mongolische Epen by Nicholas Poppe.
His scientific research work has been acknowledged by elections into various learned societies i.a. he was elected foreign member of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences which is the highest scientific honour in Mongolia.

A bibliography

• Das gelbe Vorfeld: die Mobilisierung der chinesischen Außenländer, 1941
• Der mongolische Kulturwandel in den Hsingan-Provinzen Mandschukuos, 1944
• Über mongolische Landkarten, 1944
• Bolur erike, 1946 (as editor)
• Some glosses on recent mongol studies, 1953
• Neyici toyin, 1953
• Die Pekinger lamaistischen Blockdrucke in mongolischer Sprache : Materialien zur mongolischen Literaturgeschichte, 1954
• Ostmongolische Reise, 1955
• Wort aus tausend Jahren : Weisheit der Steppe, 1956
• Zur Entstehungsgeschichte d. Mongolischen Kandjur-Redaktion d. Ligdan Khan-Zeit (1623–1629), 1957
• Mongγol borǰigid oboγ-un teüke = Meng-ku shih-hsi-p'u, 1957 (as editor, with Charles Bawden
  Charles Bawden
  Charles Roskelly Bawden is Emeritus Professor of Mongolian in the University of London.From 1955 to 1984, he was a Lecturer, Reader, and Professor of Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London....
  
  )
• Altan kürdün mingγan gegesütü bicig : eine mongolische Chronik von Siregetü Guosi Dharma (1739), 1958 (as editor)
• Die Familien- und Kirchengeschichtsschreibung der Mongolen I & II, 1959 and 1965
• Mongolische Handschriften, Blockdrucke, Landkarten ( = Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, vol. I), 1961
• Erdeni-yin erike : mongolische Chronik der lamaistischen Klosterbauten der Mongolei von Isibaldan (1835), 1961 (as editor)
• Beiträge zur Übersetzungsgeschichte des mongolischen buddhistischen Kanons, 1962
• Helden-, Höllenfahrts- und Schelmengeschichten der Mongolen, 1962 (as editor)
• Bolur Toli "Spiegel aus Bergkristall", 1962 (as editor)
• Mongolische Volksmärchen, 1963 (as editor)
• Ein Volk sucht seine Geschichte: die Mongolen und die verlorenen Dokumente ihrer grossen Zeit, 1964 (English translation: A lost civilization; the Mongols rediscovered, London 1966)
• Mongolische Ortsnamen I-III (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, suppl. vol. V), 1966 - 1981 (as editor)
• Mongolische volksreligiöse und folkloristische Texte aus europäischen Bibliotheken (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, suppl. vol. VI), 1966 (as editor)
• Collectanea Mongolica : Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Rintchen zum 60. Geburtstag, 1966 (as editor)
• Die mongolische Steininschrift und Manuskriptfragmente aus Olon süme in der Inneren Mongolei, 1966
• Mongolistik an deutschen Universitäten, 1968
• Catalogue of Mongol books, manuscripts and xylographs (= Catalogue of oriental manuscripts, xylographs etc. in Danish collections, vol. III), 1971.
• Mongoleireise zur späten Goethezeit : Berichte und Bilder von der russischen Gesandtschaftsreise 1805/06 (= Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland, suppl. vol. XIII), 1971 (as editor)
• Geschichte der mongolischen Literatur (two vols.), 1972
• Schriftliche Quellen in Mogholi (as editor), 1974
• Die mongolischen Handschriften-Reste aus Olon süme, Innere Mongolei (16. - 17. Jhdt.) (as editor), 1976
• Tractata altaica: Denis Sinor sexagenario optime de rebus altaicis merito dedicata (as editor), 1976
• Altaica collecta: Berichte u. Vorträge d. XVII. Permanent Internat. Altaistic Conference, 3.-8. Juni 1974 in Bonn, Bad Honnef (as editor), 1976
• Die mongolischen Epen : Bezüge, Sinndeutung u. Überlieferung (as editor), 1979
• Die mongolischen Heldenepen : Struktur u. Motive, 1979
• Die Zeit des letzten mongolischen Großkhans Ligdan (1604–1634), 1979
• Geser-rëdzia-wu : Dominik Schröders nachgelassene Monguor (Tujen)-Version des Geser-Epos aus Amdo (as editor), 1980
• Die Geheime Geschichte der Mongolen (as editor), 1981
• Geser-Studien: Untersuchungen zu d. Erzählstoffen in d. "neuen" Kapiteln d. mongolischen Geser-Zyklus, 1983
• Westliche Motivparallelen in zentralasiatischen Epen, 1983
• Dschingis Khan-Ein Weltreich zu Pferde (as editor), 1985
• Tsakhar-Märchen: Nach Aufzeichnungen aus dem Jahre 1938/39 (as editor), 1985
• Geschichte der Mongolen und ihres Fürstenhauses, 1985
• Erzählstoffe rezenter mongolischer Heldendichtung (2 vols.), 1988
• Gedanke und Wirkung: Festschrift zum 90. Geburtstag von Nicholas Poppe (as editor), 1989
• Die Mongolen (exhibition catalogue, 2 vols., as editor), 1989
• “New Material on East Mongolian Shamanism,” Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 49, No. 2. (1990), pp. 223–233.
• “Tracing Some Mongol Oral Motifs in a Chinese Prosimetric Ming Novel of 1478, Asian Folklore Studies, Vol. 53, No. 2. (1994), pp. 227-254
• Formen und Funktion mündlicher Tradition. 1995.
• “The Present State of the Mongolian Epic and Some Topics for Future Research.” Oral Tradition 11/1 (1996): 85-98.

• (with Geoffrey Samuel) The Religions of Mongolia

• Mongolische Epen VIII

• Heldenmärchen versus Heldenepos? Strukturelle Fragen zur Entwicklung altaischer Heldenmärchen Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1991.

Works in Honor of or about Walther Heissig

• Taube, Erika. “Walther Heissig (5 December 1913-5 September 2005): in memoriam.(Obituary)”. Asian Folklore Studies, April, 2006

• Serta tibeto-mongolica: Festschrift für Walther Heissig zum 60. Geburtstag am 5.12.1973,

• Documenta barbarorum, 1983