Maximilian Aue, a longtime German studies professor who founded the acclaimed Emory in Vienna study abroad program, died Aug. 6 from injuries sustained during a vehicular accident.

A visitation for family and friends will be held Friday, Aug. 10 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at A.S. Turner and Sons Funeral Home, 2773 North Decatur Rd., Decatur.

Aue, who was 69, joined Emory’s Department of German Studies in 1968. He served as both an associate professor of German and director of graduate studies in the Department of Comparative Literature; he was still active in the classroom at the time of his death.

During his 44-year career at Emory, Aue taught thousands of German students at every level of proficiency and is remembered as a kind, caring colleague and generous teacher, says Hiram Maxim, associate professor of German studies.

"He was very warm and welcoming, very congenial, very collaborative," Maxim notes. "He was a true colleague — a department citizen — who obviously cared about the place where he’d been for so long."

His contributions to the department included a variety of leadership roles, with several terms as chair. Aue’s research interests included 20th century and contemporary German literature and the literature of German Romanticism.

However, Aue, who was born in Vienna, is perhaps best remembered for creating the popular Emory in Vienna program — a seven-week summer study abroad opportunity he launched in 1973.

Next year, the Emory in Vienna program will mark its 40th anniversary, and Aue was prepared to participate in the celebration, says Peter Höyng, chair of the Department of German Studies.

Höyng remembers Aue as "unique, in that he could cross U.S. and German-Austrian culture in a comfortable and knowledgeable way that I have rarely seen among colleagues in the field. We will certainly miss him."

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations may be made in honor of Aue to the Emory in Vienna study abroad program, the Paidea School, or a charity. A memorial service will be held at Emory in early September.