Hermann Friederich Weiss, professor emeritus of the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures, died peacefully on March 18, 2026, following a short illness.
He was born June 17, 1937, in Beuel, Germany, to Hildegard (Kemmerich) Weiss and Arnold Weiss. As a child, Hermann experienced World War II and its aftermath, growing up in the village of Vilich outside Bonn after his family returned there. Hermann Friederich Weiss.
In 1963, he received his undergraduate degree and teaching license from the University of Bonn in English and German. After teaching appointments at St. Andrews, Scotland, and the University of Oregon, he entered Princeton University to pursue his Ph.D., which he received in 1968.
Hermann joined the faculty of the University of Michigan during the same year. He gained tenure in 1975 and promotion to full professor in 1982. A cherished teacher, Hermann inspired a generation of students with his seminars on German literary history and culture.
As a scholar, Hermann enjoyed international visibility and recognition for his work on Heinrich von Kleist, from his first publication “Funde und Studien zu Heinrich von Kleist” (1984) to his recent, spectacular find of five new letters by the seminal author, which Hermann presented in the “Kleist-Jahrbuch” (2025).
