Dr. Hansjörg Schelle, professor emeritus of German, passed away on January 17, 2018 in Biberach an der Riss, Germany. 

Schelle retired from active faculty status on May 31, 1996.

He received his PhD from the University of Zurich in 1967. He served as the co-director of the Wieland Museum and Wieland Archives in Biberach, Germany, from 1953-70 and held positions at the Lycee Condorcet in Paris (1956-57) and the University of Cincinnati (1966-67) before joining the University of Michigan faculty in 1967 as assistant professor of German. He was promoted to associate professor in 1973 and professor in 1980.

Schelle's research focused on eighteenth-century German literature and culture, particularly on the work of the important writer Wieland. Having published a dissertation on twentieth-century writer Ernst Jünger, Professor Schelle turned his hand to editing important scholarly volumes on Wieland and eventually to the preparation of a comprehensive bibliography on Wieland. He also published many articles on Wieland in prestigious journals such as the Jahrbuch der Deutschen Schillergesellschaft and the Jahrbuch des Freien Deutschen Hochstifts.

Schelle was active in several scholarly organizations, including the Lessing Society and the American Society for Eighteenth-century Studies. He taught regular graduate courses on eighteenth-century German literature and culture.