Place of Iranian Language and Culture in the 20thCentury German Iranology

Iranology has a long history in Germany. German researchers, particularly at the end of the 19thand 20thcenturies, conducted extensive studies in the field of Iranology and published several works in this field. In the present paper, the writer refers to two examples of such works: the first was written by Wilhelm Geiger and Ernst Kuhn in 1895-1904, and the other was written by Rüdiger Schmidt in 1989. The findings reported in both books are the products of the scientific and research activities of German researchers regarding Iran, particularly, with respect to its linguistic, literary, historical, and cultural features. Through a brief study of the mentioned works, this paper is intended to introduce the linguistic and cultural dimensions of Iran as discussed in these two books and determine the thematic direction of the studies carried out by German Iranologists. The main purpose of this research is to describe the ups and downs of the scientific and research activities regarding the language and culture of Iran in the 20thcentury GermanIranology. It also seeks to pave the way for a comparison of Iranological studies conducted by German, English, and French Iranologists. The writer believes that the knowledge of the dimensions and topics of Iranological studies overseas could be useful for adopting specific directions for similar studies inside the country.