George Schulz-Behrend

George Schulz-Behrend, an internationally known scholar of the German Baroque and a CU German MA alumnus, has generously decided to leave a scholarship bequest in the amount of $100,000 to CU. The bequest will establish the George Schulz-Behrend Endowed Scholarship, which will provide scholarships for students with a demonstrated interest in German Studies. Students must be immigrants or first-generation Americans to receive the award, and will also be evaluated according to criteria which include financial need.

Prof. Schulz-Behrend was born in Greifswald, Germany, in 1913. He emigrated to New York with his family in 1928. There he worked during the day and attended high school in the evenings. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the University of Colorado, where he obtained a B.A. in English in 1935. The following year he was awarded a Baur Scholarship to pursue an M.A. in German at CU. He later obtained a Ph.D. in 1944 from the University of Iowa.

Prof. Schulz-Behrend reports fond memories of the time he spent at CU. “If you were to ask me what Boulder did for me, I’d first point to excellent instruction from an excellent faculty.” He also recalls how much he enjoyed skiing, hiking, and climbing with fellow students and faculty members, as well as participating in extracurricular activities such as debate, theatre, and choir. “The unfolding of youth took place in a richly humanistic atmosphere that gave meaning to the old concept of a university,” he notes. “It gave me the self-confidence to be myself, the imagination to be a little bit different.” While a student at CU, Prof. Schulz-Behrend co-founded a local chapter of Delta Phi Alpha, the national German Honor Society. This chapter of Delta Phi Alpha is still active at CU today.

Professor Schulz-Behrend’s distinguished career as a scholar and teacher spanned fifty years. He taught all levels of German, in addition to English and Latin, and wrote several textbooks. His translation of the most important novel of seventeenth-century Germany, Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus, was widely acclaimed by critics, and he also garnered praise for editing the collected works of the poet Martin Opitz (1597-1639). Four volumes of this collection have appeared, with another to be published soon. A sixth volume, on which Professor Schulz-Behrend will collaborate with a colleague, is also planned.

For his many contributions to the study of German language and literature, the German government awarded him the Order of Merit. In addition, some thirty colleagues and students from North America and Europe contributed scholarly essays to a 600-page published volume presented to him on his seventy-fifth birthday.

The German Program at CU expresses sincere thanks and appreciation to Professor Schulz-Behrend for his scholarship bequest. Just as Professor Schulz-Behrend benefitted while at CU from his receipt of a Baur Scholarship, we know that future recipients will benefit greatly from the George Schulz-Behrend Scholarship. In his bequest, Professor Schulz-Behrend has the following to say to future recipients: “Would I have any advice for you? Not really. You have read what was possible for me. Now you go forth and do similarly. But of course, in your very own way.”

Grace van Sweringen Baur

Grace van Sweringen Baur was the second chair of the German department here at CU, the successor to Mary Rippon, who was the first humanities professor on Boulder campus in 1877. Tom and Jeanne Baur, of Longmont, are descendants, and supporters of our German program.

To make a donation to GSLL or to find out more about scholarship bequests, please contact Karen Hawley at (303) 492-5376 or email Karen.Hawley@colorado.edu