Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff
German classical philologist (1848-1931)
Enno Friedrich Wichard Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (22 December 1848 – 25 September 1931) was a German classical philologist. Wilamowitz, as he is known in scholarly circles, was a renowned authority on Ancient Greece and its literature.
Life
Youth
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff was born in Markowitz (Markowice), a small village near Hohensalza (Inowrocław), in the then Province of Posen (now part of the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship), to a Germanized family of distant Polish ancestry. His father, a Prussian Junker, was Arnold Wilamowitz, of Szlachta origin and using the Ogończyk coat of arms, while his mother was Ulrika, née Calbo. The couple settled in a small manor confiscated from a local noble in 1836. The Prussian part of their name, von Moellendorf, was acquired in 1813 when Prussian field marshal Wichard Joachim Heinrich von Möllendorf adopted Ulrich's ancestors. Wilamowitz, a third child, grew up in East Prussia.
In 1867 Wilamowitz passed his Abitur at the renowned boarding school at Schulpforta. Here he was educated and learned, amongst the rest, the English language, also studying privately with Dietrich Volkmann, teacher and then Master of the school.
Studies
Until 1869, he studied Classical Philology at the University of Bonn.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff” is german classical philologist (1848-1931). The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Ulrich, Wilamowitz-Moellendorff and German, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “german classical philologist (1848-1931)” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q61863. VIAF identifies the subject as 46781907. The Library of Congress control number is n82057012. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1848, 1931, 1836 and 1813.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff primary sources, Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff archive and Ulrich research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff” 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.