The institute has focused on the culture of everyday life, the history of traditions, and the research of narration patterns and dialects.

Born in Aalen, the son of a bank director (Bankvorstand),[3] he was drafted into the Wehrmacht at age 17, and subsequently became a prisoner-of-war.

His habilitation work, Volkskultur in der technischen Welt (Folk culture in a world of technology), appeared in translations in English, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese and Chinese.

[1][6] The institute researched the culture of everyday life, the history of traditions and social developments, narration patterns, dialects and regional geography,[5] including modern features such as pedestrian areas.

[1] He wrote a history of the literature of Swabia from the 18th century, with Wieland and Schubart, to contemporary writers such as Sibylle Lewitscharoff and Anna Katharina Hahn, which appeared for his 90th birthday.