Leppla, Rupprecht

Philologist, Germanist, Historian, Librarian

Born: 14.09.1900 in Berlin-Charlottenburg

died: 25.11.1982 in Wiesbaden

Leppla came to Wiesbaden as a child from Berlin, where his father August Leppla worked as a state geologist. After graduating from high school in 1919, he studied philosophy, German, Romance languages and literature and art history in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. He received his doctorate in German studies in 1923.

After completing his training for the higher civil service at academic libraries, he joined the then Nassau State Library in 1929, where he worked until his retirement in 1965 - ultimately as a senior librarian and deputy director. During his tenure, the collections were systematically and scientifically expanded and the catalogs were supplemented and improved.

He published works on German literature and library history and contributed to research into the cultural and literary history of Nassau. From 1923-80, he wrote 150 works in various fields of the humanities. He dedicated his main work "Geschichte der Nassauischen Landesbibliothek zu Wiesbaden und der mit ihr verbundenen Anstalten (1813-1914)", published in 1963, to the state library.

Leppla was closely associated with the Verein für Nassauische Altertumskunde und Geschichtsforschung, serving as deputy chairman from 1962-79. From 1965, he was the first chairman of the German Gustav Freytag Society and editor of the "Gustav Freytag Blätter".