iii. The Eighteenth Century.—J. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen
Literatur von Leibniz bis auf unsere Zeit (4 vols., 1862–1867; 2nd
ed. 1886–1890); J. Hillebrand, Die deutsche Nationalliteratur im
18. und 19. Jahrhundert (3 vols., 1845–1846; 3rd ed. 1875);
H. Hettner, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im 18. Jahrhundert
(4 vols., 1862–1870; 4th ed. by O. Harnack, 1893–1895); J. W.
Schäfer, Geschichte der deutschen Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts
(1855–1860; 2nd ed. by F. Muncker, 1881); J. K. Mörikofer, Die
schweizerische Literatur des 18. Jahrhunderts (1861); J. W.
Löbell, Entwickelung der deutschen Poesie von Klopstock bis zu
Goethes Tod (3 vols., 1856–1865). There are also innumerable more
special treatises, such as A. Eloesser, Das bürgerliche Drama (1898);
O. Brahm, Das deutsche Ritterdrama des 18. Jahrhunderts (1880),
&c. Of collections of the literature of this and the following century,
reference need only be made to the Bibliothek der deutschen Nationalliteratur
des 18. und 19. Jahrhunderts, published by Brockhaus
(44 vols., 1868–1891), and Deutsche Literaturdenkmale des 18. und
19. Jahrhunderts, edited first by B. Seuffert (1882–1894), and subsequently
by A. Sauer.
iv. The Nineteenth Century.—Th. Ziegler, Die geistigen und sozialen Strömungen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts (1899; 2nd ed. 1901); R. von Gottschall, Die deutsche Nationalliteratur des 19. Jahrhunderts (1854; 7th ed., 4 vols., 1900–1902); R. M. Meyer, Die deutsche Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts (1899; 4th ed. 1910); R. M. Meyer, Grundriss der neueren deutschen Literaturgeschichte (1902); C. Busse, Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (1901); R. Haym, Die romantische Schule (1870; 2nd ed. 1906); G. Brandes, “Den romantiske Skole i Tyskland” (1873), and “Det unge Tyskland” (1890), in Hovedströmninger i det 19de Aarhundredes Litteratur, vols. ii. and vi. (German translations, 1887 and 1891; several subsequent editions, Danish and German; English translations, ii. 1903, and vi. 1905); R. Huch, Die Blütezeit der Romantik (2nd ed. 1901), and Ausbreitung und Verfall der Romantik (1902); F. Wehl, Das junge Deutschland (1886); J. Proelss, Das junge Deutschland (1892); A. Bartels, Die deutsche Dichtung der Gegenwart (7th ed., 1907); A. von Hanstein, Das jüngste Deutschland (2nd ed., 1901); J. F. Coar, Studies in German Literature in the Nineteenth Century (1903); Ch. Petzet, Die Blütezeit der deutschen politischen Lyrik (1903); H. Mielke, Der deutsche Roman des 19. Jahrhunderts (4th ed., 1900); S. Friedmann, Das deutsche Drama des 19. Jahrhunderts (2 vols., 1900–1903); B. Litzmann, Das deutsche Drama in den literarischen Bewegungen der Gegenwart (4th ed., 1898). (J. G. R.)
GERMAN REED ENTERTAINMENT. The dramatic and musical entertainment which for many years was known in London by the title of “German Reed” was a form of theatrical enterprise deserving of commemoration in connexion with those who made it successful. Mr Thomas German Reed (born in Bristol in 1817, died 1888) married in 1844 Miss Priscilla Horton (1818–1895), and in 1855 they started their entertainment at the “Gallery of Illustration,” in Waterloo Place, London. From 1860 to 1877 they were assisted by John Orlando Parry (1810–1879), an accomplished pianoforte player, mimic, parodist and humorous singer; and the latter created a new type of musical and dramatic monologue which became very popular. His tradition was carried on after 1870 by Mr Corney Grain (1844–1895), who, as a clever, refined, and yet highly humorous society entertainer (originally a barrister), was one of the best-known figures of his day. After the retirement of the elder German Reeds, their son, Alfred German Reed (1846–1895), himself a capital actor, carried on the business in partnership with Corney Grain. The “German Reed Entertainment”—which was always patronized by a large class of people, many of whom objected on principle to going or taking their children to a regular theatre or a music-hall—retained its vogue for forty years at Waterloo Place and at the St George’s Hall, Regent Street. But the death of Mr Corney Grain almost simultaneously with Mr Alfred German Reed, in 1895, together with the changed public attitude towards the regular theatre, ended its career.
GERMAN SILVER or Nickel Silver, an alloy of copper, nickel and zinc, prepared either by melting the copper and nickel together in a crucible, and adding piece by piece the previously heated zinc, or by heating the finely divided metals under a layer of charcoal. To destroy its crystalline structure and so render it fit for working, it is heated to dull redness, and then allowed to cool. German silver is harder than silver; it resembles that metal in colour, but is of a greyer tinge. Exposed to the air it tarnishes slightly yellow, and with vinegar affords a crust of verdigris. At a bright red heat it melts, losing its zinc by oxidation unless protected from the atmosphere. At a heat above dull redness it becomes exceedingly brittle. German silver in various modifications of composition is much used in the arts. Alloys, of which about 50% is copper and the residue zinc and nickel in about equal proportions take a fine polish, and are used as imitation silver for knives and forks. With a somewhat higher proportion of copper an alloy is formed suitable for rolling and for wire. In Chinese white silver or packfong (paktong) the amount of copper is smaller, about 40%, with about 32% of nickel, 25 of zinc, and 2 or 3 of iron. German silver for casting contains 2 or 3% of lead, which like iron increases the whiteness of the alloy. German silver, having a high specific resistance and a low temperature coefficient, has been used for electrical resistance coils, and these qualities are possessed in a still greater degree in manganin, which contains manganese in place of zinc, its composition being 84% of copper, 12 of manganese and 4 of nickel. The addition of a trace of tungsten to German silver, as in platinoid, also largely increases the resistance.
GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA. This German possession is bounded W. by the Atlantic, N. by Angola, S. by the Cape province, E. by Bechuanaland and Rhodesia, and is the only German dependency in Africa suited to white colonization. It has an area of about 322,450 sq. m., and a population of Bantu Negroes and Hottentots estimated in 1903 at 200,000.[1] The European inhabitants, in addition to the military, numbered 7110 in 1907, of whom the majority were German.
Area and Boundaries.—The boundary separating the German protectorate from the Portuguese possessions of Angola is the lower Kunene, from its mouth in 17° 18′ S., 11° 40′ E. to the limit of navigability from the sea, thence in a direct line, corresponding roughly to the lat. of 17° 20′ S., to the river Okavango, which it follows eastwards until the stream turns abruptly south (towards Lake Ngami). From this point a strip of German territory 300 m. long and about 50 m. broad, projects eastward until it reaches the Zambezi a little above the Victoria Falls. On the south this narrow strip of land (known as the Caprivi enclave) is separated from southern Rhodesia by the Kwando or Chobe river. On the east the frontier between British and German territory is in its northern half the 21st degree of E. longitude, in its southern half the 20th degree. This frontier is drawn through desert country. The southern frontier is the Orange river from its mouth to the 20° E. The coast-line between the Kunene and Orange rivers is not wholly German. Just north of the tropic of Capricorn is the British enclave of Walfish Bay (q.v.). The northern part of the protectorate is known as Ovampoland, the central portion as Damara (or Herero) land; the southern regions as Great Namaqualand. These names are derived from those of the dominant native races inhabiting the country.
Physical Features.—The coast-line is generally low and little broken by bays or promontories. In its entire length of about 800 m. it has no good natural harbour, and its bays—Angra Pequena, otherwise Lüderitz Bay, Sierra Bay, Sandwich Harbour—are in danger of being filled with sand by the strong, cold, northerly coast current. Swakopmund is an artificial harbour at the mouth of the river Swakop. The small islands which stud the coast north and south of Angra Pequena belong to Great Britain. The coast-line is bordered by a belt of sand-dunes and desert, which, about 35 m. wide in the south, narrows towards the north. This coast belt is flanked by a mountain range, which attains its highest elevation in Mount Omatako (8972 ft.), in about 21° 15′ S., 16° 40′ E. N. E. of Omatako is the Omboroko range, otherwise known as the Waterberg. South of Omboroko, occupying the centre of the country, the range attains its highest average altitude. The following massifs with their highest points may be distinguished: Gans (7664 ft.), Nu-uibeb (7480 ft.), Onyati (7201 ft.), Awas (6988 ft.), Komas (5331 ft.) and Ganab (4002 ft.). In the S.E. are the Karas mountains, which attain an elevation of 6570 ft. The mountains for the main part form the escarpment of the great Kalahari plateau, which, gently rising from the interior towards the west, slopes again towards the south and north from the point of its highest elevation. The Kalahari plateau changes the undulating character it has in the west to a perfect plain in the far east, where the watered and habitable country merges into the sterile Kalahari desert. In the northern half of the country the central plateau contains much rich grass-land, while in the north-eastern region the Omaheke desert has all the characteristics of the Kalahari.
There are no rivers of importance wholly within German South-West Africa. The Kunene (q.v.) has but a small portion of the southern bank in the colony, and similarly only part of the northern
- ↑ As the result of wars with the natives, the population greatly decreased. The number of adult (native) males in the colony at the beginning of 1908 was officially estimated at 19,900, a figure indicating a total population of little more than 100,000.
