The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Germany, Language and Literature of

GERMANY, Language and Literature of. The formation, the history, and the philological affinities of the German tongue have been treated at length in the article Germanic Races and Languages, and we shall therefore restrict our remarks in this article to a brief sketch of the modern High German language as now spoken and written. In this the five vowels, a, e, i (y), o, and u, sound as in Italian, the sound being lengthened by doubling the vowels: ä (or ae), when long, is like a in mate, when short almost like e in met; ö (oe), long, is like but somewhat duller than the French eu in feu, when short it resembles the English u in tub; ü (ue) is also duller than the French u in sur and turc. C before e and i (y) and z always, stands for tz or ts, as in English pets; ck for kk, as in English peck, suck; g is always hard, generally as in get, give, but sometimes almost like German ch, as in ewig, weg; h before a vowel has the same sound as in our has, hen; ch is harsher than h, and like the Greek χ the Spanish jota; j sounds like y in yes; r is always whirring; v, in German words, has the sound of f, and in foreign of the English v; w sounds like English v. S has a threefold sound: 1, like the Latin s, in the combination st, at the end of a syllable, as fest, Fürst, and in forms derived therefrom, festest, Fürsten, &c., at the end of words, as in das, gutes, &c., and when double, as in nass, Wasser, &c.; 2, much like the English z, at the beginning of words, before vowels, and between vowels, as in Sonne, dieser, &c.; 3, like the English sh in shell, at the beginning of words before some consonants, as Scandal (Latin), spät, still, &c., though in a part of Germany it is pronounced like the English s in sea. Sch is like the English sh in shell. Sz stands for ss after long vowels or at the end of words, and is thus written also in derivative forms, as masz and misz from messen. Ai is pronounced like the English ay (yes); au like ou in our; ei (or ey) like i in mine. Eu has a very peculiar sound, approaching the English oi, and äu is somewhat heavier. E, the weakest sound, is most frequently employed: 1, for filling up the transition between consonants, thus, er liebet for liebt (the latter form is now more common); hence it is often elided, as nah'n for nahen, as in English pow'r for power, heav'n for heaven; 2, for lengthening i when that letter precedes it, as in wieder, again, distinguishing it from wider, against, counter; 3, as a mark of the plural, as Steine, stones, from Stein. H, the weakest consonant, is also used for lengthening a preceding vowel, as in sehr, wohl, &c. Besides e, three dentals and three liquids serve for all grammatical inflections. They are d, s, t, and m, n, r; s, m, n, r are employed with nouns, d, s, t, n with verbs. The following is a synopsis of all grammatical endings attached to words: nominative (of the definite article) der, die, das, plural die for all genders; genit. des, der, des, plur. der; dat. dem, der, dem, plur. den; accus. den, die, das, plur. die. These are the endings of adjectives, nouns, and adjective pronouns. Comparative dicker, superl. dickest; receiving the preceding endings when declined. Endings of substantive nouns: singular genit. es or s, as Dorf-es, or like the nominative; dat. e, or like the nominative; plur. e, dat. en—new declension everywhere en or n (des Falken, &c.). Some substantives take r after e in the plural, and undergo metaphony, as in Bad, Bäder, Volk, Völker, Tuch, Tücher. The verbal endings are as follows: 1. Strong verbs (commonly called old conjugation): indicative present, e, est or st, et or t; plural, en or n, et or t, en or n; past, first and third persons have no ending, second est, or st; plural, en, et, en; imperative singular, first person wanting, second and third e; plural, en, et or t, en; participle past, prefix ge, suffix en. 2. Weak verbs (improperly called regular, really inorganic conjugation) have the same terminations as the preceding, except in the past tense, where et or t is inserted between the stem and the ending; participle past, prefix ge, suffix et or t. In both the ending of the participle present is end, infinitive en. The subjunctive of both has the endings always preceded by e, and the past of the strong verbs undergoes metaphony, as ich gab, I gave; ich gäbe, I might give. The strong verbs, whose conjugation is called irregular, exhibit the phonetic vicissitudes of words, and are therefore to be regarded as organic and containing the rules of the language; while the so-called regular verbs are weak, undergo no change, and only admit of mechanical additions.—All words of Teutonic physiognomy have the accent on the radical syllable; those taken from or resembling French, generally on the last effective syllable; and those from other languages on that syllable which to the German ear seems to be the radical; thus: Empfind′lichkeit, sensibility; unzuverläss′lich, untrustworthy, &c.; but Regiment′, Solidarität′ , Kapitän′, &c. The German language has in a very high degree three qualities which render it both very plastic in its material and very flexible in its adaptability to all forms and categories of thought. These qualities are: 1, intuitiveness of expression, owing to the organic etyma of the Indo-European family of languages, which are clearest in the Latin (see Language); 2, facility of composition of simple words into double or manifold agglomerates, requiring long paraphrases in other languages; 3, power of polysyllabic derivatives from radical words. These latter qualities do not impair the first.—Among the most eminent of the founders of German philology are Benecke, J. and W. Grimm, and Lachmann. See J. Grimm, Deutsche Grammatik, comprising also the Scandinavian branch (Göttingen, 1819-'37); Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Deutsche Philologie im Grundriss (Berlin, 1836), with a bibliography of dialects; Pischon, Denkmäler der deutschen Sprache (6 vols., Berlin, 1838-'51); Wackernagel, Deutsches Lesebuch (3 vols,, Basel, 1839-'43); J. Grimm, Geschichte der deutschen Sprache (Leipsic, 1848). For grammars of new High German, see Ickelsamer (about 1525); Albertus (1573); Oelinger, Unterricht der hochdeutschen Sprache (1574); Clajus, Grammatica Germanicæ Linguæ (1578); Martin Opitz, on German prosody (1624); Schottel, Deutsche Sprachkunst (1641); Morhof, Unterricht von der deutschen Sprache und Poesie (1682); Bödiker, Grundsätze der deutschen Sprache (1690); Braun (1765); Heynatz (1770); Basedow (1759); Bodmer (1775); Fulda, Grundregeln der deutschen Sprache (1778); Adelung (l781-'2); Heinsius (1798); J. Ch. A. Heyse (1814); K. F. Becker (1829). For dictionaries, see Frisch, Teutsch-lateinisches Wörterbuch (1741); Adelung (1774-'86); Moritz, Grammatisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (1793); Campe, Versuche deutscher Sprachbereicherung (1791-'4), and Wörterbuch zur Aufklärung und Verdeutschung der unserer Sprache aufgedrungenen fremden Ausdrücke (1801; modified by Brandt, 1807-'13); Heyse, Allgemeines Wörterbuch zur Verdeutschung, &c. (1804); Heinsius, Volksthümliches Wörterbuch (1818-'32); Adler, German and English (New York, 1848); K. W. L. Heyse (1833-'49); J. and W. Grimm, a gigantic work, begun half a century ago, and not yet completed. On synonymes, see Gottsched, Beobachtungen über den Gebrauch und Missbrauch vieler deutscher Wörter (1758); Heynatz (1795); Eberhard (1802); Maass, Wiegand, Ch. F. Meyer, &c.—German Literature received its first impulse from the fondness of the early Germans for celebrating in song the fabulous and heroic associations of their traditions and history. The legends immediately connected with Gothic, Frankish, and Burgundian warriors of the period of national migration were eventually embodied in the lay of the Nibelungen, the most celebrated production of German mediæval poetry. The spirit of the Nibelungen is essentially pagan and mythological. Christian literary activity manifested itself as early as the 4th century in the translation of almost the whole of the Bible (probably by Bishop Ulfilas), fragments of which remain, and are cherished by the Germans as the earliest monument of their ecclesiastical literature, although it was composed in the Gothic language. The British missionaries established cloisters and brotherhoods in Germany between the 6th and 8th centuries, and laid the foundation for that system of instruction which in the 8th century was perfected by Charlemagne. Metrical translations of the Gospels appeared in the 9th century in the old High and Low German dialects, the former (Krist, new ed., Berlin, 1831) in rhymes, and the latter (Heliand, first published in Munich, 1830-'40) preserving the ancient alliterations. A translation of the Psalms by Notker, which dates from about the same period, is regarded as one of the best specimens of old High German literature. The Ludwigslied, a pæan in honor of the victory of the Frankish king Louis III. over the Normans about 880, which Herder extols as one of the best specimens of early German poetry, was composed in the old High German dialect by a Frankish churchman. The preservation of the song of Hildebrand, which is associated with the legends of Theodoric and Attila, is also due to churchmen, who transmitted it partly in the old High German and partly in the Low German dialect. Several Latin poems were also based upon Hunnish and Burgundian legends, but with these exceptions the priesthood were generally opposed to the national poetry on account of its pagan associations. Many Latin chroniclers and poets flourished in this and the following period; there was also a Latin poetess, Roswitha, or Helena von Rossow, who wrote Latin religious plays. The learning which flourished under the Saxon emperors was superior to that of the times of Charlemagne. The study of mathematics was next in importance to that of theology and Latin. The Greek language, although it was but little cultivated, was not unknown. From the 10th to the 13th century Germany probably possessed a higher mental cultivation than any other country in Europe, but on the whole it was of a Latin and ecclesiastical cast, and the people had no share in it. In the 12th century appeared a hymn in praise of Hanno, archbishop of Cologne, which Herder calls a truly Pindaric song. Among the last poems which appeared in this era from the pen of churchmen were the Rolandslied and the Alexanderlied.—In the 12th century poetry passed from the monasteries and ecclesiastical schools to the palaces of princes and the castles of nobles. Most of the poets who then came forward were nobles by birth, some of them princes. Heinrich von Veldeke was the first to introduce into his heroic poem Eneit, which he is said to have composed after a French version of Virgil, the spirit of devotion to woman, or Minne (an old German word for love, whence the name Minnesänger). Veldeke is regarded as the originator of the heroic minstrel song, although he is far surpassed in genius, elevation of thought, and depth of feeling by Wolfram von Eschenbach. The other masters of the heroic muse were Gottfried of Strasburg, Hartmann von der Aue, and Konrad of Würzburg. Their longer heroic poems treat chiefly of the exploits of Charlemagne and of the story of Arthur and the round table. At the same time they composed many songs. Love was their principal theme, but from a sense of delicacy the name of the lady who was the special object of adoration was never mentioned. Respect for womanhood, which was reckoned among the virtues of the ancient Germans even in the days of the deepest barbarism, contributed to make the German love songs more reverential than those of the French troubadours. A species peculiar to the bards was called the watch song, consisting in a dialogue between a lover and the sentinel who guards his mistress. Walther von der Vogelweide was the most gifted of these lyric poets. Next to him rank Heinrich von Ofterdingen, Reimar der Alte, Heinrich von Morungen, Gottfried von Neifen, and the Austrian bards Nithard and Tanhäuser. Several hundred of these poets were engaged in wandering from palace to palace and from castle to castle. The minstrels constituted what is called the Swabian school of poetry; the songs were mostly in the Swabian dialect. The accession of the Swabian emperors of the house of Hohenstaufen to the throne of Germany was the signal for the rise of the bardic art (1138). Its golden age was shortly before the fall of that dynasty (1254). The crowning event of the minstrel era was the appearance of the lay of the Nibelungen. It was followed by the “Book of Heroes” (Heldenbuch), consisting of a collection of fragmentary pieces treating of the same legends as the Nibelungen, but mixed up with traditions of the crusades.—Didactic poetry began to be cultivated with some success in the 13th century. The dawn of historical works is heralded by several local chronicles; that of writings on natural history in the so-called Meinauer Naturlehre; of popular religious literature in the sermons of David of Augsburg and Berthold of Winterthur; and of works on jurisprudence in compilations of Saxon and Swabian laws (Sachsenspiegel and Schwabenspiegel). Ulrich von Lichtenstein deplores, in 1275, in his famous poem on Frauendienst (devotion to woman), the decline of chivalry, but his attempt to revive its spirit was hopeless. Poetry now passed from the abodes of princes and knights to the homes of burghers and the workshops of artisans; and instead of Minnesänger we hear of Meistersänger, as the plebeian songsters were called. The 13th century, the greater part of which was so rich in poetical productions, was one of the most unfruitful for the cause of learning. Leibnitz says that the 10th century in Germany was a golden age in that respect compared with the 13th.—In the 14th century Germany possessed several mystic theologians, followers of Meister Eckart, the principal of whom was Johann Tauler (1290-1361), whose sermons and writings contributed to pave the way for the reformation. An important event of this century, in its general influence upon the future development of German literature, was the establishment of the university of Prague in 1348, soon followed by universities in almost all parts of Germany. The last echoes of the period of chivalric poetry were two allegorical romances, Teuerdank in verse, and Weisskunig in prose (first published at the beginning of the 16th century), of which the emperor Maximilian is the hero and probably the author, although Melchior Pfinzing is said to have composed the former romance at the emperor's request. The only good poetry of the 14th and 15th centuries was the spirited songs of Halbsuter and Veit Weber, celebrating the victories of Switzerland over Austria and Burgundy.—The progress of classical culture was stimulated at the opening of the 15th century by the establishment of learned societies and schools in different parts of Germany and the Low Countries. Hegius, Langius, Dringeberg, Eeuchlin, Agricola, and other eminent men were among the scholars. Purbach was the first restorer of mathematical science, and his pupil Regiomontanus (Johann Muller) was the greatest mathematician of the 15th century; while Gutenberg was one of its heroes. His invention of the art of printing produced a steadily increasing literary activity, and the books printed in Germany between 1470 and 1500 amounted to several thousand editions.—The 16th century opened with the foundation of the university of Wittenberg (1502), and inaugurated along with the reformation a new era in literature by Luther's translation of the Bible, which he rendered into German so harmonious and beautiful that it is considered even at the present day as a model of terse expression. The High German, as used by Luther, is so pure that all the antiquated and anomalous dialects which had until then alternately predominated in German composition were from that time more or less banished from the language, and the idiom of the Bible has since become the sole medium of cultivated conversation and of German literature. Hymns and psalms were now brought to perfection. That famous religious lyric, Ein' feste Burg ist unser Gott, and others of Luther's finest hymns, have become classic, and have found hosts of imitators, the most distinguished of whom were Decius and Speratus, and, in the 17th century, Paul Gerhard. Michael Weiss translated the hymns of Huss into German. The writings of Luther, Zwingli, Johann Arnd, Melanchthon, Ulrich von Hutten, Bugenhagen, Bullinger, and other reformers and scholars, constitute the principal theological literature immediately connected with the reformation. In historical works, the influence of the reformation manifested itself in the superior style and greater comprehensiveness of the universal histories of Sebastian Frank and Sebastian Münster; also in chronicles of Switzerland by Tschudi, and of Bavaria by Aventinus. Frank also published a collection of German proverbs; in which branch of literature, however, he was preceded and excelled by Johann Agricola's Auslegung deutscher Sprüchwörter. Albrecht Dürer's writings unfolded original views of the fine arts in their connection with mathematical science. The principal events in prose belles-lettres were the translations into German of Latin tales, in which Boccaccio, Poggio, and other Italian novelists and poets were for the first time introduced to German readers. Translations of Tasso and Ariosto also appeared. Many of the ancient chivalric stories, which had been published in prose in the 15th century, were republished in the 16th; collections of them were made and called Volksbücher (books for the people), of which the Buch der Liebe (“Book of Love”) became the most popular. The period before and after the reformation was especially fruitful in satirical and allegorical works. One of the most remarkable of the former kind was the Narrenschiff (“Ship of Fools”), by Sebastian Brant of Strasburg (new ed. by Zarncke, Strasburg, 1854), a metrical satire on the follies of the century, which in the opinion of Hallam may possibly have suggested to Erasmus his Encomium Moriæ. Thomas Murner imitated this in his Narrenbeschwörung (“Conjuration of Fools”), and published one of his bitterest satires on Luther under the title Von dem grossen Lutherischen Narren (“Of the Great Lutheran Fool”). The fable of Reineke Fuchs (afterward immortalized by Goethe's poem), the origin of which is identified by many authorities with the ancient epic or didactic poem of the Thiersage, and which in different periods had appeared in a variety of forms, was revived in a Low German edition (translated from the Dutch) in the latter part of the 15th century, and was looked upon in the 16th as a satire on the government and state of society of Germany. It was followed by a great number of poems of the same kind, of which one whose characters are fleas is the most witty. Among the purely didactic fabulists were Alberus and Burkard Waldis, both also eminent as composers of hymns. Among the more comic of the Volksbücher was the story of Till Eulenspiegel, relating the freaks, pranks, drolleries, fortunes, and misfortunes of a wandering jester (new ed. by Lappenberg, 1854). The ablest satirical and didactic poet of the 16th century was Johann Fischart, the author of more than 50 works, including the above mentioned fable on fleas (Flohatz), and of a romantic poem (Das glückhafte Schiff) which was regarded as a model for romancers. He has been called the German Rabelais. The story of Faust and the autobiography of Götz von Berlichingen, afterward adorned by Goethe, were also among the popular works of this century. The Volkslieder or popular songs of this period were much admired by Herder, who was the first to collect them. The Meistersänger, upon whom the mantle of the minstrels had fallen since the 14th century, had established metrical schools in various German towns, in the same spirit in which they would have founded guilds of trade. Their highest ideal of poetry was conformity to the rules of versification which were adopted by their school committees. In the 16th century their corporation derived great prestige from the genius of Hans Sachs, the poet and cobbler of Nuremberg (then the headquarters of the Meistersänger), whom Herder calls the Meister of Meistersänger, and who excelled more than any poet before him in all styles of composition, from the most tragical touch of feeling to the most comic turn of thought. His song dedicated to Luther (Wittenbergische Nachtigall) was especially fine. Frauenlob and Michael Behaim were also poets, and Rosenblüt and Folz playwrights of some note, the former of whom was also one of the best tale writers of his time. Among the contributors to the drama who succeeded Hans Sachs, he was excelled in skilful arrangement of plots by Jakob Ayrer (died in 1605), and in grace and refinement of composition by Andreas Gryphius (1616-'64).—During the excitement occasioned by the reformation almost all branches of composition were cultivated, but in learned and scientific literature the 16th century was most prolific. Besides Melanchthon, whose influence secured the preponderance of the Aristotelian philosophy in the Protestant schools of Germany for more than a century, were Luther, Camerarius (classics and philology), Cornelius Agrippa, Theophrastus Paracelsus (mystical philosophy and natural history), Copernicus (astronomy), Leonhard Fuchs (botany and medicine), Conrad Gesner (botany, zoölogy, and classics), and Agricola (mineralogy). At the expiration of the 16th century few of the great scholars of Germany were left, and classical culture was declining in the early part of the 17th. The numerous universities and schools which had sprung up under the influence of the reformation were no longer animated by the zeal of the reformers, but engrossed by subtle polemical and scholastic strifes. The deliverance of the German intellect from the scholastic bonds of the middle ages, which was the cherished endeavor of Luther, was again retarded.—Poetry, in passing from the Meistersänger to scholars, lost in naturalness what it gained in elaboration. Most aspirants to poetical fame in the 17th century were graduates of universities, and learned societies were formed at its beginning, with a view of improving the German language and literature. These societies became as notorious for their imitations of the Italian academies as the corporations of the Meistersänger had been for attempting to mimic the minstrels. After their dissolution they were replaced by many literary and scientific associations in Leipsic, Berlin, Hamburg, Königsberg, Halle, and in others of those principal central and university towns of Protestant Germany which had become the leaders of German culture. A new school of poetry was established, of which the forerunners were Friedrich von Spee (died in 1635) and Georg Rudolf Weckherlin (1584-1651), the first author of sonnets in German. Martin Opitz (1597-1639) became the leader of this school, which after his native country was called the first Silesian school. He wrote the language with a purity of idiom in which he rivalled Luther. He imparted more vigor to the versification, and wrote many lyrical, mixed, and didactic poems. Although more scholastic than poetical, he exerted a great influence on literature, at a time when the thirty years' war and the growing taste for bad Italian and French modes of composition threatened to annihilate all vestiges of pure German poetry, and when the reforms introduced by Luther into the language still required to be steadily urged and followed up in order to become established. Paul Flemming (1609-'40) was the principal lyrical, and Simon Dach (1605-'59) a gifted sentimental poet of this school. Von Zesen (1619-'89) was the greatest purist of them all, strenuously opposing the admixture of French words, which was becoming more and more common in Germany. Halsdörfer was one of the principal poets of the pastoral Nuremberg branch of the school. Among the other eminent poets were Christian Weise, who excelled in popular songs and the drama, and afterward opposed the Silesian schools, and Friedrich von Logau (1604-'55), a witty epigrammatist. Andreas Gryphius did much to improve the German drama, and his poetry was as excessively passionate as that of Opitz was conventional and cold. This conventionality gave rise to a formidable opposition, at the head of which stood Hofmannswaldau (1618-'79) and Lohenstein (1635-'83), who took the most inflated Italian and French writers as their models, and became proverbial for bombast and artificiality. They in their turn were opposed by Canitz, the Berlin statesman and poet (1654-'90), Besser (1654-1729), and König (1688-1744), most of whom were court poets, who endeavored to imitate the then fashionable verses of Boileau, but were unable to resist the success of Lohenstein's affected and extravagant effusions. Imitativeness was the bane of literature in Germany; only a few, as Brockes of Hamburg (1680-1747) and Günther (1695-1723), were free from it, while Neukirch (1665-1729), and especially Wernike of Hamburg (died about 1720), were almost the only poets who dared to protest against it.—The most successful authors of novels in this period were Buchholz, Von Zesen, Ziegler, Klipphausen, Lohenstein, and Duke Anton Ulrich of Brunswick. The most entertaining book of the century was a collection of tales of adventure (Simplicissimus) by Grimmelshausen, a style of composition in which he had been preceded by the satirist Moscherosch. The writings of the Roman Catholic preacher Abraham à Sancta Clara (1642-1709) are distinguished by a broad humor, especially his Judas. Among the prose writers of the 17th century were S. von Pufendorf in political philosophy, Kepler (who wrote in Latin) in astronomy, and Gottfried Arnold in ecclesiastical history. Among writers on theology and ethics, Spener, the founder of Protestant pietism, takes a prominent position. In philosophy and learning Latin continued to be the sole medium of literature; and Jakob Boehm (1575-1624), the great mystic, stood for a long time almost alone in the use of the vernacular tongue, until the latter part of the century, when Leibnitz (1646-1716) and Wolf (1679-1754) appeared. Christian Thomasius (1655-1728), the able jurist and pietistic philosopher and writer, was the first, in his lectures at Leipsic and afterward at Halle, to substitute the German for the Latin language as the medium of instruction. He was also among the very first to use the German language in his writings, and established the first German learned periodical in Leipsic (1688-'90). Leibnitz was the first to lay a scientific basis for the study of philosophy in Germany, but his works were chiefly written in Latin and French. Wolf, his disciple, shaped the views of Leibnitz into a comprehensive system, and published his works in the German language.—Under the impulse of the new philosophical ideas, Germany became in the 18th century excited on the subject of literature, as it had been on that of theology in the 16th. The 17th closed with the foundation of the Berlin academy by Leibnitz (1700). The general clamor was for reform in education, in literature, and soon for reform in all departments of thought. Gottsched in Leipsic (1700-1766), laboring in the same direction as Thomasius, exerted himself to make the German language the sole medium of instruction, and published in it manuals and abridgments of philosophy and science. He advocated the classical rules of composition of Racine and Corneille, but aimed above all at correctness. His views brought him into conflict with Bodmer (1698-1783) and Breitinger of Zurich (1701-'76), who were admirers of Milton and rigidly orthodox in religion, while Gottsched was friendly to Voltaire. They carried on a paper war in their respective journals, until at length many who had rallied round Gottsched became disgusted with his pedantry, and separating themselves from him, established a periodical celebrated in German literature under the name of Bremer Beiträge, edited by Gärtner (1712-'91), in which they opposed their former friend; at the same time they formed a poetical union to which Hagedorn was friendly, although he did not join it, but which was eventually joined by Klopstock, who became its hero. Among the contributors to this journal were Rabener (1714-'71), a popular satirist, of a correct and easy style; Zacharia (1726-'77), a writer of poetry in imitation of Pope's “Rape of the Lock;” Gellert (1715-'69), a famous fabulist; Kästner, the poet and mathematician; Giseke; Johann Elias Schlegel, dramatist, and Johann Adolph Schlegel (1721-'93), poet; Fuchs, Cramer, Ebert, translator of Young's “Night Thoughts,” and several others. The journal was printed in Bremen, but the poets resided for some time at Leipsic, whence they adopted the name of the second Saxon school, while the followers of Bodmer (of Zürich) styled themselves the Swiss school. Related to the latter was the school of Halle, to which belonged Lange, Pyra, Uz, and Götz. The most distinguished of the poets of this school were Kleist (1715-'59), author of descriptive and picturesque poetry in the manner of Thomson and Pope, and Ramler (1725-'98), a composer of odes, and the first to introduce the language, versification, and manners of the ancients into Germany. Gleim (1719-1803), the celebrated fabulist and poet, at first a follower of Bodmer, gathered a knot of writers around him, and exercised for about 40 years a considerable influence on German poetry; but his fame was diminished by the criticisms of Herder. Salomon Gessner of Zürich (1730-'87) gained in his time a high reputation as a writer of idyls, but Herder thinks that he was overrated by his contemporaries. Bodmer's prestige was also soon broken by the criticisms of Lessing. Of greater influence than any of the poets as yet named were Hagedorn of Hamburg (1708-'54), whose fables and songs have immortalized him in Germany, and Albert von Haller (l708-'77), the illustrious physiologist and savant, who was remarkable as a writer of descriptive and didactic poetry. They were followed by Klopstock (1724-1803), whose “Messiah” made a profound impression upon the religious world by its mystic, devout, and rapturous faith, while as a work of art it was greatly admired. The fashionable and elegant portion of society was attracted by the semi-Grecian, semi-Parisian muse of Wieland (1733-1813). But it was reserved for Lessing (1729-'81) to give a new direction to German literature. He did for it what Luther had done for the German language. He established a new school of criticism, and struck a final blow at Gallic influence, at the same time that Frederick the Great was coquetting with the French graces. His tragedy Emilia Galotti, his comedy Minna von Barnhelm, and his philosophical drama Nathan der Weise, are models of dramatic composition. He exerted a powerful influence on the progress of the German drama by unfolding for the first time all the beauty, vigor, and originality of Shakespeare before the German mind, and by the profound and philosophical criticisms in his Dramaturgie. He pronounced a condemnatory judgment upon all foreign models except Shakespeare and the ancients, and demonstrated that the spirit of the age shrank from the mediæval sentimentality of epic poetry, and desired literature to reflect its own stirring energies, as the drama alone can do. Most celebrated among the many literary publications which were identified with Lessing's critical labors was a periodical (Literaturbriefe) which he founded in Berlin in 1759, in conjunction with Nicolai (1733-1811), the publisher and author. Lessing was the master spirit of this publication, and the principal contributor next to himself was his friend Moses Mendelssohn (1729-'86). Both Klopstock and Wieland were criticised in that periodical, and it was the first to discover the merit of Winckelmann the archæologist, of Hamann the mystic philosopher, and the philosophical genius of Kant, although at that time he had only written some short treatises. Shortly after the commencement of the Literaturbriefe, a new influence was infused into the literary world by Herder (1744-1803), who while at Königsberg became acquainted with Hamann and Kant, and who was known as a scholar as early as 1762. He brought to bear upon literature an almost universal knowledge, the study of the poets of all nations, an intimate acquaintance with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin writings, and above all a cosmopolitan humanitarian spirit, which, together with his poetical genius, manifested itself most suggestively in the crowning work of his life, Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit. He contributed powerfully to promote the study of oriental poetry, and was the first to call attention to the beauty of the ancient popular songs of different nations, and particularly of his own. Another great impulse was given by Winckelmann (1717-'68). His examinations of the remains of ancient art and his writings modified all the old theories of the beautiful; and by his efforts, combined with those of Lessing, whose celebrated work Laokoon was elicited by Winckelmann's suggestions, the spirit of art and poetry was brought back to the genuine and simple taste of the Greeks. Heyne, the accomplished critic and commentator, propounded the theories of Winckelmann at Göttingen, then the most brilliant university of Germany. The young men there became deeply impressed with the new theories, and, under the influence of the reforms which were then initiated in religion, philosophy, literature, art, and education—in almost all departments of thought and life—founded in 1770 the Musenalmanach, a literary journal, and not long afterward a poetical union known as the Göttinger Dichterbund, or Hainbund. Klopstock became the leader and model of these enthusiastic youths, whose aim was to give a new stimulus to poetic emulation, and to oppose to conventional theories a school of poetry founded upon the inspirations of genius and humanity. Among the members of the union were Bürger (1748-'94), the author of Lenore and other wild and picturesque ballads and songs; Voss (1751-1826), one of the most learned and eloquent philologists of his day, immortalized by his translations of Homer and Virgil, and the author of one of the best German idyls (Luise); Hölty (1748-1776), whose songs became exceedingly popular; the two Stolbergs, who coöperated with Voss in familiarizing the Germans with the ancients, and who excelled in various kinds of metrical composition; Claudius, Miller, Hahn, Cramer, Gotter, and Boje. A genial poet of this period was Pfeffel (1736-1809), whom it would be difficult to class with any particular school. Goethe (1749-1832), already known to fame, and acquainted with Herder and other poets, but keeping himself aloof from all unions and parties, came forward in 1773 with Götz von Berlichingen, which was greeted as the commencement of an entirely new period in German dramatic literature. In 1774 appeared Werther's Leiden. The reformatory period of literature was now over. The revolution had set in, or the Sturm- und Drangperiode, as it was called after a drama of that name by Klinger (1753-1831), whose high-wrought tragedies and novels, as well as the writings of Schubart (1739-'91), Heinse (died in 1803), Lenz (1750-'92), and Müller (1750-1825), reflect most forcibly the excitement of this epoch. In the mean time Schiller (1759-1805) produced his Räuber, followed by Fiesco and Cabale und Liebe. These impassioned tragedies gave a new impetus to the literary excitement. His Don Carlos, however (1784), shows greater moderation, and opens a long series of tragedies in which the highest aspirations for liberty and humanity are interwoven with historical associations, expressed in language of the most classical purity. But it was only after Schiller's union with Goethe (1795) that by their combined labors German literature was brought to that classical perfection which, from a purely national, has since given to it a universal influence. Schiller, by his enthusiastic and sympathetic eloquence and tenderness, became the favorite of the people; and Goethe, with his many-sided intellect and boundless sensibilities, controlled by a strong will, encased in a body of exuberant health, and disciplined by an all-embracing culture and knowledge, became the acknowledged sovereign of German literature.—While this golden era of letters was in a great measure accelerated by the philosophic spirit of the age which had prompted the labors of Lessing and the other reformers, that spirit itself gathered strength from the light which it diffused, and in rapid succession gave birth to Kant (1724-1804), Fichte (1762-1814), Hegel (1770-1831), and Schelling (1775-1854). Lessing, especially by his comprehensive essay on the “Education of the Human Race,” Herder, Moses Mendelssohn, and Hamann are philosophical writers of great eminence. In a popular style wrote Engel, the author of Lorenz Stark, and the psychological novels of Jacobi are among the most suggestive of German prose writings. Among other prose writers are Reinhold and Barth; Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, generally considered the founder of the science of æsthetics (in Latin); Meier, the German interpreter of his theories; and Sulzer, who wrote on the same science. Abbt, Garve, Liscow, the philosopher and elegant fabulist, Lavater the physiognomist, his friend Zimmermann, and his sarcastic and polished opponent Lichtenberg; the historians Dohm, Möser, Schröckh, Schlözer, and Beck; Spittler, the celebrated Göttingen historian; Mosheim, the ecclesiastical historian; Johannes von Müller, the historian of Switzerland, one of the classical historiographers of Germany (1752-1809); Georg Forster, the teacher and friend of Alexander von Humboldt, an admirable writer; the publicist Friedrich Karl von Moser; the educator Basedow, and afterward Pestalozzi; Campe, the writer of books for children; Nicolai, the friend of Lessing and author of the satirical novel Sebaldus Nothanker; Adelung, the philologist; Böttiger, the antiquary; Sturz, the biographer; Reimarus, Jerusalem, Spalding, Michaelis, Rosenmüller, and Ernesti, in theology; Eichhorn in theology and universal and literary history; Blumenbach, Bloch, Herschel, Euler, Vega, and many other eminent writers in various branches of learning and science, belong to this period.—A peculiar and powerful writer, who stood quite alone in his idiosyncrasies, was Jean Paul Friedrich Richter (1763-1825). He puzzles the reader by his inability to assort his thoughts, which he pours out with the reckless naïveté of a childlike soul; but the obscurity is lighted up by flashes of humor and brilliant gems of thought and feeling. The influence of this genial philosopher was great, especially upon the women of Germany. Novalis (Von Hardenberg, 1772-1801) was another strangely constituted writer, who uttered himself in poetic sighs rather than in vigorous words; but amid his morbid sentiments are scattered thoughts of such wisdom and spiritual insight that his poems and prose writings, although few and fragmentary, gave him a place among the classical authors of his country. He is regarded as the head of the so-called romantic school, which draws its inspiration from the fabulous, mediæval and chivalric eras of literature and history. Among the most brilliant masters of this school was August Wilhelm von Schlegel (1767-1845), the author of an antique tragedy, Ion, and of romances and elegies, but chiefly distinguished for his admirable metrical translation of Shakespeare, his critical and æsthetic writings, his lectures on the drama and its literature, and his labors connected with Indian literature and the Sanskrit language. His brother Friedrich von Schlegel (1772-1829) was also engaged in the study of Hindoo literature; but his specialty was the history of ancient and modern literature and the philosophy of history. The most original representative of this school was Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853), whose poetical dramatization and collection of ancient fairy and popular tales reflect the romance of mediæval poesy with beauty and genius, but with a mystic feeling bordering almost on superstition. The writings of Tieck's friend Wackenroder (1772-'98) were the first to enlist the sympathies of the German artists for the æsthetic principles of the romantic school. La Motte Fouqué (1777-1843), of the same school, stands alone in German literature by his remarkable delineations of fairy lore, as for instance in his tale of Undine. Chamisso (1781-1838), the author of Peter Schlemihl and of many fine lyrics, Tiedge (1752-1841), the author of the philosophical poem Urania, the Aristophanic Platen (1796-1835), and the mystic religious poems of Werner, all belong to this romantic school; and with but few exceptions, as for instance the patriotic and spirited poet Seume (1763-1810), most writings of this period are tinged with a morbid passion for romantic and sentimental views of life. This epoch comprises the lyrical poets Schenkendorf (1783-1817), Stägemann (1763-1840), Kosegarten (1758-1818), Baggesen the Dane (1764-1826), Matthisson (1761-1831), Mahlmann (1771-1826), Salis (1762-1834), and Eichendorff (1788-1857), several of whom belong to the romantic school. Among novelists and tale writers are Achim von Arnim (1784-1831) and Clemens Brentano (1777-1842), the compilers of a series of celebrated popular songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn), and Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822), the author of many wild, fantastic tales and legends (Elixir des Teufels, Kater Murr, &c.), which cap the climax of the supernaturalistic element of the romantic school. Among favorite novelists of this period are J. T. Hermes (1738-1821); Hippel (1741-'96), the indiscreet friend and disciple of Kant; Musäus (1735-'87), the author of a collection of Volksmärchen or popular fairy tales; Lafontaine (1759-1831), a type of the most sentimental novelists; Blumauer, J. G. Müller, and Thümmel (1738-1817), the author of a novel in imitation of Sterne's “Sentimental Journey;” Jung-Stilling (1740-1817), the inspired tailor in whose naïve and original autobiography Goethe, Schiller, and Herder took so much interest; Knigge (1752-'96), the author of the Reise nach Braunschweig; and Immermann (1796-1840), the author of the famous story of Münchhausen. Ghost stories were for a time made popular by Schiller's Geisterseher, and to this department of literature Jung-Stilling also contributed. Associated with the romantic school, in the earlier part of her literary career, was Bettina von Arnim (1785-1859), celebrated by her correspondence with Goethe. Rahel, the wife of Varnhagen von Ense (1771-1833), was a literary woman of much greater talent and originality of thought. Among other distinguished authoresses are Auguste von Paalzow, Ida von Hahn-Hahn, Amalie Schoppe, Johanna Schopenhauer, Friederike Brun, and many others. Talvj (Mrs. Robinson) contributed to diffuse a knowledge of Servian popular songs and of Slavic literature generally, and won great distinction in this and other spheres of literature.—The efforts of Klopstock, Herder, and other authors to revive the popularity of the early German poetry, as well as the sentiment of nationality which was roused at the beginning of this century by the aggressive policy of Napoleon I., contributed to give a powerful impulse to the researches into the ancient German literature, which was to some extent fostered by Jahn's spirited work on Deutsches Volksthum. Von der Hagen, by his edition of the Nibelungen, did much to promote a love for the study of the old German dialects and the poetry connected with them. The brothers Wilhelm and Jakob Grimm are the more immediate founders of this new branch of philological and poetical investigation. Benecke, Lachmann, and Simrock labored in the same direction, and more recently Moritz Haupt; also Franz Pfeifer, Oskar Schade, Zarncke, Holtzmann, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Bartsch, &c.—The German war of independence against Napoleon I. produced some striking patriotic songs from Prof. Arndt of Bonn (1769-1860), and Theodor Körner (1791-1813), the gallant soldier-poet, and author of Leier und Schwert (“Lyre and Sword”). Some of the lyrical poets of the romantic school whom we have named also became distinguished for their patriotic effusions, especially Schenkendorf and Stägemann. Wilhelm Müller of Dessau (1794-1827), author of the admirable Griechenlieder, may be classed among patriotic poets. The maiden efforts of Friedrich Rückert (1789-1866), one of the best lyrical and didactic poets of Germany, and celebrated as much for his imitations of troubadour songs as for his versions of oriental poetry, were also inspired by the war against the French. Another who came forward as a champion of national independence was Uhland (1787-1862), the chieftain of the modern Swabian school, and one of the leading poets of Germany. Stuttgart, the seat of the great publishing house of Cotta and of the critic Wolfgang Menzel, was the headquarters of this school. Hebel (1760-1826), whose Alemannische Gedichte were greatly admired by Goethe, belonged to it by the Swabian dialect and spirit of his songs, although he lived at an earlier period. An eminent lyrical poet of this school was Justinus Kerner. Gustav Schwab, Pfizer, the critic and historian, Karl Mayer, and Mörike, all belong more or less to the Swabian school. A new direction was given to literary activity by the political excitement immediately preceding and succeeding the French revolution of 1830. Ludwig Borne (1786-1837) and Heinrich Heine (1800-1856) are regarded as its heralds, the former by his pungent and comprehensive political satires, the latter by his keen insight and peculiar lyrical genius. Heine exercised a wide influence in the literary world. As a poet, he had a peculiar gift of uniting the tragic and comic in a felicitous and racy manner, which made him the idol of a new school of authors who styled themselves “Young Germany,” but who partook much less of Heine's poetical gifts than of his political sympathies. Karl Gutzkow (born in 1811) was the head of this school. He is the author of Die Ritter vom Geiste and Zauberer von Rom, and of many other novels, and several dramas. The other principal representatives of “Young Germany” are Heinrich Laube (born in 1806), Gustav Kühne (1806), and Theodor Mundt (1808). An eminent author of this period is Baron Sternberg (1806), author of Diane and Paul, and of many other works which hold up the mirror to the social and political condition of his country. Another famous writer and amateur liberal politician of this class is Prince Pückler-Muskau (1785-1871), author of Briefe eines Verstorbenen, and of other piquant books. The taste for novels of a political and social tendency has been characteristic of German writers since the early part of this century. The novels of Gutzkow, Laube, and many other contemporary German writers, all belong to this category, while Gustav Freytag has gained a high reputation by several excellent novels, among which the best known is Soll und Haben (“Debit and Credit”). The line of historical novelists was opened by Meissner (1753-1807); he was followed by Karoline von Pichler (1769-1843), Tromlitz (Von Witzleben, 1773-1839), Van der Velde (1779-1824), Karl Spindler (1796-1855), author of Der Jude, Der Bastard, and other novels, which enjoyed great popularity; Rellstab, Storch, Rau, and Koenig (1790-1869), author of Die Clubisten in Mainz (1847). Berneck or Bernd von Guseck (born in 1803), Mügge (1806-'61), author of Toussaint and other excellent novels, Kühne and Heller (1813-'71), are all contributors to this class of novels. Here belong also the semi-historical novels of Louise Mühlbach (Mme. Mundt, 1814-'73), which have enjoyed a very wide popularity, but are not entitled to high rank either from a literary point of view or as interpreters of history. A far higher merit must be awarded to Zschokke (1771-1848), one of the best German prose writers of recent times, author of many excellent historical and romantic works, and of Stunden der Andacht, a religious work, which has passed through many editions. Heinrich Steffens, the Norwegian philosopher and naturalist (1773-1845), wrote German novels based upon Scandinavian history, which are replete with interest. Another historical novelist is Wilhelm Häring, known by the pseudonyme of Wilibald Alexis (1797-1871), who imitated so skilfully the manner and style of Sir Walter Scott that several of his works were translated into foreign languages and passed for some time as the productions of the great English romancer. The most famous of the kind is “Walladmor.” Hauff, a genial novelist, whose Lichtenstein takes high rank among historical romances; Clauren, a licentious writer, but one whose novels have been read extensively; and Hackländer, the author of Soldatenleben, Handel und Wandel, and many other works, and the founder and conductor of the widely known journal Ueber Land und Meer, may be mentioned here; also Berthold Auerbach (1812), who attracted immediate attention by his first work, Schwarzwälder Dorfgeschichten, and has since taken his place among the leaders of German fiction, his novel Auf der Höhe having gained a very wide reputation in Germany, England, and America, which has been increased by his later works. Among German novelists of the last decade whose works possess permanent value, the leading place is undoubtedly occupied by Friedrich Spielhagen, whose Problematische Naturen, Durch Nacht zum Licht, Hammer und Amboss, and other works, enjoy a great popularity and high esteem. Heinrich Laube, Alfred Meissner (a grandson of the historical novelist), Max Ring, Edmund Hoefer, Fanny Lewald, Levin Schücking, Karl von Holtei, and others, have been prolific contributors to the recent literature of fiction. Eugenie John, best known under the nom de plume of E. Marlitt, has written several excellent novels, among which Goldelse (1866), Das Geheimniss der alten Mamsell (1867), and Reichsgräfin Gisela (1869) have been exceptionally popular, and have been translated into English. Paul Heyse is another contemporary novelist whose works have attained and deserved much success.—Among the poets who have expressed liberal political tendencies with most point are Hoffmann von Fallersleben, the author of Unpolitisclie Lieder; Herwegh, author of Gedichte eines Lebendigen; Dingelstedt, author of Lieder eines kosmopolitischen Nachtwächters; Prutz (born in 1810), Kinkel (1815), and Freiligrath. Among other recent poets who have acquired some eminence are Grabbe, Gottschall, Emanuel Geibel, Redwitz, Paul Heyse, Wolfgang Müller, Max Waldau, Gerokt, Bodenstedt (especially distinguished for his versions of Persian poetry), Böttger, Simrock, Kugler, Keller, Schefer, and Hammer, many of whom excel in ballads and songs after the style of the Swabian school. A circle of poets in Vienna cluster round Anastasius Grün (Count Auersperg), the greatest lyric poet of Austria, author of Spaziergänge eines Wiener Poeten, Schutt, Der letzte Ritter, &c. Lenau and Karl Beck were the principal and most gifted of his followers. Alfred Meissner and Moritz Hartmann belong to this school. A few other names of writers who have acquired a passing reputation by attractive or melodious verses might be added here; but during the past decade no really great poet, whose fame is likely to be lasting, has appeared in Germany. The war against France in 1870 called forth, it is true, many national and martial lyrics, among the best of which were several by Freiligrath and Geibel, as well as some stirring songs by the newer writers Gottschall, Grosse, Rittershaus, and Jensen. Several of those named in the list of recent poets given above also produced noteworthy war lyrics. Die Wacht am Rhein, written long before (about 1840) by Schneckenburger, became the popular war song of the armies of 1870; but its literary worth was small compared with many others of the national poems published during the period of its popularity.—Dramatic literature has also fallen from the high estate which it had reached through Lessing, Goethe, and Schiller. Gerstenberg (1737-1823) was the author of the high-wrought tragedy Ugolino, noticeable only for its extravagance. Among his contemporaries were some excellent dramatists and poets, as Cronegk, Leisewitz, Weisse, &c. Iffland (1759-1814), in a long series of plays, reflected the life of respectable people of the middle classes; they are eminently moral in their tone, but long and heavy. Werner (1768-1823) became the founder of the so-called tragedy of fate (Schicksalstragödie) by his piece called Der Vierundzwanzigste Februar. The imitators of his extravagant style are Müllner (1774-1829) in his Schuld, Howald (1778-1845) in his Bild, and Grillparzer (1790-1872) in his Ahnfrau. Kotzebue (1761-1819) succeeded in obtaining a higher popularity than all his contemporary playwrights. His forte was in comedy. He wrote more than 200 plays, some of which have been adapted to the English and French stage. Münch-Bellinghausen (nom de plume, Friedrich Halm) has written an excellent drama, Der Sohn der Wildniss, a national tragedy, Der Fechter von Ravenna, and other works. Maltitz, Eichendorff, Julius Mosen, Gutzkow, Laube, Hebbel, Griepenkerl, Prutz, and Brachvogel have all cultivated dramatic literature. Charlotte Birch-Pfeifer (1800-'68) dramatized a great number of stories. Karl Immermann belongs to a higher class of dramatists; his trilogy Alexis, and his mythical play Merlin, and many of his tragedies and comedies, are excellent reading plays, but they are not well suited to the stage. M. Beer's Struensee is also a work of high poetical merit. Raupach (1784-1852) was one of the most fertile of German dramatists. Eduard Duller (1809-'53) wrote several historical dramas. The comedies of Hackländer, and particularly of Benedix, display considerable ability; and among other writers of comedy are Feldmann, Töpper, Albini, Gutzkow, Gustav Freytag, and Bauernfeld. Paul Heyse, Wilhelm Jordan, Kruse, Mosenthal, Weilen, Wilbrandt, Gustav von Putlitz, and Schauffert are among the more noteworthy of the very recent dramatists. Among their works are many of positive excellence, though none for which it is possible to predict an enduring fame.—Belles-lettres, on the whole, have in recent years fallen into comparative insignificance in Germany. The most eminent minds no longer devote themselves to poetic and dramatic literature, but to the exploration of the spheres of science and learning. Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) gave a powerful impulse to almost all departments of knowledge by his “Cosmos,” “Travels,” “Views of Nature,” and the general suggestiveness of his labors. While he marks a new epoch in the pursuit of the natural sciences, another great movement was initiated in historical researches by Niebuhr (1776-1831), the illustrious historian of ancient Rome; Schlosser (1776-1861), the vigorous and truthful exponent of universal history, and particularly of the history of the 18th century; Heeren (1760-1842), the investigator of history in connection with political and commercial relations; Raumer (1781-1873), the historian of the Hohenstaufen; Leopold von Ranke (1795), whose labors embrace a vast field of modern history; Dahlmann (1785-1860), the German Guizot, author of “Sources of German History,” and the historian of Denmark and of the English and French revolutions; and Gervinus (1805-'71), the historian of German literature, Shakespearian critic, and author of the great history of the 19th century. Here may be mentioned also Rotteck (1775-1840), whose excellent universal history has been very popular on account of its liberal political views, and Weber, the author of several universal histories. While Niebuhr introduced a profounder method in the study of early Roman history, Bunsen, Lepsius, and others made discoveries in Egyptian and oriental antiquities, and a third impulse proceeded from the active researches in the field of classical archæology and philology. These combined influences are more or less manifest in the labors in ancient history of. Böckh, Karl Otfried Müller, Duncker, Droysen, Mommsen, Kortüm, Adolph Schmidt, Plass, Wachsmuth, Tittmann, Flathe, Manso, Abeken, Schwegler, E. Curtius, Lassen, Jahn, Hermann, Teuffel, and Movers. In the special study of Sanskrit Roth, Böhtlingk, Benfey, Fick, A. Weber, and others have won distinction. The history of the middle ages has been treated by Rühs, Rehm, and Wilken, and more especially by Leo, Hammer, Fallmerayer, Aschbach, Lappenberg, Dahlmann, Schäfer, Röpell, Kriegk, and Gregorovius. Various branches of oriental history and literature have been actively explored by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, Flügel, Plath, Radeloff, Ewald, and Nöldeke. Among writers on modern history are Dohm, Saalfeld, Bülau, Münnich, Häusser, and Treitschke. The humanitarian and cosmopolitan direction given to historical studies by the writers and philosophers of the 18th and 19th centuries, and especially by Herder and Kant, is manifest in the comprehensiveness of views which Rotteck, and chiefly Schlosser, bring to bear upon their labors, as well as in many works on particular sections and occupations of the people. This has culminated in what may be designated as a new science, which the Germans call Culturgeschichte, i. e., a history which treats of the moral, intellectual, social, and politico-economical, as well as political development of the people. Among the principal laborers in this new sphere of investigation are Wachsmuth (1784-1866), author of Europaische Sittengeschichte and of Allgemeine Culturgeschichte; Scherr, author of Geschichte deutscher Cultur und Sitte; Klemm (1802-'69), author of Allgemeine Culturgeschichte der Menschheit, and of Allgemeine Culturwissenchaft; and Henne-am-Rhyn, author of Culturgeschichte der neueren Zeit. The same tendency to dwell upon the practical realities of life extends over many other departments of literature in Germany, and is most strongly expressed in recent biographies and autobiographies, especially in that of Perthes. A more physiological method in these branches of investigation has been adopted by Riehl in his Naturgeschichte des Volkes als Grundlage einer deutschen Socialpolitik. The literature of travels was greatly stimulated by Johann Georg Adam Forster, commonly called Georg Forster (1754-'94), who accompanied Cook on his second voyage round the world, and who, in Alexander von Humboldt's opinion, inaugurated a new era of scientific voyages. A still more powerful impulse was given by Humboldt himself, by his travels in the equinoctial regions of America, and in central Asia. The travels of Lichtenstein (1780-1857) in southern Africa were of great scientific importance. The travels of Prince Maximilian of Wied (1782-1867) furnished valuable additions to the knowledge of the natural history and ethnology of Brazil and the United States. The explorations of Martius (1794-1868) in Brazil are important for the studies of botany, ethnology, geography, and statistics. Pöppig (1797-1868) visited Chili, Peru, and the river Amazon. Among the other explorers of South America are Burmeister (born 1807), who travelled more particularly in Brazil, and Johann Jakob von Tschudi (1818), a relative of Friedrich von Tschudi, author of Das Thierlelen in der Alpenwelt, and an active traveller, especially in Peru. Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-'65), a German by birth, but employed in the service of the British government, travelled in British Guiana, Barbadoes, Hayti, &c. His works were published in German by his brother, Otto Shomburgk (1810-'57). Another brother, Moritz Richard Schomburgk, travelled in British Guiana at the expense of the king of Prussia, and afterward in Australia in company with a fourth brother, Julius Schomburgk. The East has been visited by G. H. von Schubert (1780-1860), especially Egypt, Palestine, and Greece, and by Seetzen (1767-1811), whose Reisen durch Syrien, Palastina, die Trans-Jordan-Länder, Arabia Peträa und Unterägypten, were edited by F. Kruse. Minutoli (1772-1846) wrote on his travels to Upper Egypt. Rüppell (born 1794) explored Nubia, Kordofan, Arabia Petræa, and is best known by his travels in Abyssinia. The most eminent writers on Egypt are Lepsius, Brugsch, Baron Bunsen, Ebers, Dümichen, and Lauth. The historian Raumer gave graphic descriptions of his travels in Venice, England, Italy, and the United States; and Joseph Russegger (1802-'63) wrote comprehensively on his travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Venedey (1805-'71) gave accounts of England, Ireland, and southern France. Moritz Wagner (born 1813) has published his travels in Algeria, the Caucasus, Colchis, Persia, and Kurdistan, and, in conjunction with his companion Scherzer, in North America and Costa Rica. Froebel (born 1806) has described “Seven Years' Travels in Central America, Northern Mexico, and the Far West of the United States” (English edition, 1859). Hettner (born 1821) has written sketches of his travels in Greece. Friedrich Gerstäcker (1816-'72) is the author of many entertaining and humorous descriptions of travels, especially in the new world. Another pleasing narrator of his journeys is Mundt. A voluminous writer of travels is the tourist Kohl (born 1808). Ida Pfeiffer (1797-1858) showed herself a most intrepid and indefatigable tourist and valuable contributor to the literature of travel. Germany has also given birth to some of the most celebrated recent explorers of remote parts of the world, as Gützlaff in China, Siebold in Japan, Barth, Vogel, Nachtigall, Gerhard Rohlfs, and Heuglin in Africa, the brothers Schlagintweit in central Asia, Bastian in S. E. Asia, and Leichhardt in Australia.—We complete this sketch by a list of eminent men (mostly living) in the principal departments of learning, including some names already mentioned. In the natural sciences: Burmeister, Ule, Johann Müller, Carus, Rossmässler, Dove, Giebel, Masius, Valentin, Moleschott, Büchner, Vogt, Oken, Virchow, Burdach, Schleiden, Bernhard Cotta, Nees von Esenbeck, Leopold von Buch, Endlicher, Martius, Naumann, Bischoff, Liebig, Bunsen, Kirchhoff, Kopp, Poggendorff, Rose, Erdmann, Gmelin, Wöhler, Wackenroder, Gehler, Vogel, Mitscherlich, Pringsheim, Schödler, Du Bois-Reymond, Fechner, O. Schmidt, F. Cohn, Reichenbach, Unger, Weber, Möhl, Steinheil, Rau, Pietschmann, Reich, Hagen, Lang, Karl, Schrauf, Wundt, H. Grassmann, Hallier, Kummer, Mann, Hartung, Gegenbaur, Fürbinger, Hoffmann, S. Hartmann, Haeckel, Völker, Ramelow, Kupffer, Winkler, Kunth, Fitzinger, Emmerling, Fresenius, Wagner, Meissner, Vom Rath, Baumgärtner, Erdmann, Hofmann, Karmarsch, Würtz, Zwick, Otto, Reis, Robert Grassmann, Zirkel, G. Hartwig, Credner, Pfaff. In medicine: Johann Müller, K. Thiersch, Burdach, Wagner, Ehrenberg, Hecker, Carus, Blasius, Froriep, Schönlein, Skoda, Dieffenbach, Mitscherlich, Romberg, Weber, Donders, A. von Gräfe, Virchow, Steinthal, Reich, W. Roth, Busch, Haussmann, Armbrecht, Klebs, Nothnagel, Schröder, Steinbacher, Kunze, Fürst, Stilling. In astronomy and mathematics: Bessel, Encke, Struve, Mädler, Galle, Gauss, Lejeune-Dirichlet, Argelander, Heis, Schmidt, Dienger, Förster, Schucht, Göbel, Ofterdinger, Zöllner, Greiffenstein, K. S. Neumann, Möbius, Weisbach, H. J. Klein, Volger, Bischof. In military science, engineering, &c.: Möwes, Taubert, Rebhann, Hagen, Dittmer, Schmitt, Winkler, Lieber, Zastrow. In geography, ethnology, statistics, and travels: Carl Ritter, Daniel, Wappäus, Ungewitter, Berghaus, Petermann, Möller, Stein, Streit, Handtke, Löher, Raumer, Haxthausen, Dieterici, Hübner, Sydow, Möllhausen, Mauch, Munzinger, Hügel, Roon, Schweinfurth, Semper, Seemann, Ziegler, Waitz, Schmarda, Blau, Berlepsch, Pauli, Stieler, Fritsch, Stephan, Stangl, Rodenberg, Steinthal, Cornelius, Langhans, Hartmann. In history and biography: Wachler, Gfrörer, Pölitz, Leo, K. A. Menzel, Preuss, Weber, Prutz, Varnhagen von Ense, Pertz, K. W. Böttiger, Zimmermann, Von Rochau, G. Curtius, Dittmar, Spiegel, S. Bauer, Fessler, Wolff, Jost, Zunz, Grätz, Stockmar, Honegger, Grotefend, Stahl, Elze, Ungewitter, Hagenbach, K. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Caspari, Kolb, Holtzendorff, Ukert, Rosenkranz, Brandes, Gentz, Nitzsch, Hirsch, Stoffel, F. Arndt, W. Müller, Wackernagel, Sybel, Kohlrausch, Caro. In the history and criticism of literature, philosophy, art, and æsthetics: Gervinus, Vilmar, Wackernagel, Julian Schmidt, Solger, Bouterwek, Visscher, Schwegler, Ruge, Wolf, Koberstein, Gottschall, Stern, Schell, Kreyssig, Kurz, Lindau, Carrière, Eye, Stahr, Hauptmann, Elze, Meissner, Klein, Gervais, Ethé, Wagner, Zimmermann, Hirzel, J. W. O. Richter, Löper, Schasler, Weisse, Lenz, Liszt, J. P. Richter, Lübke, Fechner, J. H. Schmidt, H. Grimm, Eggers, Lütke, Vagler. In philology: F. A. Wolf, Schaaf, Maurer, Heinsius, Heyse, K. F. Becker, Massmann, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Zumpt, Hermann, Niebuhr, Bernhardi, Creuzer, Wachler, Con. Schneider, Ernesti, E. and G. Curtius, Matthiæ, Thiersch, Jacobs, Buttmann, Rost, Passow, Kühner, Ramshorn, Döderlein, Freund, Gerhard, Gesenius, Nork, Bopp, Freytag, Jahn, Hitzig, Hupfeld, Ewald, A. F. Hoffmann, Lassen, Sachs, L. Geiger, Steinschneider, Levy, Tischendorf, Wattenbach, Lepsius, Schrader, Teuffel, Westermann, Meineke, Leo Meyer, Kremer, Obermüller, Dietz, Brambach, E. M. Arndt, Wollheim da Fonseca, Delitzsch, Holtzmann, Rödiger, Stark, Westphal, Bohtlingk, Fick, Schleicher, Schott, Cuno, Zenker, Dindorf, J. Müller, Roth, Benfey, Hildebrand, Grassmann, Quenstedt. In political sciences and jurisprudence: Savigny, Stahl, K. F. Eichhorn, Gans, Hüllmann, Welcker, Schubert, Stein, Bülow, Mohl, Gentz, Von Rönne, R. W. Dove, Holtzendorff, Gneist, the Swiss Bluntschli, Barth, Glaser, Gerber, Marx, Richter, Marr, Adler, Oppenhoff, Maurer, Mittermaier, Mohl, Perthes, Schwarze, Twesten, Joseph Unger, Richthofen. In theology, philosophy, and Biblical sciences: Fessler, Martin, Luthardt, Rothe, Hefele, Ketteler, Döllinger, Alzog, Dorner, Guericke, Schenkel, Ullmann, Strauss, Schleiermacher, Roh, Pottgeisser, Keil, Delitzsch, B. Baur, F. C. Baur, Reinke, Reinkens, Leonhardi, Schulte, Ulrici, Braubach, A. von Hartmann, Frohschammer, J. B. Meyer, Zeising, Nietsche, Ueberweg, Stier, Aub, Krummacher, Balzer, Lange, Tholuck, Tischendorf, Friedberg, Menzel, Kirchmann, Fischer, A. Geiger, Frankel, Hirsch, Philippson, Keim, Luz, Baumann, Winer, Tuch, Kurtz, Schrader, Ludwig Feuerbach, Schopenhauer, E. von Hartmann. In the science of education: Diesterweg, Froebel, Gräfe, K. Schmidt, Fricke, Schlosser, Dillmann, Beck, Hill, Lübker, Schmelzer, L. W. Seyffarth, Böhm, Schott, Westermann, Möbius, Rosenkranz, Waitz.