Grimm's lexicographic echo - The indexing, preservation and development of the cultural legacy of the lexicography of Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm

The first volume of the German Dictionary of Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm was published in 1854, and the 150th jubilee of its publication in 2004 provides a welcome opportunity to reflect on that response, on the cultural heritage of the brothers Grimm as lexicographers and on the lexicography of (New High) German. The article starts by discussing some basic characteristics of the historical and philological lexicography of a living language and by setting the various available versions of the dictionary in their scholarly and political context, both historically and in the present day. As lexicographers the brothers Grimm were innovative. Today's lexicographers must also be innovative in an effort to do justice to the possibilities, expectations and demands of the 21st century. The article thus focuses on the future of the historical lexicography of German. It advocates first the rapid completion of the revised edition of the German Dictionary, which covers the six letters A to F as edited originally by the brothers Grimm themselves. Secondly, it supports the plans for a large new dictionary, or rather a comprehensive lexicographical information system, of New High German currently being put forward as a long-term project of the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Gottingen. Thirdly, it proposes the development of a German Etymological Wordbank as a permanent institution supported by the academies of the German-speaking countries. The article concludes by outlining a supranational European scholarly and political context which might facilitate the future development of the cultural heritage the brothers Grimm have left to lexicography.