Adeline Rittershaus

Adeline Rittershaus (29 July 1876 – 6 September 1924) was a German philologist, a scholar in old Scandinavian literature,[1] and champion for the equality of women.

As women were unable to acquire an Abitur in Germany until 1899,[2] Rittershaus received private preparation by teachers of Barmer Real Gymnasium in 1894, and passed the Matura exam in Zürich.

In 1901, she submitted an application for admission to the Habilitation for Old and New Icelandic Language and Literature at the University of Bonn, which was rejected by 14 to 16 votes.

Rittershaus and Countess Maria von Linden were the only women in Prussia until the end of the empire who had tried to obtain teaching permission at a university.

After rejecting her earlier habilitation petition, Ritterhaus succeeded at the University of Zurich in 1902 with her publication, Die neuisländischen Volksmärchen (The New Icelandic Folk Tales).