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Alfred QuellmalzGerman musicologist, employee of the Ahnenerbe, SS Untersturmführer.
Date of Birth: 25.10.1899
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Early Life and Education
- Nazi Involvement and Anenerbe
- Wartime Service and Later Career
- Post-War Research and Legacy
Early Life and Education
Born to a town physician, Walter Wiora embarked on his musical studies as an assistant at the German Folk Song Archive in Freiburg in 1928. In 1932, he obtained his PhD from the University of Freiburg.
Nazi Involvement and Anenerbe
In 1937, Wiora joined the Nazi Party and became the archivist and head of the folk song department at the State Institute for German Musicology. He also collaborated with the Anenerbe, the Nazi research organization, from 1940 onwards.
Under the direction of Heinrich Himmler, Wiora led an expedition to South Tyrol from 1940 to 1942, collecting over 3,000 folk songs and instrumental pieces. From 1943 to 1944, he headed Anenerbe's research department for Indo-Germanic music.
Wartime Service and Later Career
In 1944, Wiora served in the SS troops. After the war, from 1945 to 1949, he worked as a freelance musicologist in Bregenz while also serving as a sound engineer for Austrian radio in Vorarlberg.
From 1950, Wiora worked at the Southwest Radio studio in Tübingen and taught at the Hochschule für Musik in Trossingen. From 1954 to 1961, he was the state referent for the German Red Cross Youth in Stuttgart.
Post-War Research and Legacy
With the support of the German Research Foundation, Wiora conducted extensive studies on folk music in Allgäu and South Tyrol. His seminal three-volume work, "Tyrolean Folk Songs," remains an important contribution to the field of ethnomusicology.
