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).
