Helmut Birkhan

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Helmut Birkhan
Photograph of Helmut Birkhan reciting his Middle High German translation of Struwwelpeter at his home in Vienna on the celebration of his 70th birthday
Born	(1938-02-01) 1 February 1938 (age 86) Vienna, Austria
Nationality	Austrian
Spouse	Ingvild Birkhan ​ (after 1965)​
Children	2
Awards	Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (1990)
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Academic advisors	Otto Höfler Proinsias Mac Cana Heinrich Beck
Academic work
Discipline	Philology
Sub-discipline	Celtic studies Germanic studies Indo-European studies Scandinavian studies
Institutions	University of Vienna
Notable students	Hermann Reichert Rudolf Simek Florian Kragl [de] Fritz Peter Knapp [de] Alfred Ebenbauer
Main interests	Medieval German literature Celts Germanic linguistics

Helmut Birkhan (born 1 February 1938) is an Austrian philologist who is Professor Emeritus of Old High German Language and Literature and the former Managing Director of the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna.

Having studied at Vienna under Otto Höfler, Birkhan specializes in Celtic, Germanic, and Indo-European studies, particularly the study of Celtic-Germanic contacts, Germanic linguistics and Medieval German literature from an interdisciplinary perspective, on which he has published numerous influential works. He has taught generations of students at Vienna, as is well known as a popularizer of scholarship for the broader Austrian public, particularly young people. Birkhan has tutored many influential scholars, including Hermann Reichert, Rudolf Simek, Florian Kragl [de], Melitta Adamson, Fritz Peter Knapp [de] and Alfred Ebenbauer, and continues to teach, write and research.