Rudolf Much was born in
Vienna,
Austria on 7 September 1862. He was the son of the lawyer Dr.
Matthäus Much (1832–1909), who was also a prehistorian. At an early age, Much gained extensive knowledge of ancient history form his father. From 1880 he studied
classical philology,
German philology and
Nordic philology at the
University of Vienna. Passing his exams with great distinction, Much gained his PhD in 1887 with the dissertation
On the Prehistory of Germany (
Zur Vorgeschichte Deutschlands), and completed his
habilitation in
Germanic studies in 1892–1893 with a thesis on
Germania. Since 1901, was assistant professor of
Celtic and
Germanic antiquity and
Scandinavian language and
literature at the University of Vienna. Since, 1904, Much served as associate professor, and then professor of Germanic linguistic history and antiquity (
Germanische Sprachgeschichte und Altertumskunde) at the University of Vienna. In this capacity he was also tasked with lecturing on Scandinavian literature. Throughout his academic career, Much served on the committees of many scholarly committees and was the editor of several scholarly journals. He declined to be the editor of the first edition of the
Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, to which he was nevertheless one of the most important contributors. Much retired from his chair as professor emeritus in 1934, but continued to lecture at the university. A popular professor, Much acquired a large following of students at the University of Vienna, many of whom would later acquire prominent positions in the field. Students of Wolfram include
Otto Höfler,
Julius Pokorny,
Walter Steinhauser,
Richard Wolfram,
Siegfried Gutenbrunner,
Dietrich Kralik, Eberhard Kranzmayer,
Lily Weiser-Aall,
Gilbert Trathnigg and
Robert Stumpfl. Accordingly, Much's pan-German stance and perceptions had a profound uptake and dissemination in the fields of
German ethnology,
German dialectology,
German linguistics and, most directly, German pre-medieval studies ("Deutsche Altertumskunde") that is lasting, often in unexpressed ways via one of his many students, to the present via an unbroken chain of knowledge transmission. ==Research==