Friedrich Bruns
1878-1961
Professor of German
Bruns signed the original charter for UW Credit Union on June 1, 1931.
Born in the state of Oldenburg, Germany on June 27, 1878, Bruns and his family immigrated to the United States and lived on a farm near Rockwell, Iowa. He attended Wartburg College while it was located in Clinton, Iowa, and entered the University of Wisconsin in 1902 to attend graduate school. He studied German and the Classical Languages and received an M.A. in German in 1904. He then attended the University of Leipzig and taught at Williams College. In 1906, Bruns returned to the University of Wisconsin as a teaching fellow. In 1907, he was appointed an instructor in German. He completed his Ph.D. in 1909 and was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1911. Bruns was promoted to Associate Professor in 1925 and was made a full Professor of German in 1929.
Professor Bruns was an expert on German literature. His best known work was A Book of German Lyrics published in 1921. With strong support from Wisconsin's large German community, in the form of gifts of books and fellowships, the University of Wisconsin German Department was widely considered the best in the Midwest and one of the top two or three in the country. It put more emphasis on teaching and outreach than other German departments, pioneering the use of visual aids and partnering with the University Extension Division to lend teaching materials to instructors throughout Wisconsin and even to other states.
After World War II, the Bruns family was active in relief work to aid post-war Germany. The Bruns home was a drop-off place for donated clothes collected by the American Relief to Germany effort.
Bruns' colleagues described him as "a forceful, dynamic teacher, with a memorable classroom presence. His courses in German lyric poetry and the German drama were among the most popular offerings of the Department of German. He brought to his teaching a rare sincerity, coupled with broad knowledge of Greek, Latin, French and English literature." After more than 40 years of service to the University of Wisconsin, Bruns retired in 1948.