German Literature

I. FROM OLDEST PRE-CHRISTIAN PERIOD TO 800 A.D.

There are no written monuments before the eighth century. The earliest written

record in any Germanic language, the Gothic translation of the Bible by Bishop

Ulfilas, in the fourth century, does not belong to German literature. It is known

from Tacitus that the ancient Germans had an unwritten poetry, which among

them supplied the place of history. It consisted of hymns in honour of gods, or

songs commemorative of the deeds of heroes. Such hymns were sung in chorus

on solemn occasions, and were accompanied by dancing; their verse form was

alliteration. There were also songs, not choric, but sung by minstrels before

kings or nobles, songs of praise, besides charms and riddles. During the great

period of the migrations poetic activity received a fresh impulse. New heroes, like

Attila (Etzel), Theodoric (Dietrich), and Ermanric (Ermanrich), came upon the

scene; their exploits were confused by tradition with those of older heroes, like

Siegfried. Mythic and historic elements were strangely mingled, and so arose the

great saga cycles, which later on formed the basis of the national epics. Of all

these the Nibelungen saga became the most famous, and spread to all

Germanic tribes. Here the most primitive legend of Siegfried's death was

combined with the historical destruction of the Burgundians by the Huns in 435,

and affords a typical instance of saga-formation.

Of all this pagan poetry hardly anything has survived. The collection that

Charlemagne caused to be made of the old heroic lays has perished. All that is

known are the "Merseburger Zaubersprüche," two songs of enchantment

preserved in a manuscript of the tenth century, and the famous "Hildebrandslied,"

an epic fragment narrating an episode of the Dietrich saga, the tragic combat

between father and son. It was written down after 800 by two monks of Fulda, on

the covers of a theological manuscript. The evidence afforded by these

fragments, as well as such literature as the "Beowulf" and the "Edda," seems to

indicate that the oldest German poetry was of considerable extent and of no

mean order of merit.

II. THE OLD HIGH GERMAN PERIOD (c. 800-1050). CHRISTIANITY AND ITS

INFLUENCE

Between the years 500 and 700 occurred the High German soundshifting, which

divided the dialects of the South, High German, from those of the North, Low

German. The history of German literature is henceforth mainly concerned with

High German monuments. In fact, until the close of the Middle Ages Southern

Germany occupies the leading place in literary production.

The Goths, the first Germanic tribe to be converted, embraced Christianity in the

form of Arianism. But they soon gave way to the Franks, who became the

dominant people, and the conversion of their king, Clovis, to Christianity, in 496,

was of decisive importance. The conversion of Germany, vigorously carried on

since the eighth century by Irish and Anglo-Saxon missionaries, notably by St.

Boniface (d. 755), was completed when Charlemagne (d. 814) forced the heathen

Saxons to submit to his rule and to be baptized, and united all the German tribes

under his sway. Under him and his successors Christianity was firmly

established. The clergy became the representatives of learning; the newly

established monasteries and their schools, above all those of Fulda and St. Gall,

were the centres of culture. The language of the Church was Latin, but preaching

and instruction had to be carried on in the vernacular. The prose literature that

arose to serve this purpose is only of linguistic interest. The poetry that

developed during this period was wholly Christian in character. Examples are the

"Wessobrunner Gebet" and the "Muspilli," the latter an alliterative poem on the

destruction of the world; both date from the ninth century. The Church, naturally,

opposed the old heathen songs and strove to supplant them by Christian poems.

Thus arose the Old Saxon epic, the "Heliand," which was composed between

822 and 840 by an unknown poet, at the suggestion of King Louis the Pious. It is

written in Low German and is the last great poem in alliterative verse. The story

of the Redeemer is here told from a thoroughly German point of view, Christ being

conceived as a mild but powerful chief, and His disciples as vassals or thanes.

The same subject is treated in the "Evangelienbuch" of Otfried, a monk of

Weissenburg, the first German poet known by name. It was completed about 868

and dedicated to Louis the German. While not possessing the literary merit of

the "Heliand," it is of the greatest importance because it definitely introduces into

German poetry the principle of rhyme, already familiar from the Latin church

hymns. Rhyme was also used by the unknown author of the "Ludwigslied" to

celebrate the victory of Louis III over the Northmen at Saucourt (881). This is the

only song of the period not purely religious in character, though its author was

probably a cleric.

During the ninth and tenth centuries German poetry fell into neglect; at the courts

of the Saxon (919-1024) and Franconian emperors (1024-1125) and in the

monasteries the Latin language was almost exclusively cultivated, and thus a

body of Latin poetry arose, of which the tenth-century "Waltharius" (Waltharilied)

of Ekkehard, a monk of St. Gall (d. 973), the "Ruodlieb" (1030), and the "Ecbasis

Captivi" (c. 940) are the most noteworthy examples. The "Waltharilied" relates an

old Burgundian saga and is thoroughly German in spirit, while the "Ecbasis" is

the oldest medieval beast epic that we possess. The Latin dramas of the nun

Roswitha (Hrotsvitha) hardly belong to German literature.

The great master of German prose in this period was Notker III, surnamed Labeo

(about 952-1022), the head of the convent-school of St. Gall. His translations

from Boethius, Aristotle, Marcianus Capella, and especially of the Psalter, are

the best examples of German prose until the fourteenth century.

III. THE PERIOD OF CHIVALRY AND THE CRUSADES (1050-1300). MIDDLE

HIGH GERMAN POETRY

In the eleventh century, under the influence of the reform movement that

emanated from the Burgundian monastery of Cluny, a spirit of stern asceticism

begins to dominate in literature. The Church in its struggle with the emperors

turned again to the people, to carry through the reforms of Gregory VII, and

although the poets of the beginning of this period were almost exclusively clerics,

they at least wrote in German. The literature which they produced consists

mainly of rhymed versions of Biblical stories and other sacred themes, and is

represented by Ezzo's "Lay of the Miracles of Christ," Williram's paraphrase of

the Canticle of Canticles (both c. 1060), and the poems of Frau Ava. Some of the

best poetry of this time was inspired by devotion to the Blessed Virgin, as for

instance the "Driu Liet von der Maget" by a Bavarian priest named Wernher (c.

1170). In these songs the characteristic German trend towards mysticism is

unmistakable. A most noteworthy product of the age is the half legendary

"Annolied," a poem in praise of Archbishop Anno II of Cologne (d. 1075). The

"Kaiserchronik" (c. 1150), a bulky poem narrating the story of the world, presents

a strange medley of legendary and historic lore. The bitter hostility of the ascetic

spirit to the worldly life finds expression in the scathing satire of Heinrich von

Melk (c. 1160). But asceticism was losing ground; under the influence of the

Crusades the prestige of the knightly caste was steadily rising. A compromise

with the secular spirit became imperative, and the clerical poets, to keep their

audiences and meet the competition of the gleemen, now had recourse to worldly

subjects. For their models they turned to France.

A priest named Lamprecht composed the "Alexanderlied" (c. 1130), while a

priest of Ratisbon, named Konrad, wrote the "Rolandslied" (c. 1135). In both

cases the authors drew from French originals. The minstrels began once more to

come to the front, and a number of popular epics date from this period. Among

these "König Rother" (c. 1160) is conspicuous. Its subject is an old Germanic

saga, and the role which the Orient, Constantinople in this case, plays therein

shows the influence of the Crusades. Still more noticeable is this fondness for

the Orient in "Herzog Ernst" (c. 1190), where the historical hero, Duke Ernest II

of Swabia (d. 1030), is represented as a pilgrim to the Holy Land and the subject

of marvellous adventures in the Far East. From this period dates also the first

German beast epic, "Reinhart Fuchs," by Heinrich der Glichesaere (c. 1170).

The rule of the Hohenstaufens (1138-1254) marks the first great classic era of

German literature. Many causes contributed to bring about a great literary revival.

The Crusades instilled new fervour into religious life. Many thousands of German

knights followed King Conrad III in the crusade of 1145-47. They were brought

into contact on the one hand with the Orient and its wealth of stories and

marvels, and on the other with their more cultured French neighbours, whose

polished customs and manners they adopted with avidity. Chivalry, an institution

essentially Romance in origin and spirit, was thus raised to predominance in the

social life of the age. The cultivation of poetry passed chiefly into its hands; the

clergy ceased to be the sole purveyors of learning and culture.

The poets of this period are, as a rule, of knightly rank. Many of the poorer

knights depended on the generosity of princely patrons, such as the landgraves

of Thuringia or the dukes of Austria. The only kinds of poetry cultivated in this

epoch were the epic and the lyric, and the former was either courtly or popular.

Form received the most careful attention; versification was regulated by the

strictest rules; the classic Middle High German, is extremely elegant. This

classic poetry was essentially a poetry of caste, and conformed absolutely to the

ideals of courtly society. Brilliant as it was, it was mainly a poetry of translation

and adaptation.

The courtly epic deals almost exclusively with foreign subjects; its models were

derived mostly from France. The subject most in favour was the matière de

Bretagne, the legends clustering around King Arthur and the Round Table, with

which that of the Holy Grail had been combined. This subject was made

especially popular by the versions of the French trouvere, Chrestien de Troyes,

who exerted great influence on the German courtly epic. Chivalry and the cult of

woman are the leading motifs of this poetry. The court epic was introduced into

Germany by Heinrich von Veldeke, a knight of the Lower Rhineland, whose

"Eneit" (c. 1175-86), based on a French model, treats the story of Æneas in

thoroughly medieval and chivalric spirit. The court epic was transplanted to Upper

Germany by the Swabian, Hartmann von Aue (d. about 1215). In his "Erec" he

introduced the Arthurian romance into German literature; his "Iwein" is from the

same cycle; his "Gregorius" is an ascetic version of the Oedipus story. His

best-known work is "Der arme Heinrich," which, as a purely German story of

womanly devotion, occupies a unique position among the creations of the courtly

poets -- greatest of these poets is Wolfram von Eachenbach (d. about 1220),

whose chief work is his "Parzival," the story of the simpleton who overcomes

doubt and temptation and ultimately becomes King of the Holy Grail. As in

Goethe's "Faust," we have here the story of a human soul. To the cycle of

Grail-romances belong also the so-called "Titurel" fragments, while Wolfram's

last work "Willehalm," is a historical legend which, however, remained

incomplete. Opposed to Wolfram in spirit is his great rival, Gottfried von

Strasburg, whose "Tristan" (c. 1210) is a glorification of sensual love and of

somewhat dubious morality. With Gottfried the court epic reached its highest

development; with him excessive artificiality begins to appear, and soon this

species of poetry declines rapidly. The succeeding poets, in trying to imitate the

great masters just mentioned, fall into tedious diffuseness, and their epics too

often become a meaningless string of adventures. Rudolf of Ems (d. 1254) and

Konrad von Würzburg (d. 1287) are the most gifted among these epigones. The

former is the author of narrative poems like "Der gute Gerhard" and "Barlaam und

Josaphat," an old Buddhistic legend in Christian form. The latter wrote a bulky

epic on the Trojan War, for which he used the French romance of Benoit de

Sainte-More as a model. Far more meritorious are his shorter romances, like

"Herzemaere" and "Engelhard." His "Goldene Schmiede" is a poem in honour of

the Blessed Virgin. Thoroughly independent of courtly influence is the powerful

and realistic poem "Meier Helmbrecht," a tragic village story written by a

Bavarian priest named Wernher der Gärtner (c. 1250).

By the side of the courtly romances developed the popular epic. On the basis of

old songs still current among the people, arose about 1200 in Austria the great

German epic, the "Nibelungenlied," telling of Siegfried's death at the hands of

Hagen and Kriemhild's fearful vengeance. The author is unknown, though he was

probably of knightly rank. The poem is in strophic form, and, though the subject

is primitively Germanic, the influence of chivalry and Christianity is throughout

apparent. In Austria arose also, but little later, the "Gudrunlied," a story of the

North Sea, telling of Gudrun's loyal devotion to her betrothed lover, King Herwig of

Seeland. Of far less interest are the other popular epics, which also date from the

beginning of the thirteenth century; they are mostly related to the saga-cycle

concerning Dietrich von Bern. The most notable are the "Rosengarten," "Alpharts

Tod," "Laurin," "Eckenlied," and "Rabenschlacht." Three other epics, "Ortnit,"

"Hugdietrich," and "Wolfdietrich," take their subjects from the Langobardic

saga-cycle; in them the influence of the Crusades is very noticeable.

Lyric poetry also flourished brilliantly in this period. Lyric poetry of a popular kind

seems to have existed in Austrian territory long before the Romance influence

came in from the North-west; but it was under this Romance influence that the

lyric attained its characteristic form. Minne, i.e., the conventional cult of woman,

is the leading motif, but other times, religious or political, are not wanting, and

the Spruch, a poem of gnomic or sententious character, was also in great favour.

Most of the minnesingers were of knightly rank. Tradition mentions Heinrich von

Veldeke as the pioneer of minnesong. He was followed by Friedrich von Hansen,

Heinrich von Morungen, and Reinmar von Hagenau. A disciple of the last-named,

the Austrian, Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1165-1230), is the greatest and

most versatile lyric poet of medieval Germany. He is equally great in the

Minnelied and in the Spruch. He was a stanch partisan of the emperors in their

fight against the papacy, and many of his poems are bitter invectives against

pope and clergy. But he never attacked the doctrines of the Church; his religious

fervour is attested by such poems as that in honour of the Trinity. With his

successors the Minnesang enters on its decline. Ulrich von Lichtenstein's life, as

revealed in his autobiography, "Frauendienst" (1255), shows to what absurdities

the worship of woman could go. Neidhart von Reuenthal (d. about 1245) holds up

to ridicule the rude life of the peasants and so introduces an element of

coarseness into the aristocratic art. Lastly, Reinmar von Zweter (d. about. 1260)

must be mentioned as a distinguished gnomic poet.

The didactic spirit, which now becomes prominent, is exhibited in longer poems,

like "Der wälsche Gast" (1215) of an Italian priest Thomasin of Zirclaere, and

especially in Freidank's "Bescheidenheit" (c. 1215-30), i.e., wisdom born of

experience, a collection of rhymed sayings. Though these works are strictly

pious in tone, outspoken criticism of papal and ecclesiastical matters is

frequently indulged in.

Prose was very backward in this period. Latin was the language for history and

law. About 1230 appeared the "Sachsenspiegel," a code of Saxon law written in

Low German by Eike von Repgowe, and this example produced in Upper

Germany the "Schwabenspiegel" (before 1280). The first chronicle in German

prose, the "Sachsenchronik," was written by a Saxon cleric (before 1250).

A great impetus was given to German prose by the preaching of the mendicant

friars, who were rising into prominence early in the thirteenth century. They

reached the hearts of the people, on whom the aristocratic literature of chivalry

had no influence. The sermons of David of Augsburg (d. 1272) are not preserved.

His disciple, Berthold of Ratisbon (d. 1272), was immensely popular as a

preacher. His dramatic, passionate eloquence, born of the sincerity of conviction,

turned thousands of his hearers to repentance and a better life.

IV. DECLINE OF POETRY AT THE END OF THE MIDDLE AGES. RISE OF

BOURGEOIS LITERATURE (1300-1500)

The decline of the knightly caste brought with it a decline of the literature of

which this caste had been the chief support. The fourteenth and fifteenth

centuries were not favourable to the development of an artistic literature. The

Empire was losing its power and drifting into anarchy, the emperors were bent

chiefly on increasing their dynastic power, while the princes strove to make

themselves independent of imperial authority. They were no longer patrons of

poetry. The clergy also in great part, followed worldly pursuits and undermined

the reverence in which they had been held. The rise of the cities and their

commerce was fatal to the prestige of knighthood and its ideals; life became

more practical, more utilitarian, less aesthetic, and as a consequence the

didactic tone becomes more and more prominent in literature. The universities

which sprung up in Germany during this period -- the first being founded at

Prague (1348) -- widened the gap between the learned classes and the people

and prepared the way for Humanism, which towards the end of the fifteenth

century begins to be a force in German letters. The influence of Humanism was

not wholly beneficial. It was a foreign institution and fostered Latin as the

language of scholarship at the expense of the native idiom. Gradually the

Humanists turned against the dominant Scholastic philosophy, and soon a spirit

of revolt manifested itself against the Church and its authority. The schisms

within the Church and the worldliness of many of its dignitaries stimulated this

spirit, which took a violent form, notably in the Hussite movement. The way was

thus prepared for the great Lutheran revolt.

The romance of chivalry degenerated into allegory and tedious description, of

which a typical instance is the "Theuerdank" (1517), an allegorical description of

Emperor Maximilian's courtship of Mary of Burgundy, written at the suggestion of

the emperor himself. The heroic epic fared no better, its tone became coarse and

vulgar. Rhymed chronicles still supplied the place of histories, the most

noteworthy being the chronicle of the Teutonic Order translated from the Latin of

Peter von Dusburg by Nikolaus von Jeroschin (c. 1340). Of higher poetic value

are the legends, fables, and anecdotes that enjoyed such popularity in this

period. The best-known collection of fables was "Der Edelstein," containing a

hundred fables translated from the Latin by Ulrich Boner, a Dominican monk of

Berne (c. 1340). Of the many didactic poems of this period, by far the most

famous was the "Narrenschiff" (Ship of Fools) of the learned humanist Sebastian

Brant (d. 1521), which appeared in 1494 and achieved a European reputation.

This is a satire of all the vices and follies of the age, of which no less than one

hundred and ten kinds are enumerated. A satiric tendency pervades also the

"Reinke de Vos," a Low German version from a Dutch original of the famous

story of Reynard the Fox (1498). The allusions in this poem to the vices of men

high in Church and State are unmistakable.

As for lyric poetry the Minnesang dies out, Hugo, Count of Montfort (c. 1423),

and Oswald von Wolkenstein (d. 1445) being its last representatives. The

cultivation of the lyric is now taken up by the burghers; the Meistersang

displaces the Minnesang. Poetry in the hands of this class became a mere

matter of technic, a trade that was taught in schools established for that

purpose. The guild system was applied to art, and the candidate passed through

different grades, from apprentice to master. Tradition names Mainz as the seat of

the oldest school, and Heinrich von Meissen (d. 1318) as its founder. Of the

many cities where schools flourished, none gained such a reputation as

Nuremberg, the home of Hans Sachs.

Very little of the poetry of these meistersingers has literary merit. The best lyric

poetry of this period and the following is found in the Volkslied, a song generally

of unknown authorship, expressive of the joys and sorrows of people in all

stations and ranks of life. Contemporary events often furnished the inspiration, as

in Halbsuter's song of the battle of Sempach (1386). Other songs deal with

legendary subjects, as for instance the song of Tannhaeuser, the minstrel knight

who wandered into the Mountain of Venus and then journeyed to Rome to gain

absolution. The religious lyric of this period is largely devoted to the praise of the

Blessed Virgin; in this connexion Heinrich von Laufenberg, a priest of Freiburg im

Breisgau, later a monk at Strasburg (d. 1460), is specially noteworthy.

Another literary genre that now rose into prominence was the drama, the origin of

which here as elsewhere is to be sought in the religious plays with which the

great Christian festivals, especially Easter, were celebrated. These plays had a

distinct purpose; they were to instruct as well as to edify. But gradually they

assumed a more secular character, they were no longer performed in the church,

but in the marketplace or some public square. Laymen also began to participate,

and in the fourteenth century German takes the place of Latin. Besides the

Passion, Biblical stories and legends were dramatized. One of the oldest and

most striking of such plays is the Tegernsee play "Antichrist" (twelfth century). A

famous drama of which the text is preserved is that of the wise and foolish

virgins, performed at Eisenach in 1322.

The origin of the secular drama is not wholly clear. In the fifteenth century this

genre is chiefly represented by the Shrovetide play, which undoubtedly traces its

origin to the mummeries and the coarse funmaking indulged in on special

occasions, notably on Shrove-Tuesday. No doubt the religious drama exerted its

influence on the development of the secular drama. As a rule the latter was

extremely crude in form and also incredibly coarse in language and content. The

chief place for these plays was Nuremberg, and Hans Folzs and Hans Rosenblüt

are the best-known authors in this line. In their plays appears the tendency that

was to make of this literary genre an effective vehicle for satire.

In this period of utilitarianism prose comes to occupy a leading position. The

romances of chivalry were turned into prose, foreign romances were translated,

and thus arose the Volksbücher, of which the most noteworthy is that of Till

Eulenspiegel, a notorious wag, around whom gathered all kinds of anecdotes.

The original Low German book of 1483 is lost, the oldest High German version

dating from 1515. In connexion with translated literature the names of the earliest

German humanists, Heinrich Steinhöwel, Niklas van Wyl, and Albrecht von Eyb

should be mentioned.

History was now written in German prose. Of prose chronicles we possess a

number, as that of Strasburg (to 1362), of Limburg (to 1398), and the Thuringian

chronicle of Johannes Rothe, a monk of Eisenach (1421).

But the best German prose of this period is to be found in the writings of the

mystics. The founder of this school was Master Eckhart (d. 1327), a Dominican

monk, and the Dominican Order became its chief exponent. Eckhart was

accused of pantheism, but repudiated any such interpretation of his utterances.

His disciple, Heinrich Seuse (Suso), also a Dominican (d. 1366), was less

philosophical and more poetical. The third great mystic, Johannes Tauler (d.

1361), a Dominican of Strasburg, gave the teachings of his predecessors a more

practical turn. The service which the mystics rendered to the German language in

making it the medium for their speculations can hardly be overestimated.

The greatest preacher of the period was Geiler von Kaysersberg of Strasburg (d.

1510), whose series of sermons based on Brant's "Ship of Fools" was especially

famous.

V. THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION (1500-1624)

The effects of Humanism in Germany began to be felt in the attention given by

such men as Erasmus and Reuchlin to the study of the Bible in the original

languages. For German literature the Reformation was a calamity. The fierce

theological strife absorbed the best intellectual energy of the nation. Literature as

an art suffered by being pressed into the service of religious controversy; it

became polemic or didactic, and its prevailing form was prose.

Martin Luther (1483-1546) is the most important figure of this period and his most

important work is his translation of the Bible (printed complete at Wittenberg,

1534; final edition, 1543-45). The German translations before his time had been

made from the Vulgate and were deficient in literary quality. Luther's version is

from the original, and although not free from errors it is of wonderful clearness

and thoroughly idiomatic. Its effect on the German language was enormous; the

dialect in which it is written, a Middle German dialect used in the chancery of

Upper Saxony, became gradually the norm for both Protestant and Catholic

writers, and is thus the basis of the modern literary German. Luther's pamphlets

have only historical interest; his catechism and sermons belong to theological

literature. His "Tischreden" (Table-Talk) shows the personality of the man. Force

and strength of will mark his character and writings. But his firmness often

savours of obstinacy, and in dogmatism he yields no tittle to his opponents,

while the bluntness, or still better the vulgarity, of his language, gave offence even

in an age accustomed to abuse. As a poet he appears in his religious songs,

among which "Ein feste Burg" is famous as the battle-hymn of the Reformers.

Other writers of Protestant church hymns were Paulus Speratus (d. 1551),

Nikolaus Decius (d. 1541), Nikolaus Herman (d. 1561), and Philipp Nicolai (d.

1608).

As a rule, the German Humanists were indifferent to the Reformation, but Ulrich

von Hutten (d. 1523) was a zealous partisan of the movement; his writings are

mostly in Latin. One of the bitterest enemies of Luther was Thomas Murner, a

Franciscan monk (1475-1537), who in his earlier satires castigated the follies of

the age. At first he showed sympathy for the reform movement, but when

Catholic doctrine was assailed, he turned, and in a coarse but witty satire "Von

dem grossen Lutherischen Narren" (1522), he unsparingly attacked the

Reformation and its author.

The best poet of the sixteenth century was the Nuremberg shoemaker Hans

Sachs (1494-1576) who, although a follower of Luther, was not primarily a

controversialist. He displayed amazing productivity in many fields, mastersong,

Spruch, anecdote, fable, and drama. His Shrovetide plays display a genial

humour that even today is effective. The spirit of the worthy master's verse is

thoroughly didactic, and artistic form is altogether lacking.

Towards the middle of the sixteenth century, the Counter-Reformation set in, and

regained much of the ground lost to Protestantism, which had now spent itself as

a vital force and was divided by the dissensions between Lutherans and

Calvinists. The most prominent polemical writer on the Protestant side was

Johann Fischart (d. 1590), much of whose satire is directed against the Jesuits,

notably his "Vierhörniges Jesuiterhuetlein" (1580). His most ambitious work is

the "Geschichtklitterung," a free version of Rabelais's "Gargantua" (1575).

Fischart is not an original writer, and his extravagance of language and love for

punning make his work thoroughly unpalatable to a modern reader.

Narrative prose is very prominent in the literature of this period. Collections of

anecdotes, such as Jörg Wickram's "Rollwagenbuechlein" (1555) and especially

"Schimpf und Ernst" (1522) of Johannes Pauli, a Franciscan monk, were very

popular. Translations of French and Spanish romances like the "Amadis of Gaul"

were also much in favour. Then there were the "Volksbücher," with their popular

stories, among which those connected with Faust and the Wandering Jew have

become especially famous. Didactic prose was represented by the historical

work of Aegidius Tschudi (d. 1572), Sebastian Frank (d. 1542), and Johannes

Thurmayr (known as Aventinus; d. 1534); the collections of proverbs and sayings

made by Frank and Johann Agricola (d. 1566) are also to be mentioned in this

connexion. In theology Bishop Berthold of Chiemsee represents the Catholic

side, with his "Tewtsche Theologey" (1528); the Franciscan, Johann Nas (d.

1590), a Catholic convert, in his "Sechs Centurien Euangelischer Wahrheiten"

also champions the old Church. The chief Protestant writer was Johann Arndt (d.

1621), author of the "Vier Bücher vom waren Christenthum," one of the most

widely read books of the time. Contemporary with Arndt was the famous

shoemaker, Jakob Boehme (d. 1624); a mystical philosopher in whose writings

profound thoughts and confused notions are strangely blended.

In the dramatic field there was also much activity. Luther, though opposed to the

passion play, had favoured the drama on educational grounds. Nikolaus Manuel,

a Swiss (d. 1530), used the dramatic form for satirizing the pope and the Catholic

Church. The Biblical drama was in favour, and many of the learned writers of

school comedies chose their subjects from the Bible, as for instance, Paul

Rebhun (d, 1546) and Sixt Birck (d. 1554). The most prolific dramatist of the

period was Hans Sachs, who wrote no less than 208 plays, which in spite of their

lack of all higher literary quality, make a promising beginning. Towards the end of

the sixteenth century, English strolling players appeared in Germany, and

through their superior histrionic art gained the favour of the public. Jakob Ayrer (d.

1605), the leading dramatist of that age, shows their influence; still more so

Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbuettel (d. 1613), the first to write

German dramas in prose instead of verse.

VI. THE AGE OF RELIGIOUS WORKS (1624-1748). THE POETRY OF

SCHOLARSHIP AND IMITATION

The religious strife inaugurated by the Reformation culminated in the Thirty Years

War (1618-1648) which practically destroyed Germany as a nation. National

feeling almost died out. The Catholic League looked for support to Spain and

Austria, while the Protestant princes betrayed the national interests to Sweden

and France. A servile spirit of imitation was abroad. The German language was

neglected and devised in aristocratic circles and was corrupted by the influx of

foreign words. Literature was devoid of originality and substance; the formal side

absorbed the chief attention of the writers.

The literary leader of this period was Martin Opitz (1597-1639), whose treatise

"Von der deutschen Poeterey" (1624) enjoyed undisputed authority as an ars

poetica for more than a century. Intelligibility and regularity rather than

imagination and feeling were to be looked for in poetry. The theory of Opitz was

drawn from the practice of French and Dutch Renaissance poets and left no room

for originality. The book had a salutary effect, however, in that it put an end to the

mechanical counting of syllables and made rhythm dependent on stress. Its

protest against the senseless use of foreign words was also laudable. Opitz is

the author of a number of poems, moralizing, didactic, religious, or descriptive in

character, but of little real merit. His best-known work is "Trostgedicht in

Widerwaertigkeit des Kriegs" (1633). The poets who followed the leadership of

Opitz are known as the First Silesian School, though not all were Silesians by

birth, and included some of real talent like Friedrich von Logau (d. 1655), the

witty epigrammatist, and Paul Fleming (d. 1640), the lyrist. The poets of the

so-called Königsberg Circle were also followers of Opitz. Among them, Simon

Dach (d. 1659) is pre-eminent. In this connexion may be mentioned also,

Andreas Gryphius (1616-64), the chief dramatist of the period. His tragedies,

based mostly on Dutch models, are marred by their stilted rhetoric and

predilection for the horrible; his comedies are far better, though they did not meet

with the same favour. It was chiefly diction and versification that benefited by the

poets of this school. Literature in their hands was a mere product of scholarship,

entirely out of touch with the people. The linguistic societies that sprang up at

this time, the most famous of which was Die fruchtbringende Gesellschaft

(1617), did not change this condition. The language, not the literature, improved

through their efforts.

As a reaction against the cold formalism and utilitarianism of the Opitzians, the

writers of the Second Silesian School, Christian Hofmann von Hofmannswaldau

(1617-79) and Daniel Kasper von Lohenstein (1635-81) fell into the opposite

extremes of bombast and exaggeration. Their style was modelled on that of the

Italian Marini. The lyric poems of the former and the dramas and novels of the

latter are written in an unnatural and inflated style, overloaded with metaphors. In

their style, as well as in their immorality, these writings reflect the taste of

contemporary courtly society. In opposition to this fashionable tendency,

Christian Weise (d. 1708) in his school dramas and satiric novels strove for

simplicity, which in his work and that of his followers degenerated frequently into

triviality and inanity. The best poetry that the seventeenth century produced was

the religious lyrics, especially the hymns. The tone of these poems is no longer

one of combat, but rather of pious resignation. The greatest of Protestant writers

in this line was Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676). Others deserving of mention are

Joachim Neander, Georg Neumark, Johann Franck, and Philipp Jakob Spener.

Among Catholic writers the most prominent were the Jesuit, Friedrich Spe

(1591-1635), the intrepid defender of the victims of the witchcraft tribunals, author

of the lyric collection "Trutznachtigall," and Johann Scheffler, better known as

Angelus Silesius (d. 1677), a convert and later a priest, in whose poetic

collections "Heilige Seelenlust" and "Der cherubinische Wandersmann"

mysticism again finds a noble expression. Another Jesuit poet, Jacob Balde

(1604-68), did his best work in Latin, though his German poems are not without

merit.

The novel began to flourish in the seventeenth century. The heroic and gallant

romance, of which Lohenstein was the chief exponent, was high in favour with

aristocratic society, but of small literary value. The romances of roguery, coming

in under Spanish influence, were far better. The prose classic of the century is

the "Simplicissimus" of Christoph von Grimmelshausen (d. 1676), a convert to

Catholicism. In the form of an autobiography it unfolds a vivid and realistic picture

of the period of the Thirty Years War. Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe" brought forth a

flood of imitations, of which Schnabel's "Die Insel Felsenburg" was the best.

Satire is represented by Christian Reuter's "Schellmuffskys Reisebeschreibung"

(1696) and the writings of Johann Balthasar Schupp, a Lutheran pastor of

Hamburg (d. 1661), as well as those of Ulrich Megerle, known as Abraham a

Sancta Clara (1644-1709), who as court preacher at Vienna was noted for his wit

and drollery. German prose began now to be used for philosophy and science.

The pioneers in this line were Christian Thomas and Christian Wolff, who

inaugurated the Rationalistic movement in Germany.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century German literature was still in a low

state. The drama especially was in a bad plight, coarse farces with the clown in

the leading role being most in favour. A reform was attempted by the Leipzig

professor, Johann Christoph Gottsched (1700-66). His intentions were

praiseworthy, but unfortunately he was anything but a poet. Poetry for him was a

matter of the intellect; its aims were to be practical. For the mysterious and the

wonderful he had no use. Good taste was to be cultivated by imitating the French

classic drama, which was supposed to be the best exponent of the practice of

the ancients. Gottsched's literary dictatorship was undisputed until he became

involved in a controversy with the Swiss critics, Bodmer and Breitinger, who

insisted on the rights of imagination and feeling and held up the English poets as

better models than the French. Gottsched was defeated and in consequence lost

all authority.

Slowly poetry began to improve. This improvement is distinctly noticeable in the

descriptive poem "Die Alpen" of Albrecht von Haller (d. 1777) and the graceful

verse of Friedrich von Hagedorn (d. 1754). The most popular author of the day

was Christian Fuerchtegott Gellert (1715-69), whose fables were familiar to every

German household. He also wrote stories, moralizing comedies, and hymns. But

neither these writers nor those of the Halle circle, Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim,

Ewald Christian von Kleist, and Johann Peter Uz, were in any sense great

writers.

VII. THE CLASSIC PERIOD OF GERMAN LITERATURE (1748-1805)

Many causes contributed to the rise of a great national literature in the

eighteenth century. The victories of the Prussian King Frederick the Great

quickened national sentiment in all German lands. This quickening of patriotism

is discernible in Klopstock's poems; it encouraged Lessing to begin his

campaign against the rule of French classicism. Religious movements also

exerted a powerful influence. Pietism came as a reaction against the narrow

Lutheran orthodoxy then prevailing, and though it ultimately added but one more

petty sect to those already existing, the deepening of religious sentiment that

followed it was beneficial to poetry. With the appearance in 1748 of the three

opening cantos of "Der Messias" a new era opened for German literature. The

author, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (1724-1803), was hailed at once as a poet

born not made. Poetry again had a noble content: love, patriotism, and religion.

The theme of the "Messias" is the Redemption. In spite of its high seriousness

and lofty purpose, the poem is a failure as an epos. Klopstock's gift was lyric; he

is at his best in his odes. Impatient of the pedantic rules of versification followed

by poets since the days of Opitz, he discarded rhyme altogether and chose for

his odes antique metres and free rhythms. This, as well as their involved diction,

has stood in the way of their popularity. Another defect that mars all of

Klopstock's work is its excessive sentimentalism, a defect that is disagreeably

noticeable in most of the literature of that time. The poet's patriotism found vent

in odes as well as in patriotic prose dramas, the so-called Bardiete, in which an

attempt was made to revive Germanic antiquity and to excite enthusiasm for

Arminius, the liberator of ancient Germany from Roman subjugation. As drama

these productions are utter failures, though their lyric passages are often

beautiful; their chief effect was to stimulate the "bardic" movement represented

by von Gerstenberg, Kretschmann, and the Viennese Jesuit Denis. Klopstock's

Biblical dramas like "Der Tod Adams" (1757) are now wholly forgotten.

Of far greater influence on literature than pietism was rationalism, whose

watchword was "Enlightenment." Reason was to be the sole guide in all things;

tradition and faith were to conform to it. For dogma of any kind there was no

room in such a system, which frequently tended towards undisguised atheism,

as with the English Deists and especially the French Encyclopedists. Frederick

the Great was an adherent of their views and made them dominant in Church and

State as far as Prussia was concerned. In Germany, however, rationalism did not

go to the length of atheism; as a rule a compromise between reason and

revealed religion was attempted. The broad humanitarianism of the great writers

of this period, Lessing, Herder, Goethe, Schiller, shows the influence of the

Enlightenment. Certain it is that all these writers were out of sympathy with any

of the orthodox forms of Christianity. Often, however, the Enlightenment

degenerated into a shallow, prosy rationalism, destitute of all finer sentiment, as

in the case of the notorious Nicolai (d. 1811). As a reaction against the one-sided

sway of rationalism, came a passionate revolt against the existing order. This

revolt was inaugurated by Rousseau and manifested itself in German literature in

the Sturm-und-Drang-Periode (Storm and Stress Period). The final product of the

whole rationalistic movement was the epoch-making "Critique of Pure Reason" of

Immanuel Kant.

The representative of the Enlightenment in its best aspect is Gotthold Ephraim

Lessing (1729-81), one of the greatest critics of the century. In the

"Literaturbriefe," a series of essays on contemporary literature, his wonderful

critical ability was first shown. Here Shakespeare is held up as a model and the

supremacy of the French drama is challenged. In 1766 appeared the "Laokoon,"

in which the spheres of poetry and the plastic arts are clearly defined, and their

fundamental differences pointed out. The attempt to establish a national theatre

at Hamburg resulted in the "Hamburgische Dramaturgie" (1767-69), wherein

Lessing investigates the nature of the drama, and refutes the claim of the French

that their classic drama is the true exponent of the practice of the ancients. The

rules of Aristotle are accepted as final, but it is shown that the French have

misunderstood them, and their German imitators are therefore doubly in error.

With all its one-sidedness, the polemic was fruitful for it put an end to

pseudoclassicism and made a national German drama possible. Lessing led the

way. His "Miss Sara Sampson" (1755) is the first bourgeois tragedy of the

German stage. It was followed by "Minna von Barnhelm" (1767), the first German

national drama, on a subject of contemporaneous interest with the Seven Years

War for a background, and by "Emilia Galotti," the first classic German tragedy

(1772) as an adaptation to modern conditions of the story of Appius and Virginia.

Lessing's last drama "Nathan der Weise" (1779) was the outcome of the

theological controversy in which he had been involved, through the publication of

the Wolfenbuettel fragments. These had been written by Reimarus and contained

a bold attack on Christianity and the Bible. A bitter feud between Lessing and

Göze, the champion of Lutheran orthodoxy, was the result in the course of which

Lessing wrote a number of polemics in which he asserted that Christianity could

exist without, and did exist before, the Bible. When a decree of the Duke of

Brunswick forbade further discussion, he had recourse to the stage, and wrote

his "Nathan." In this he uses Boccaccio's famous parable of the three rings to

enforce the thesis that there is no absolutely true religion. Not faith, but virtuous

action is the essence of religion, and all religious systems are equally good. For

a dogmatic religion there is, of course, no room in this view, which is a frank

expression of Lessing's deistic rationalism. His last prose works, notably "Die

Erziehung des Menschengeschlechts" (1780), are philosophical in character and

treat of ideas related to those expressed in "Nathan."

A contrast to Klopstock's "seraphic" sentimentalism is offered in the sensualism

of Christopher Martin Wieland (1733-1813). He began as a fervid pietist and

admirer of Klopstock, and under the influence of rationalism passed to the

opposite extreme of sensualism tinged with frivolity before he found his level. His

"Agathon" is the first German Bildungsroman, presenting a modern content in

ancient garb, a method also followed in the "Abderiten" (1780), in which the

provincialism of the small town is satirized. His masterpiece is the romantic

heroic epic "Oberon" (1780), for which he drew his inspiration from the old French

romance "Huon de Bordeaux." His last work, "Aristipp," is a novel in epistolary

form, like the "Agathon" in dress, but otherwise modern. Wieland was not a great

poet, but the smooth graceful style of his writings and their pleasant wit did much

to win the sympathy of the upper classes for German literature.

While Wieland's influence on German literature has been small, that of Johann

Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) was decisive and far-reaching, less through his own

writings than through the new ideas he proclaimed and the influence of his

personality on others, notably Goethe. Rousseau's summons to return to nature

was applied by Herder to poetry. Not imitation, but native power makes the poet.

Poetry was to be judged as the product of historic and national environment.

Natural and popular poetry like the folk-song was preferred to artistic poetry.

These views were developed in a series of essays "Fragmente ueber die neuere

deutsche Literatur" (1767) and "Kritische Waelder" (1769) and were still further

elaborated in essays on Ossian and Shakespeare in "Von deutscher Art und

Kunst einige fliegende Blätter" (1773). Then followed "Stimmen der Voelker in

Liedern" (1778), a collection of 182 folk-songs from every age, clime, and

nationality. Herder's skill translator or adapter is exhibited here, as also in "Der

Cid," a free version from the Spanish through the medium of the French. His

original poems, mostly parables and fables, are of little importance. Herder, the

founder of the historical method, could not but be hostile to rationalism with its

unhistoric methods and one-sided worship of reason. In "Vom Geiste der

hebraeischen Poesie" (1783) he showed what a wealth of poetry the Bible

contained. In his last work, "Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der

Menschheit" (1784-91), the history of the human race is regarded under the

aspect of evolution; humanitarianism is the ultimate goal of religious

development. This work pointed out the way for the philosophical study of history.

The effect of the work of Klopstock, Herder, and Lessing was immediate. The

national movement was taken up by the "Göttinger Hain" poets, of whom the

best-known are Johann Heinrich Voss (d. 1826), the translator of Homer, Ludwig

Heinrich Christoph Hoelty (d. 1776), the elegiac singer, and the two brothers

Stolberg. Connected with them, though not members of the circle, were Matthias

Claudius (d. 1815) and the gifted but dissolute Gottfried August Buerger (d.

1794), the ballad writer, whose "Lenore" (1773) has become widely known.

The protest voiced by Rousseau against the existing social order produced in

German letters the so-called Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) movement,

which dominated the decade (1770-80). It was a passionate revolt against

conventional traditions and standards and manifested itself in the wild dramatic

products of such men as von Klinger, Friedrich Müller or Maler Müller, and Lenz,

and the lyric effusions of Schubart (d. 1791). But the movement found its best

expression in the early work of Germany's greatest poets, Goethe and Schiller.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) while a student at Strasburg had come

under Herder's influence and come under Herder's influence and caught the

revolutionary spirit. In his "Goetz von Berlichingen" (1773), the first great

historical German drama, the poet gave vent to his dissatisfaction with the social

and political conditions of his time. In spite of its irregular form, due to a

misguided enthusiasm for Shakespeare the national content of the drama and

the forceful diction carried the public by storm. Its popularity was exceeded by

"Die Leiden des jungen Werthers" (1774), a novel in letter form, reflecting the

morbid sentimentalism of the age; the hero kills himself under the spell of a

hopeless passion for the affianced of his friend. The years from 1775 to 1786

were not so fruitful; political and social activity interfered with literary production.

The spirit of storm and stress gradually subsided and gave way to the classicism

which, especially after his return from Italy (1788), left its stamp on all of

Goethe's subsequent work. The apostle of this neo-Hellenism was Johann

Joachim Winckelmann (d. 1768), the founder of the historical study of art. He

postulated the canons of ancient Greek art as absolute. The classicism that he

inaugurated was directly opposed in spirit to the national tendency championed

by Herder. Lessing's work had shown the influence of this neo-Hellenism. Now

Goethe became its pronounced follower. The works that he wrote under its

influence exhibit perfection of form, notably the dramas "Egmont" (1788),

"Iphigenie auf Tauris" (1787), and "Torquato Tasso" (1790). Goethe's literary

productions during this period, before 1794, are not numerous; they include the

"Romanische Elegien" and the epic "Reineke Fuchs" (1794), a free version in

hexameters from the Old Low German. The dramas that arose under the

influence of the French Revolution are not very important. In fact Goethe's chief

interests at this time were scientific rather than literary. After 1794, however,

under the inspiration of Schiller's friendship, the poetic impulse came with new

strength. The period of Goethe's and Schiller's friendship (1794-1805) marks the

climax of the poetic activity of these two great men. The satiric epigrams known

as "Xenien" were the fruit of their joint activity. Then followed a number of their

finest ballads. In 1796 Goethe completed "Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre," a novel

of culture, discursive and didactic, with the stage for its principal theme. The

exquisite idyllic epic, "Hermann und Dorothea" (1797), though written in

hexameters, is thoroughly German in spirit and subject-matter. After Schiller's

death (1805) Goethe's poetic productivity decreased. Some fine lyrics produced

in this period are in the "Westoestliche Divan" (1819), a collection of poems in

Oriental garb. Most of the poet's work now was in prose. "Die

Wahlverwandtschaften" (1809), a psychological novel, depicts the tragic conflict

between passion and duty and upholds the sanctity of the marriage tie. In the

autobiographical romance "Dichtung und Wahrheit" (1811-33) the poet tells with

poetic licence the story of his life. A number of stories were loosely strung

together in "Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre" (1821), a long didactic novel given

over largely to the discussion of ethical and sociological problems. The greatest

work of Goethe and of German literature is "Faust," a dramatic poem, the

composition of which occupied the poet's entire life. The idea was conceived

while Goethe was still a young man at Frankfurt; a fragment containing the

Gretchen episode appeared in 1790. Under the stimulus of Schiller's sympathy

the first part was completed and published in 1806. The second part was not

finished until eight months before the poet's death. It is a colossal drama with

humanity for its hero. Weak human nature may fall, under temptation, but its

innate nobility will assert itself triumphantly in the end. Faust atones for his

errors by a life devoted to altruistic effort, and so his soul after all is saved. The

Catholic atmosphere of the closing scene, where the penitent Gretchen

intercedes with the Virgin for her lover, betrays the influence of the Romantic

School.

If Goethe is the man of universal gifts, Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller

(1759-1805) is preeminently a dramatist. He too received his first impulse from

the Storm and Stress movement. His first three dramas, "Die Raeuber" (1781),

"Fiesco" (1783), and "Kabale und Liebe" (1784), breathe a spirit of passionate

revolt. With all their youthful exaggeration, they reveal unmistakable dramatic

power. In "Don Carlos" a calmer spirit reigns and a greater mastery of form is

evident. Freedom of thought is the burden of its message. The composition of

this work had turned Schiller's attention to history, and for a time the study of

history and philosophy got the better of poetic production. The historical works

that are the outcome of these studies are valuable rather for their style than as

original contributions. Goethe's study of Kant's philosophy was responsible for a

number of works of an aesthetic character, notably "Über naive und

sentimentalische Dichtung," where naive and sentimental are taken as typical of

ancient and modern respectively. His friendship with Goethe (1794-1805) won

Schiller back to poetry and now followed in rapid succession his dramatic

masterpiece: "Wallenstein," a trilogy, the first historic German tragedy in the

grand style (1796-99), "Maria Stuart" (1800), and "Die Jungfrau von Orleans

"(1801), a noble defence of the Maid of Orleans against the slanders of Voltaire.

"Die Braut von Messina" (1803) is a not altogether successful attempt to

combine modern spirit with antique form. The poet's last great drama, "Wilhelm

Tell" (1804), is, perhaps, the most popular German play. Here he reverts again to

the idea of freedom which he championed so passionately in his youthful

dramas, and which here found its most convincing expression. The grandly

conceived tragedy "Demetrius" remained a fragment, owing to the author's

untimely death (1805). As a lyric poet Schiller is far below Goethe. His lyrics

lack spontaneity; they are rather the product of reflection and are mostly

philosophic in character. His masterpiece in this line is "Das Lied von der

Glocke" (1800). He also excels in epigram and gnomic verse, and as a writer of

ballads he has few equals.

The great classic drama by no means immediately won its way. Besides the

opera, the bourgeois drama ruled the stage and its most popular representatives

were Iffland and Kotzebue. The plays of these writers were thoroughly

conventional in tone; those of Kotzebue had a distinctly immoral tendency, but

they were theatrically effective and immensely popular.

Of prose writers contemporary with Goethe we may mention the historians,

Justus Möser (d. 1794) and Johannes von Müller (d. 1809). In philosophy the

commanding figure is Immanuel Kant, whose work has exerted a tremendous

influence on modern thought. Alexander von Humboldt's (1769-1859) "Kosmos" is

a classic of natural science.

In the field of the novel, Jean Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825) achieved

distinction. His writings, "Quintus Fixlein," "Hesperus," "Titan," and others were

enormously popular in their day, but owing to their bizarre style and absolute

formlessness, joined to an unbearable discursiveness, they have lost all charm

for modern readers. The unfortunate Friedrich Hoelderlin (1770-1843) combined

the classic with the romantic spirit in unique fashion. His passionate longing for

the lost beauty of ancient Greece was expressed in his novel "Hyperion," as well

as in some noble lyrics.

VIII. ROMANTICISM AND THE ERA OF REVOLUTION (1805-1848)

With the beginning of the nineteenth century the revolt against the Aufklärung

(Enlightenment), started by Herder, reasserted itself. There was also a marked

revival of religious sentiment. The Romantic School rose into prominence. Art

was to be rescued from the sway of rationalism; imagination and emotion were to

be set free. Taking as a basis Fichte's philosophy, which proclaimed the ego as

the supreme reality, the romanticists proceeded to free creative genius from the

barriers of convention and tradition. But the result was often an extreme

subjectivism that broke through the restraints of artistic form and lost itself in

fantastic visions and vague mysticism. The leaders of the movement turned away

from a sordid present to far-away Oriental regions, or to a remote past like the

Middle Ages. This predilection for medievalism coming together with the religious

revival gave to the romantic movement a pronounced Catholic tendency. Some of

the leading romanticists, Brentano, Görres, Eichendorff, were Catholics; others,

like Friedrich Schlegel, became Catholics. Sympathy for Catholicism is

noticeable in the work of all the members of the school.

The Romantic movement was also a salutary reaction against the excessive

classicism of Goethe and Schiller. The national element was again emphasized.

The Middle Ages, depreciated and misrepresented ever since the Reformation,

were now shown in a fairer light by historians like von Raumer, Wilken, Voigt,

and others. The great medieval literature was rediscovered by scholars like Jakob

and Wilhelm Grimm and Lachmann. In fact, the science of Germanic philology

owes its origin to the Romantic School. The enthusiasm for foreign literature also

bore rich fruit in masterly translations and reproductions. Here lies the main

significance of much of the work of the brothers Schlegel, the critical leaders of

the Older Romantic School. August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767-1845) is famous

as a translator. His translations of Shakespeare have become German classics,

while his renderings from the Spanish (Calderon, Lope de Vega), Italian, and

Sanskrit are hardly less meritorious. His brother, Friedrich von Schlegel

(1772-1829), who became a convert to Catholicism, enunciated the romantic

doctrines in his aphorisms. Through his treatise, "Über die Sprache und Weisheit

der Indier" (1808) he became the pioneer of Sanskrit studies in Germany. The

work of the Schlegels in criticism and literary history was epoch-making; they

taught critics not merely to criticize, but to understand, to interpret, to

"characterize." The school found no really great poet to put its theories into

practice. Still the poetry of Friedrich von Hardenberg (1772-1801), better known

as Novalis, is pervaded by deep feeling. His fragmentary novel "Heinrich von

Ofterdingen" is an attempt to show the development of a true romantic poet.

Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853) revived the old folk-books, satirized the Enlightenment

in his comedies, wrote romantic dramas of no great value, like "Genovera," and a

novel of culture "Franz Sternbalds Wanderungen," which had much influence on

German painting. After 1821 he turned to the short story, which he was the first

to cultivate with success. A second group of romantic writers, the Younger

Romantic School, gathered chiefly at Heidelberg. With them the national

tendency is more pronounced. Their work shows great talent, but is often spoiled

by a lack of artistic restraint. Especially is this the case with Klemens Maria

Brentano (1778-1842), a highly poetic but very eccentric character, who together

with Achim von Arnim collected and edited an important book of folksongs, "Des

Knaben Wunderhorn" (1805-8). Their friend Joseph von Görres (1776-1848),

during his period of ardent patriotism, edited old German songs and folk-books;

his later activity was largely devoted to the service of the Catholic Church, which

found in him a zealous champion. The patriotic tendency is much in evidence in

the work of Friedrich de la Motte Fouque (1777-1843), whose fantastic chivalric

romances are forgotten, while his fairy-tale "Undine" still lives. The only dramatic

poet of a high order connected with the Romantic School is Heinrich von Kleist

(1777-1811), among whose dramas "Der Prinz von Homburg" (1810) is regarded

as his masterpiece. His novels, of which "Michael Kohlhaas" is the best known,

show a graphic power. Zacharias Werner (1768-1823), who ultimately became a

Catholic, is chiefly known as the originator of the so-called "fate-tragedies," a

gruesome species of dramas, in which blind chance is the dominating factor.

Characteristic of decaying romanticism are the weirdly fantastic stories of E.T.A.

Hoffmann (1776-1822). The influence of the romantic movement continued for

some time after the movement had spent itself as a living force. Almost all the

poets of the first half of the nineteenth century were more or less affected by it.

The national tendency fostered by romanticism was transformed by the Wars of

Liberation into patriotic fervour which found expression in the stirring lyrics of Max

von Schenkendorf, Theodor Koerner, and Moritz Arndt.

The poets of the Swabian School, who were romantic only in so far as they

leaned towards medieval or religious subjects, excelled particularly in the ballad.

Their leader was Ludwig Uhland (1787-1862), distinguished as poet and scholar.

Besides him there were Justinus Kerner and Gustav Schwab. Some of Kerner's

and Uhland's lyrics have become veritable Volkslieder.

Romanticism cast its spell over the lyric, which occupies a large space in the

literature of this period. Prominent in this field were Adelbert von Chamisso,

Wilhelm Müller, and Joseph von Eichendorff, a Catholic nobleman of Silesia, the

most gifted lyrist of the group. Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) was a voluminous

but unequal writer of verse; his fame rest largely on his translations and

imitations of Oriental poetry, the difficult forms of which he reproduced with

amazing skill. In this he was followed by Count August von Platen (1796-1835),

in whose verses form reached perfection, often to the detriment of feeling. The

greatest lyric poet, and the most striking literary figure of the day, was Heinrich

Heine (1797-1856), a Jewish convert to Protestantism. Unfortunately, his great

gifts are marred by the insincerity and immorality of his character; his finest

poetic efforts are often impaired or destroyed by a wanton, mocking irony. His

prose works, for the most part fragmentary and journalistic in character, are

written in a graceful, easy style, and with brilliant wit. The miserable political

conditions of Germany were the object of Heine's bitterest satire; but

unfortunately religion and morality also became a target for his mockery and

cynical wit. Great as his influence was on literature, on the whole it was

pernicious. His poems appeared in different collections under the titles of "Buch

der Lieder," "Neue Gedichte," and "Romanzero." Of his prose writings the

"Reisebilder" (1826) are the best. Another romantic lyrist of the highest order was

the Austrian, Nikolaus Lenau (Niembsch von Strehlenau), the poet of

melancholy. A strong individuality, uninfluenced by the literary currents of the

day, reveals itself in the work of a noble Catholic lady, Annette Elisabeth von

Droste-Huelshoff (1797-1848), whose writings throughout show a deeply religious

spirit. Her collection entitled "Das geistliche Jahr," poems appropriate for the

Sundays and Holy Days of the Catholic year, contains some of the finest

religious poetry in the German language. Another genius who stood apart from

the currents of the day was Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872), Austria's greatest

dramatist. In his work classic and romantic elements were united. Of his many

dramatic masterpieces we only mention "Die Ahnfrau," "Sappho," "Das goldene

Vliess," "Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen," and "Der Traum ein Leben." His

compatriot, Ferdinand Raimund, is the author of plays deservedly popular. The

dramatic productions of Christian Grabbe were too extravagant and erratic to be

performed. The most popular playwright of that day, Ernst Raupach, is now

forgotten.

The historical novel rose into favour during this period, largely through the

influence of Sir Walter Scott. Von Arnim and Tieck had tried their hand at this

genre, to be followed by Wilhelm Hauff, the author of "Lichtenstein" (1826) and

Willibald Alexis (pseuonym for Wilhelm Haering). The latter took his subjects

from Prussian history and gave the novel a patriotic tendency. A significant

change is marked by the novels of Karl Immermann (1796-1840), who in "Die

Epigonen" and "Muenchhausen" (1838) treated contemporary conditions in a

satiric vein. The episode of the "Oberhof" in the latter work introduced the village

and peasant story into German literature. In this field, Jeremias Gotthelf (Albert

Bitzius) and Berthold Auerbach won success. Charles Sealsfield (Karl Postl) is

known as a writer of novels of travel and adventure.

The hopes that patriots in 1815 had cherished of a united German had been

rudely dispelled. Freedom of thought had been suppressed by the political

reaction typified by the Metternich regime. The smouldering discontent broke

forth violently at the news of the Paris Revolution (1830) and found its literary

expression in the movement known as "Young Germany." The relentless war that

was carried on against the existing political order was also directed against

religion and morality. The "emancipation of the flesh" was openly proclaimed.

Heine had led the attack, and the members of the coterie followed with essays,

novels, and dramas, which for the most part, owing to their political and social

character, were shortlived. Karl Gutzkow (1811-78) is the leading figure of the

coterie. His novels, with their anti-religious and immoral tendencies, have to-day

only historical interest, while his dramas, of which the best known is "Uriel

Acosta" (1847), are theatrically effective. Next to Gutzkow in prominence was

Heinrich Laube (1806-84), whose best work, however, was done as a dramatist

and not as a partisan of Young Germany. Women also took part in the

movement. Of these the most notable are the Jewess, Fanny Lewald, whose

writings display a decided anti-Christian spirit, and Countess Ida von Hahn-Hahn,

who began her literary career with novels of high life in which matrimony is

treated with levity, and ended by becoming a devout Catholic.

The spirit of revolution inaugurated by Young Germany soon assumed a definite

political character and dominated the literary activity from 1840 to the outbreak of

1848. It found its most eloquent expression in the political lyric. In Austria

Anastasius Gruen (pseudonym for Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg), Karl

Beck, Moritz Hartmann, and Lenau were most prominent in this line; in Germany

Herwegh, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Franz von Dingelstedt, Ferdinand Freiligrath

(1810-76), and Gottfried Kinkel were the political leaders of the malcontents.

Much of this poetry was necessarily ephemeral; in fact Kinkel, Fallersleben, and

Freiligrath owe their fame to their verses not political in character. In the poetry of

Count Moriz von Strachwitz and Karl Simrock, the excellent translator of Old

German literature, a reaction against the political tendency in literature and in

favour of romanticism is evident. The short stories of Adalbert Stifter and the

dramas of Friedrich Halm (Freiherr von Muench-Bellinghausen) also show the

romantic tinge. The greatest lyrist of the age, Eduard Moerike (1804-75), a

Swabian, went his way wholly unconcerned with the questions of the day.

IX. MODERN GERMAN LITERATURE (SINCE 1848). NEW AIMS. POETIC

REALISM. NATURALISM.

The year 1848 marks a great change in the political and literary history of

Germany. The great question of German unification now loomed in the

foreground, and though a reaction had set in after the revolutionary outbreak,

liberal ideas were strong, and interest in political questions was keen. Literature

sought to get more in touch with life, and became less exclusively aesthetic. The

materialistic tendencies of the age were reflected in and conditioned by the great

progress of science and the rise of journalism. The lyric and epic lost ground to

the drama and the novel. The classic-romantic tradition still found many

followers. In fact, after the turbulence of the Revolution came a return to a more

formal and aesthetic art, which, however, kept more or less in touch with the life

of the age. An enormous array of names confronts the student of the literature of

this period, but only a relatively small number call for notice.

The most prominent lyric poet now was Emanuel Geibel (1815-84), whom poems

are distinguished by beauty of form and dignified, patriotic sentiment. He was the

leader of the Munich group, which numbered among others Count Adolf von

Schack, the art connoisseur and distinguished translator of Firdausi, Herrmann

von Lingg and Julius Grosse, the epic poets, Friedrich von Bodenstedt, whose

enormously popular "Mirza Schaffy" songs continued the Oriental fashion

inaugurated by Goethe's "Divan." The work of one of this group, Paul Heyse, a

masterly writer of short stories, is characterized by extreme elegance of form and

diction. In his novel "Kinder der Welt" (1873), however, these fine qualities cannot

conceal atheistic and immoral tendencies. Among the writers of this period none

achieved such popularity as Joseph Victor von Scheffel, with his romantic epic,

"Der Trompeter von Saeckingen" (1854) and his historic novel "Ekkehard" (1855).

The lyric-epic poem "Amaranth" (1849) of the Catholic Baron Oskar von Redwitz

owed its success more to its religious feeling than to any real merit. The

neo-romantic productions of other Catholic poets like Behringer, Wilhelm Molitor,

and Maria Lenzen failed to make a lasting impression. A Catholic poet of this

period who won a permanent place was the Westphalian, Friedrich Wilhelm

Weber (1813-94), author of the epic "Dreizehnlinden." A pessimistic atmosphere

pervades the Austrian Robert Hamerling's epic, "Ahasver in Rom" (1866). "Die

Nibelungen" of Wilhelm Jordan is a noteworthy attempt to revive the great

medieval saga in modern alliterative form. This was accomplished with brilliant

success by Richard Wagner (1813-83), whose music dramas are among the

greatest achievements of modern German art.

A result of the more serious view of life was the new realism that strove to

present life truthfully, stripped of the conventional phraseological idealism that

had been the vogue since Schiller. This realism manifested itself chiefly in the

drama and novel. In the former field its most eminent representative is Friedrich

Hebbel (1813-63) with his powerful tragedies "Maria Magdalena," "Herodes und

Mariamne," "Gyges und sein Ring," and "Die Nibelungen." Otto Ludwig (1813-65)

followed with "Der Erbfoerster" and "Die Makkabaeer," as well as the masterly

romance "Zwischen Himmel und Erde." These dramas found little favour at the

time of their appearance; the realistic novel fared better. Gustav Freytag

(1816-95) won great success with "Soll und Haben," (1855), a novel of bourgeois

life. Fritz Reuter (1810-74) used his native Low German dialect for his popular

humorous novels, the most important of which are included in "Olle Kamellen"

(1860-64). Great originality marks the work of the Swiss, Gottfried Keller

(1819-90), regarded by many as the master-novelist of the period. His best

production is the series of novels from Swiss life entitled "Die Leute von

Seldwyla" (1856). The literary-value of the work of Friedrich Spielhagen (b. 1829),

a novelist of undoubted talent, is impaired by its undue treatment of social and

political questions, while the great favour accorded to the antiquarian novels of

Georg Ebers and Felix Dahn cannot hide their literary defects. Midway between

romanticism and realism stands Theodor Storm (1817-88), whose great poetic

talent is shown no less in his heartfelt stories, such as "Aquis Submersus."

Fiction began to occupy a larger place in literature especially after 1870. We

mention only the Swiss, C.F. Meyer, who excels in the historical novel, and

Theodor Fontane, whose later works were thoroughly modern and realistic. Peter

Rosegger, a Styrian, has won fame with his village stories. Of the numerous

women-writers of fiction, the most gifted are Luise von Francois and Marie,

Baroness von Ebner-Eschenbach. The chief activity of the last-mentioned writers

belongs to the period after 1870.

The Franco-German War of 1870 and the establishment of the new empire had

comparatively little effect on literature. Poetry continued to move largely in the old

classic-romantic grooves. The graceful but trivial lyrics and epics of Rudolf

Baumbach, Julius Wolff, and other imitators of Scheffel's manner best suited

popular taste. The passionate lyrics of Prince Emil zu Schoenaich-Carolath

deserved their success. The poetry, however, of Martin Greif Eduard von Paulus,

Christian Wagner, and Heinrich Vierordt was slow to win recognition. The decade

following the great victories of 1870 was not favourable to literary activity. For the

moment political, social, and religious questions (as in Kulturkampf) were

dominant. A spirit of agitation and unrest was abroad. Much of the literature of

the time was partisan and polemic, or else catered to the materialistic taste that

prevailed and merely aimed to entertain. Of this kind were the dramas of Paul

Lindau, cut according to French patterns, and presenting pictures from decadent

Parisian life. The more serious drama, favouring historical subjects and affecting

the conventional manner of Schiller, is best represented by Ernst von

Wildenbruch. By far the most original dramatist was the Austrian, Ludwig

Anzengruber (1839-89), whose dramas, "Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld," "Das vierte

Gebot," etc. received almost no recognition until after 1880. The only factors that

helped to counteract the materialism and commercialism that ruled the stage

were the model performances of the Meiningen troupe and the uncompromising

seriousness of Richard Wagner's artistic activity, as demonstrated in the festival

performances of Bayreuth.

The mediocrity into which literature had fallen by 1880, its empty formalism, and

conventional character, produced another literary revolt, a "Youngest Germany."

Poetry was to become more modern. The questions of the day were to be its

concern, the faithful reproduction of reality its aim. Instead of harking back to the

realism of a Hebbel or Ludwig, the leaders of this movement looked to foreign

models for inspiration, to the works of Ibsen, Tolestoy, Dostoyevsky, and Zola.

The realism there found was copied and exaggerated, and the result was a crude

naturalism which unduly emphasized the mean, the ugly, and the vulgur. The

pessimistic philosophy of Schopenhauer and especiaily the revolutionary

doctrines of Nietzsche added their unwholesome influence and tended towards a

perversion of ethical and moral standards. The activity of the movement was at

first mainly negative and polemical. Its literary creations have already lost

interest. Real literature was not produced until the extreme views were modified.

As a reaction against naturalism "symbolism" made its appearance; but the art

which it inspired is apt to be so intangible and hyper-aesthetic as to be limited for

appreciation to a narrow and exclusive circle.

In the dramatic field Herrmann Sudermann (b. 1857), whose novels "Frau Sorge"

(1887) and "Der Katzensteg" (1889), had already attracted attention, won great

success. His plays "Die Ehre," "Heimat," "Es lebe das Leben," and others, are

very effective, but marred by sensationalism. Sudermann is not a representative

naturalist; his technic is a compromise between the older practice and the new

theories. A thoroughgoing naturalist is Gerhart Hauptmann (b. 1863) in his first

dramas "Vor Sonnenaufgang" (1889) and "Die Weber" (1892). Here the milieu is

more important than character or action. In his comedies "Kollege Crampton"

and "Der Biberpelz" he showed that naturalism did not preclude humour. His

most famous play, the fairy-drama "Die versunkene Glocke" (1896), like

"Hanneles Himmelfahrt" before, and "Der arme Heinrich" afterwards, marks a

significant turning towards symbolism and neo-romanticism. So far "Fuhrmann

Henschel" (1898) is the dramatic masterpiece of naturalism. Of other dramatists

of this school mention may be made of Max Halbe (b. 1865), author of "Jugend"

(1893) and Otto Erich Hartleben, whose "Rosenmontag" (1900) shows

Sudermann's influence. A popular dramatist, though of no particular school, is

Ludwig Fulda; his plays, of which "Der Talisman" (1892) is the best known, are

pleasing but shallow. The new romanticism, which is exemplified by the dreamy

poetry of Maeterlinck, was even less able than naturalism to produce a vital

drama. The productions of Hugo von Hofmannsthal (b. 1874) are wholly

undramatic, revelling in emotion and devoid of action. His proper field is the lyric,

where his talents as well as those of Stefan George (b. 1868) find scope.

Symbolism has found its most characteristic expression in the rapturous and

vague lyric effusions of Richard Dehmel (b. 1863). After all the best lyric poets of

the present are those who do not affect any particular fashion. Such are Detlev

von Liliencron, a realist of great power, regarded by many as the foremost

German lyrist of to-day, Gustav Valke, Ferdinand Avenarius, Karl Busse, Otto

Julius Bierbaum and Anna Ritter. Freiherr Boerries von Muenchhausen has

written masterly ballads.

The novelistic literature has grown to enormous proportions, and shows a host of

names. Naturalism asserted itself in the novels "Meister Timpe" (1888) and "Das

Gesicht Christi" (1897) of Max Kretzer, as well as in the earlier work of Wilhelm

von Polenz (1861-1903). With Polenz, however, naturalism has developed into

artistic realism, as evidenced by his last novels "Thekla Luedekind" (1899) and

"Wurzellocker" (1902). In addition mention may be made of Gustav Frenssen,

whose "Jörn Uhl" (1901) gained an enormous success, Adolf Wilbrandt, Thomas

Mann, Wilhelm Speck, Georg von Ompteda and Walter Siegfried. Prominent

among women writers of fiction are Isolde Kurz, (b. 1853), Helene Boehlau, Marie

Eugenie delle Grazie; Carmen Sylva (Queen Elizabeth of Rumania) and above all

Ricarda Huch (b. 1867), whose great novel "Erinnerungen von Ludolf Ursleu"

(1893) stands in the front rank of modern fiction.

For bibliography the standard work is GOEDEKE, Grundriss zur Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung

(2nd ed., GOETZKE, Dresden, 1884--). Useful also are BARTELS, Handbuch zur Geschichte der

deutschen Literatur (2nd ed., Leipzig, 1909); BREUL, Handy Bibliographical Guide to the Study of

the German Language and Literature (London, 1895). For modern German literature NOLLEN, A

Chronology and Practical Bibliography of Modern German Literature (Chicago, 1903) will be found

helpful. Of general histories the best are: KOBERSTEIN, Grundriss der Geschichte der deutschen

Nationalliteratur (6th ed., 5 vols., ed. BARTSCH, Leipzig, 1884--); GERVINUS, Geschichte der

deutschen Dichtung (5th ed., 5 vols., ed. BARTSCH, Leipzig, 1871-74); WACKERNAGEL,

Geschichte der deutschen Literatur, ed. and continued MARTIN (2 vols., Basle, 1879-94);

SCHERER, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur (10th ed., Berlin, 1905); tr. MRS. CONYBEARE (2

vols., Oxford, 1885); VOGT AND KOCH, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur von den aeltesten

Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart with excellent bibliography and illustrations (2nd ed., 2 vols., Leipzig,

1904). For a presentation from the Catholic point of view consult LINDEMANN, Geschichte der

deutschen Literatur (7th ed., SALZER, Freiburg, 1897), and SALZER, Illustrierte Geschichte der

deutschen Literatur (Munich, 1908--). Of works written in English the best are: ROBERTSON, A

History of German Literature (London and New York, 1902); FRANCKE, History of German Literature

as Determined by Social Forces (4th ed., New York, 1901); THOMAS, History of German Literature

(New York, 1909), with excellent bibliography. For special topics and periods some of the most

important works are HERFORD, Studies in the Literary Relations of England and Germany in the

16th century (Cambridge, 1886); HETTNER, Literaturgeschichte des 18. Jahrhunderts: Part III:

Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im 18. Jahrhundert (4th ed., HARNACK, Brunswick, 1893-94).

For Lessing consult SCHMIDT, Lessing (2nd ed., 2 vols., Berlin, 1899); for his religious views

BAUMGARTNER, Lessings religiöser Entwicklungsgang in Stimmen aus Maria-Laach (Freiburg im

Br., 1877). On Goethe see BIELSCHOWSKY (Munich, 1896-1904); tr. COOPER (New York,

1905-08): HEHN, Gedanken ueber Goethe (5th ed., Berlin, 1902); the best known English

biography, though somewhat antiquated, is that of LEWES (4th ed., London, 1890). For an estimate

from a strictly Catholic point of view see BAUMGARTNER, Goethe, sein Leben und seine Werke

(2nd ed., Freiburg im Br., 1885). On Schiller consult the biography by WYCHGRAM, (3rd ed.,

Leipzig, 1898). Of English biographies that of CARLYLE is well known; the best is that of THOMAS

(New York, 1901). On the Romantic School consult HAYM, Die romantische Schule (Berlin, 1870);

VAUGHAN, The Romantic Revolt (Edinburgh, 1907). For the nineteenth century consult BARTELS,

Die deutsche Dichtung der Gegenwart (7th ed., Leipzig, 1907), written from a strictly national point

of view and not without bias; also MEYER, Die deutsche Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts (2nd ed.,

Berlin. 1900).

ARTHUR F.J. REMY

Transcribed by John Fobian

In memory of Robert and Evelyn Fobian

The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VI

Nihil Obstat, September 1, 1909. Remy Lafort, Censor

Imprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York

The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org