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Ludwig Tobler

Swiss germanist and linguist (1827-1895)

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ121508 ↗
Source-derived summary

Johann Ludwig Tobler (1 June 1827 – 19 August 1895) was a Swiss philologist and folklorist. Born in Hirzel in Zürich, Switzerland, he was an older brother of philologist Adolf Tobler (1835–1910). Ludwig Tobler died in Zürich.

He studied theology, philosophy and philology at the universities of Zürich and Leipzig, receiving his doctorate at the latter institution in 1851. In 1864 he obtained his habilitation from the University of Bern and in 1866 became an associate professor of linguistics and German philology. In 1873 he returned to the University of Zürich, where in 1893 he was named a full professor of German language and literature.

Published works

In 1881, with Friedrich Staub, he began publication of the Schweizerisches Idiotikon ("Swiss idioticon"; a dictionary of the Swiss-German language).

The following are some of his other written efforts:

Über die Wortzusammensetzung nebst einem Anhang über die verstärkenden Zusammensetzungen, 1868 – On word composition.

Die fremden Wörter in der deutschen Sprache, 1872 – Foreign words in the German language.

Schweizerische Volkslieder (2 volumes, 1882–84) – Swiss folk songs.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Ludwig Tobler” as swiss germanist and linguist (1827-1895). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Ludwig, Tobler and Swiss.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1827, 1895, 1835, 1910—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1827-06-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Ludwig, Tobler and Swiss providing the first useful test.
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A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Ludwig Tobler”, the useful work is to connect “swiss germanist and linguist (1827-1895)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q121508. VIAF identifies the subject as 61694882. The Library of Congress control number is n84055858. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1827, 1895, 1835 and 1910.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Ludwig Tobler” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.