Ilrticst Stahl I)clorigc~i t o t h a t g roup of scholars who, liavirig studied (;c,rinnn i t i the. twenties and thirties, had t o rc-cst;it)lish their sul).j(.ct ;ilic%r the w ; i r , ]:or thcrn C k r r n a n studies, with t l i t > discrepancy 1)ctwwti t l i c i d w s of t l i c , Gcwiian Ih l igh tcnmcnt ant1 what t h y saw in prcwnt-day ( ~ c ~ t i i a i

involved an rxistc.ritial cspcricncc so t h a t they l i ) ~ i n d i t cliflicult to i t l c t i t ,

with their sul)-jcct. Stahl himscll‘ was 1m-n in South r\liica in 1902. ,U.I(T t;ikirig ii qcticral t lcyw a t t l i c University o f Capc ‘I’uwri t ic - cxmv to ( h f i ~ t d with ;I scholarship in 1!U5 i t i orclcr to study Ccrman. His tu tor , hlarsliall Moiitgomcry, introduced him t o t h t s poetry of Hiildcdin, wliosc greatness was not gmcr;illy rccogniscd in this coun t ry a t t h a t timc. I t was 10 (tic nicmory of his tcachcr that I h c s t Statil later clcclic;itcd liis o c v t t c.ssay o n Hddcrl i t i ’s syml)olism. From 1927 to 1930 I i r coiitinucd his studics a t (;crinan utiiiwsitic.s and then spcnt two years as 1,cktor i t i Ziiric.11. 1)urittg that timc he wrotc his disscrtation on Ihc intcllcctual I)ackgrountl 01’ ttic (;crman Rilrfuii~~.trointin under the guidancc of 1:ritz Strich. I t wils a wide- ranging study which c:omt)incd the history of ideas with a drtailcci c.xaniiti- ation of‘ individuid works, a n approach which rcriiaiticd charactrristic of‘ :ill his later work.

111 1932 hc was appointed to a n assistant Iccturcsliip in 13irmingh;irii whew tic rnct Idonis MacNcicc, at that tirnc. a nicnilwr of‘ thc <:lassic,s 1)cprtmcrit thcrr , who lived in the same Iiousc. ‘I’lic~y t)ccmic C I O S C fric*nds ;I ntl , w ti c t i t ti c 13 13C corn in i ss i o ti cd M ac Nci cc t () t ra I is I ;I t c /.itzi i I f i ) r t ti ( %

(~;octlic t)iccmtcwai-y, Krticst Stahl acted as ‘trstual coiisultant’ siricx. h1;ic- Ncicc had virtually no C;crman. icy wcmt tlirougli thc t ( x t linc Iiy l i t ic ;ind prod ucct l ii marvcllously su sful vcmioti which MacNcicc d(dic;itcd t o his friend.

I I I IT35 Statil cittiic back to Oxl’ord, first iis Utii\,c,rsity I.cc.turc~r, rlicn ;is Kcatlcr atid f inal ly a s ‘l’aylor I’rofcssor of‘ C;crnian 1,;itigu;igc atid Id i tmi- t u r r from 195!) t o 1969. I n 1942 he married Kathl(wi Hudsoii , ati :Zfricati- ist iind t h u s ii scliol;ir in a vcry diffiwrit licld, hur this pro\,ctl to be a i i

itleal conil)inatiou. Christ Church , ii collcgc. wlicrc. l3:riirst Stall1 - w l i o wits ;I vcry vulricrablc p i n o n - cam(- to f i ~ l a t I i o m c s , m;itic him ;I Student in 1!)45, but with t h appointment t o the Chai r lie Iiad to move t o the Quccti’s (:ollegc., a chatigt. which was r iot wholly painless.

1)uring liis early ycars in Oxford he had to carry an immense teaching luiicl, and unclcrgraduates had to queue outside liis room t o n d c . :irr;ingr- incnts fix tutorials. H c was a n outstanclitigly succcssliil lecturer and ;in

ideal tcachcr hecause tic listened paticntly a n d t o o k his pupils seriously,

I.: R L L ‘ l ~ h ’ l G b‘l‘.L\HI, ( l902-I!N2) I03

always open to their ideas unless t h y wcrc fii\~olous. l l i u s even his silence was ablc t o iniprcss tlicm; his disapprot.al Irardty ever rose above a quiet ‘No!’ arid his criticism woukl often take thr h r m ol‘ ‘ 1 wonder whether y o u have read this article?’. In fact, tic, ;ilways treated uiidcrgraduatcs as if

human heiiigs arid tlcatcd evcii dif‘ficult collt+ycs with pcrfkct Il’hen, duririg the discussion altc*r a p p r I t i c . had given 211 the onfcrcncc in 1959, ;I Grrniari c o l l ( q u c askcd ;I question which

t u rri cd i t i 10 a in i n i- 1 r ct u re in t 11 c t rad i t io t i :I 1 11 rofcssoria I s ty I c h c h c s i t a t cd for a nioincnt and thrn rcplirrl thoughtf~illy: ‘\t‘ahrscliririlicli hahcn Sic rccht.’ His conccm h r the futirrc ol’ yoiiriger scholars Ird him. togcthrr with others, to lbiind O?Jord Chrnnn 5’iudit.c ;md the scrim iln,Flirn Gerrnunirtl.

l i tcraturr and cdit texts wit11 comnicritari Hiildcrliri’s poetry quitr nat- urally Icd t o the study of Rilkc’s hi^^ yie,. He puhlislicd hooks 011

Schillrr aiid Hciririch voti Klcist arid cditctl works b y Lcssing and Cor thc , always cxploritig the link bctuccti acsthctic doctrines and poetic practice in order to untlcrstatid, as he said, ‘the t rue artistic iiitcntiotis’ of the author. In his rctirctncmt lic was working 011 a I X J O ~ w i t h tlic provisional title ‘ M y t h and Symhtil’ which remains unfiiishcd.

I n academic life hr rcrnainctl a very p r i v ~ t r persoti b u t his friends, a i d tlicy included many poets and artists. knc.w hitn ;is a man capahlc of childlike happiness. Hc conibiiicd a sharp i t c Ilcc t w i t h grea t g e t i I 1 c ri css hut, unlike ni;iny academics, tic was t i c \ abrasive ;itid cxcrciscd his influrncc quietly but firmly. His legacy t~ his Uni\wsity was a harnionious group of German sc:liolars; to his fricrids lie Icaves the riivniory of ;I truly lovable man.

Throughout his Oxford years t ic cotitinuctl to write on