Hans-Peter Weingand

“Otherwise, it is of course very quiet and lonely for me, but the books are a great help”

Lily Weiser-Aall and her scopes of action in occupied Norway, 1940–1945

Shortlink: https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART104097

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Abstract

Using primary sources from Oslo and Berlin, this article examines the activities of folklorist Lily Weiser-Aall (1898–1987) in Norway during the occupation by the German Wehrmacht, her cooperation with the “Ahnenerbe” of the SS and the “Germanischer Wissenschaftseinsatz.” It shows how it is possible for her to be celebrated as the “First Lady of Norwegian folklore studies” in Norway, a country in which collaboration with the National Socialists is very firmly rejected. One should also be able to (re-)approach the first female folklorist to qualify as a professor with greater ease, both in the German-speaking world and beyond.

Keywords
Nazi past, history of knowledge, Norway, Germany, Lily Weiser-Aall

APA citation
Weingand H. (2019). “Otherwise, it is of course very quiet and lonely for me, but the books are a great help”: Lily Weiser-Aall and her scopes of action in occupied Norway, 1940–1945. Journal for European Ethnology and Cultural Analysis, 4(2), 230-251. https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART104097