History of Project
Dr. Heinz Bluhm, who initiated the Index Verborum, was a philologist and widely recognized authority on Martin Luther. In his view Luther was a singularly creative master of the German language. In this respect Dr. Bluhm believed that the power of expression and sense of rhythm in Luther's prose and poetry, which for instance informed his translation of the Bible into German, were as significant as his stature as a theologian. Also, in Dr. Bluhm's opinion, Luther was always concerned in his translations or interpretations of sources with the etymology of significant words. In the course of Dr. Bluhm's studies of Luther, he had realized that all English translations, being essentially interpretations, as well as many modernized German editions of Luther's works, contained many errors. This led to his conviction that Luther's meanings or the true intent of his word usage had not always been fully understood. Hence he felt that a reference work allowing consultation of the original text was a necessary corrective tool. For Luther scholars wrestling with problems in Luther's language Dr. Bluhm's response was always, "Let them read the original." This then was the scholarly basis for this index which he devised.Dr. Bluhm felt that a focus on Luther's language during the historical period of 1516-1525 would especially reflect much of the transition from Middle High to Early New High German and would thus lend linguistic significance to the Index. It is noted that within Dr. Bluhm's selected critical period one finds that 1517 was the date Luther published his vernacular interpretation of the Penitential Psalm 6, which antedated his Ninety-five Theses by half a year, and that it was in 1521 that Luther decided to undertake the translation of the whole Bible. That linguistic significance from which Dr. Bluhm's opinion of Luther as a major creative force within the German language found its effect in these early years in two respects. Since Luther was a prolific writer it came about that he began to standardize the rather loose orthography and syntax within his Mittel Hoch Deutsch expression. Second, that product was not addressed solely to the nobility nor to a cloistered religious readership, but purposefully and directly to the common people. Inasmuch as the capacity of the printing presses at that time reached a broad public, the effect of Luther's standardization led eventually to a changed form of the German language which has been termed "ein frühes hoch Deutsch."
Thus the Index Verborum which Dr. Bluhm devised not only allows comparative access to specific words and word usage, but also provides a chronological overview of such linguistic development by its form of presentation. Since the Weimarer kritische Ausgabe (WA) has been the basis for the Index Verborum, it follows that the consecutive step after reference use of the Index will be research in the pertinent volumes of the WA, as with so many other similar research tools.
It is important to recognize that, as the result of many patient years of research and effort by Dr. Heinz Bluhm, prior to his death in November 1993, this index already existed complete in a manual form, i.e. in 300 drawers of 3x5 index cards. For a number of years after 1977 the data from the manual cards was slowly transferred into files stored by computer. The ultimate goal was to establish the data in an accessible form theretofore not available, in order to provide a new reference tool for philological, theological, and historical scholars. In its present computerized form, the ease of electronic access has increased the ability to rapidly ascertain locations and instances of any specific word, allowing ready analysis of its contextual use. This will facilitate the generation of scholarly works concerning Luther's use of language, which otherwise would have required such laborious access and time-consuming analysis as to discourage any such effort.
The criteria for selection of the subject matter of the Index Verborum, as well as the content and format for the index entries were determined by Dr. Bluhm. Since the basic goal of the index as a reference tool is to provide locus information for the words employed by Martin Luther, as existant in the aforementioned Weimarer Ausgabe, the listing in the Index of the number of instances of each word followed by volume, page, and line for each word has been made with the utmost simplicity. Words are listed alphabetically by letter of the alphabet, with an "average" letter of the alphabet to consist of approximately 25 - 30,000 word instances.
In contrast to any printed type of reference work, in terms of the aspects of access and portability alone, this electronic dimension of the Index Verborum will be accessible at any time and from any distance as determined by the latest electronic networks available. Thus Luther or Reformation scholars are provided this significant research tool on an international scale. The result, though research activities or goals may well remain much the same as always, is that their facilitation will be powerfully extended.