Heinz Hugo Grotzfeld (born December 12, 1933, in Quierschied; died January 28, 2020) was a German Arabist. From 1975, he served as Professor of Semitic Philology and Islamic Studies at the University of Münster.
Heinz Grotzfeld, son of Ida Grotzfeld, née Woll, and Hugo Grotzfeld, a miner, studied Arabic and Islamic Studies. After receiving his doctorate (Dr. phil.) on July 25, 1961, in Münster and completing his habilitation at the University of Münster in 1968, he became a professor in Stockholm in 1968, a visiting professor at the American University in Beirut in 1974, and a professor in Münster in 1975. In 1973, he was appointed an Officer of the Swedish Order of the North Star.
He was Catholic, married to Sophia Grotzfeld, née Schwab, and had one son, Robert.
Selected Writings
Phonology and Morphology of Damascene Arabic. Wiesbaden 1964, OCLC 214992360.
Syrian Arabic Grammar. (Dialect of Damascus). Wiesbaden 1965, OCLC 906325563.
Bathing in the Arab-Islamic Middle Ages: A Cultural-Historical Study. Wiesbaden 1970, OCLC 1123316446.
" The importance of the hammam increased even more during the Islamic period, due to the religious cleanliness (tahara) being an obligation.13 Thus, "a considerable part of public and private life" was spent in hammams. "Hammams were one of the few places in Islamic cities that were open to everyone [...] at all times, from early morning until late at night, often day and night. People went to hammams not only for pleasure, but also to purify themselves for religious purposes after recovering from an illness and before putting on new clothes. Those released from prison or released through amnesty were first brought to the hammam. While the groom celebrated with his friends in the hammam, the bride would have fun with her friends and the women of both families."
With ancient urban civilization, the Islamic world also adopted the bath, and in the Middle Ages, this element of material culture, which played a central role in urban life alongside mosques, madrasas, and bazaars, flourished anew. The magnificent baths in cities like Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo bear witness to this period, even though, since the late 19th century, the preservation of this cultural heritage has been increasingly neglected due to societal changes.
In contrast to the buildings themselves, the social role of the bath in the Islamic world has not yet been the subject of scholarly investigation. This study attempts to elucidate the significance of the bath for the individual and society by summarizing the diverse accounts of bathing and bathing scattered throughout Arabic literature, particularly concerning the Arab world and Syria and Egypt.
with Sophia Grotzfeld: The Tales from "One Thousand and One Nights". Darmstadt 1984, ISBN 3-534-08427-6.
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