Ottomar Behnsch

Ottomar Behnsch was a 19th-century German author and scholar, usually identified with the dates 1813–1869. He is best known today for Geschichte der englischen Sprache und Literatur, published in 1853, a substantial study tracing English language and literary history from early periods up to the age of printing.

The record of his work also shows a wider scholarly range. Cataloged editions connect him with the 1838 Latin volume Rerum seculo quinto decimo in Mesopotamia gestarum librum, indicating interests beyond English studies and into older historical and textual scholarship.

Even where biographical details are scarce, Behnsch comes across as a serious 19th-century man of letters: careful, historical in outlook, and interested in how languages and texts carry culture across centuries. That makes his work especially appealing to listeners drawn to classic literary history and the older traditions of philology.