Winter was born in
Haselau. His brother was killed during the Second World War. He studied under
Ernst Fraenkel at the
University of Kiel, where he later succeeded Fraenkel. Although he wrote hardly any individual volumes of his own, he established himself in the study of
Tocharian and, as a result of his work as the editor of many series and work in general linguistics, he had far-reaching influence. Winter spent his life in his native
Holstein. His students included , Peter Kuhlmann, and Christian T. Petersen. He is known for formulating
Winter's law. He was appointed president of
Societas Linguistica Europaea in 1991. He died in
Preetz. == Distinctions ==