Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching (19 September 1783 – 4 May 1829) was a German antiquary. His knowledge of subjects pertaining to Germany in the Middle Ages was notable.
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching

Karl Masner und Hans Seger (Hrsg.): Jahrbuch des Schlesischen Museums für Kunstgewerbe und Altertümer (= Schlesiens Vorzeit in Bild und Schrift. Neue Folge). Druck von Grass, Barth Comp. (W. Friedrich · Public domain
- Born
- 1783. · Berlin.
- Died
- 1829. · Wrocław.
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Prussia.
- Occupation
- archaeologist, historian, university teacher, archivist, antiquarian and germanist.
- Education
- Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg.
- Languages
- German.
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Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching (19 September 1783 – 4 May 1829) was a German antiquary. His knowledge of subjects pertaining to Germany in the Middle Ages was notable.
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Note VALÉORINE
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching (1783–1829) was an antiquarian, archaeologist and archivist, among other activities, of Prussian nationality. The antiquarian was born in Berlin and died in Wrocław.
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching was educated at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. The antiquarian worked for Königliches Museum für Kunst und Altertümer and University of Wrocław and was a member of Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities. Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching worked in Wrocław. Languages used include German.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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wikidata · Q72289 · wikipedia · Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching
In this article
Biography
Biography
He was born in Berlin, the son of Anton Friedrich Büsching, a geographer and educator. He studied at the universities of Erlangen and Halle, was appointed royal archivist at Breslau in 1811, and in 1817 an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Breslau. He collected oral folk stories from the Uckermark region, which he published in Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden (1812).
Selected works
Selected works
Sammlung Deutscher Volkslieder mit einem Anhange Flammländischer u. Französischer, nebst Melodien ('Collection of German folk songs with an appendix in Flemish and French, along with melodies') 1807 Deutsche Gedichte des Mittelalters ('German poems of the Middle Ages') 3 parts, 1808–25 Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden ('Folktales, fairy tales and legends') 1812 Der Deutschen Leben, Kunst und Wissen im Mittelalter ('On German life, art and knowledge in the Middle Ages') 1818–19
Translations
Translations
Several of the stories from Büsching's Volks-Sagen, Märchen und Legenden have been translated into English. "Die Geschichte des Bauer Kiebitz" was rewritten in English for The Lady's Magazine in 1821 as "The History of Kibitz, the Peasant". This was followed by another adaptation in Popular Tales and Romances of the Northern Nations (1823) as "Kibitz", which was used as the basis of Jan M. Ziolkowski's more accurate translation in Fairy Tales from Before Fairy Tales (2007). Edgar Taylor translated this story for German Popular Stories (1826) as "Pee-Wit", which was slightly revised by Marian Edwardes and included in Grimm's Household Tales (1912). Taylor's German Popular Stories (1826) also included a translation of "Das Mährchen von der Padde" as "Cherry, or the Frog-Bride", which Edwardes revised as "Cherry the Frog-Bride" in Grimm's Household Tales (1912). Andrew Lang included a translation of this story as "Puddocky" in The Green Fairy Book (1892). Thomas Roscoe translated "History of Count Walter and the Lady Helgunda" ("Geschichte des Grafen Walther und der Helgunda") and "Assassination of the Empress of Tartary at Neumarkt in the Year 1240" ("Die Ermordung der Tartarischen Kaiserin zu Neumarkt im Jahre 1240") in The German Novelists (1826). George Godfrey Cunningham translated "Der Kyffhäuser" as "Legends of the Kyffhauser", and two of the "Erzählungen vom Rübezahl" ('Stories of the Rübezahl', that Büsching had collected from Johannes Praetorius): "How Rubezahl Changed Himself into an Ass" ("Rübezahl verwandelt sich in einen Esel"), and "How Rubezahl Punished a Tyrannical Lord" ("Rübezahl narrt einen Junker"), in Foreign Tales and Traditions (1829). William Thoms' Lays and Legends of Various Nations: Germany (1834) included eight translations: "Legends of the Kyffhauser Mountain" ("Der Kyffhäuser"), "The Sexton of Magdeburg" ("Der Wink Gottes"), "The Legend of Daniel's Cave" ("Die Daneels-Höle"), "The Story of the Popanz" ("Das Mährchen vom Popanz"), "The Ancient Ballad of Sir Tannhauser" ("Das wüthende Heer und Frau Venus Berg"), "The Lady of Weissenburg" ("Die Frau von Weissenburg"), "Legends of Rubezahl; or, Number-Nip" ("Erzählungen vom Rübezahl"), and "The Juniper Tree" ("Von dem Mahandel Bohm"). It also included an untitled translation of "Ludwig der Springer" and an extract from "Die Gründung des Klosters Schlägel".

Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching (1783-1829)
Seger, Hans · H. Seger, Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching zu seinem hundertsten Todestage. Altschlesien 2, 1929, 70-180.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1783
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching born at Berlin.
1829
Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching died at Wrocław.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Berlin.
Birth place
Wrocław.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q72289: Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Johann Gustav Gottlieb Büsching”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.ADB:Büsching, Johann Gustav Gottlieb In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Band 3, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1876, S. 645 f.
- 2.Ziolkowski, Jan M. Fairy Tales From Before Fairy Tales. University of Michigan Press. 307. 2007. 978-0-472-02522-0.
- 3.S. Robinson. The History of Kibitz, the Peasant. 2. 4. 209–211. April 1821.
- 4.W. Simpkin, R. Marshall, and J. H. Bohte. Preface. 1823.
- 5.James Robins & Co. German Popular Stories. 2. 74–81. 1826.
- 6.J. M. Dent & Sons, and E. P. Dutton. Grimm's Household Tales. 1912.
- 7.James Robins & Co. German Popular Stories. 2. 97–107. 1826.
- 8.Longmans, Green, and Co. The Green Fairy Book. 1892.
- 9.Henry Colburn. The German Novelists. 2. 1826.
- 10.Blackie, Fulltarton, and Co. Foreign Tales and Traditions. 2. 337–345. 1829.
- 11.George Cowie. Lays and Legends of Various Nations: Germany. 1834.
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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