Born on 14 June 1944 in Coburg (Bavaria); third son of Ilse Meves, née Brüns, housewife and Theodor Meves, editor (killed in action 1945); married to Monika Wulff-Meves, two children.

Studied German, history and social sciences from winter semester 1964 at the universities of Marburg, Zurich (winter semester 1967) and Erlangen-Nuremberg (winter semester 1966 - summer semester 1967; summer semester 1968 ff.); financing of studies through scholarships for gifted students.

First State Examination for the higher teaching profession at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (autumn 1969): German studies (main subject), social studies (minor subject); (spring 1971): history (main subject).

Doctorate at the suggestion of Prof. Dr Emil Ploß, Erlangen, topic: Die Problematik von Begriff und Sache mhd. 'Spielmannsepik'. At the same time a contribution to the literary-historical localisation of König Rother, Herzog Ernst and Grauer Rock (Orendel), reviewers: Prof. Dr. Horst Brunner, Prof. Dr. Karl Bertau, Erlangen; viva voce on 6 February 1976.

1976/77 Leave of absence from the academic assistant position at the University of Trier for the preparatory service for the teaching profession at grammar schools at the Trier State Seminary.

Second State Examination for the higher teaching profession in the subjects German, History and Social Studies at the Trier State Seminary (1977).

From winter semester 71/72 academic tutor and lecturer at the German Department of the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.

From 1974 to 1981 research assistant at the Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies at the University of Trier, Department of Older German Philology, under Prof Dr Walter Röll.

From 1981 university assistant at the University of Trier, Faculty II, in the Department of Older German Philology.

In summer 1987, academic appointment to the professorship for Older German Language and Literature at the University of Oldenburg (successor to Prof Dr Ursula Peters).

1991/92 Visiting professor at the Humboldt University of Berlin for Older German Philology.

Retired in 2009

2010 Academic appointment to a professorship in Lower Saxony
A funding programme of the state of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation with the aim of keeping top researchers at universities in Lower Saxony beyond the legal age limit.

2012 renewed academic appointment to a professorship in Lower Saxony

In Berlin, Bremen, Breslau, Düsseldorf, Fribourg, Göttingen, Halle, Hamburg, Jena, Kaliningrad, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, London, Marbach, Odense, Paris, Rostock, Salzburg, Seoul, Tókyo, Vancouver, Vienna, Windsor, Würzburg, among others.

Numerous publications on medieval literature from the 10th to the 16th century in the context of social and cultural history (literary interest formation, literary mediation, patrons, audience, documentary evidence) with a focus on the literature of the High Middle Ages (including 'Spielmannsepik', Minnesang, Nibelungenlied, Parzival), on the manuscript tradition (medieval manuscripts of the SuB Königsberg), on the reception of Old German literature from the 18th century to the present (poetological conception, renewal practice, edition of unpublished texts [Tieck's König Rother], literary canon, reading books, curricula, educational policy; including the GDR), on the academic history of German studies (individual persons [incl. including J. Grimm, K. Lachmann, H. Naumann]; institutions [scholarly schools/grammar schools; universities: chairs, seminars, discipline formation]; journals ['Archiv']; programmatic concepts [including E. J. Koch, B. G. Niebuhr]; historical events [Germanists' Day 1846, Revolution of 1848/49]; professionalisation [German teacher training, examination requirements]; conceptual history ['German philology', 'Germanist']; source editions [correspondence between J. and W. Grimm]; literary historiography.

DFG project (1986 ff.): Findebuch zum mhd. Vocabulary. A project jointly applied for by my colleagues in Old German Studies in Trier under the direction of Prof. Dr Kurt Gärtner. As a result of the new tasks associated with my academic appointment in Oldenburg, I left the project in 1988.

Descriptive inventory of the medieval manuscripts of the former Königsberg City and University Library (1 BAT IIa position for 2 years, financing by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, proposal dated 16 October 1992). Start of the project on 1 April 1993, end of funding on 15 April 1996.

DFG project: Catalogue of all letters by and to Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. Proposal dated 20 Dec. 1992 for DFG funding (applicants: Prof. Dr Ruth Reiher, Humboldt University of Berlin; Dr Dr h.c. Ludwig Denecke, Hann. Münden; Prof. Dr Uwe Meves, Carl von Ossisetzky University Oldenburg); approved by the DFG on 2 June 1993 (2 posts BAT - O IIa and 1 post BAT - O IIa/half for 2 years). Further approvals on 21.9.1995 and 25.8.1997.

DFG project: Regestenwerk der deutschen Minnesänger des 12./13. Jahrhunderts, approved by the DFG on 1 March 1998 (1 post BAT IIa/half for 2 years); further approvals on 12 January 2000 and 15 February 2002 for three years (1 post BAT IIa, 1 post BAT IIa/half), on 27 November 2003 for final funding for half a year (1 post BAT IIa/half).

DFG research year for the project: German philology at Prussian universities in the 19th century.

DFG project Compilation of a scholarly commentary on the correspondence between the brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm together with Prof Dr Jens Haustein, University of Jena.

DFG project Compilation of the commentary and chapter introductions to the sources of the document volume on the history of German philology in the 19th century.

Academic appointment as expert reviewer (Low German linguistics and literature as well as folklore) for the Interministerial Committee for the Promotion of Scientific Research in Lower Saxony by the Minister of Science (since 1988).

Elected spokesman for the editorial board of the "Kritische Ausgabe des Briefwechsels von Jacob und Wilhelm Grimm in Einzelbänden" (1995; spokesman until 2013). The international editorial board consists of around 30 colleagues from various subjects and disciplines (seven volumes of the letter edition have been published to date).

Appointed by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Federal Institute for Culture and History of the Germans in Eastern Europe (2001); re-appointed in 2005 for four years.

• the DFG colloquium "Regestenwerk der deutschen Minnesänger des 12./13. Jahrhunderts" for medieval historians and German medievalists in Oldenburg (1993).
• the international colloquia (held annually since 1995 at the universities of Oldenburg, Berlin, Jena, Göttingen, Wuppertal, Frankfurt/Main, Trier, Darmstadt, Leipzig, Weimar and Munich) on the publication of the correspondence of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm.