The American Cyclopædia (1879)/Uhland, Johann Ludwig

UHLAND, Johann Ludwig, a German poet, born in Tübingen, April 26, 1787, died there, Nov. 13, 1862. He graduated in law at Tübingen in 1810, and from 1812 to 1814 practised at Stuttgart in connection with the ministry of justice. He wrote poetry for periodicals as early as 1806. The war of independence against Napoleon roused his patriotic feelings, and the first collection of his Gedichte (1815) was received with great enthusiasm; and over 50 editions, gradually enlarged, have since appeared. In 1819 he became a member of the Würtemberg assembly. He was professor of the German language and literature at Tübingen from 1830 to 1833, when he resigned to take a more active part as a liberal leader in the diet, from which he retired in 1839. In 1848 he was a member of the Frankfort parliament. His works include, besides the above mentioned collection of Gedichte, the dramas Ernst von Schwaben and Ludwig der Bayer (1817-'19; 3d ed., 1863); Alte hoch- und niederdeuteche Volkslieder (1844-'5); and Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage (8 vols., 1865-'73), comprising his learned works relating to early German and Norse literature and mythology. He had in his days no superior as a lyrical poet. Longfellow has translated some of his pieces. Alexander Platt translated his “Poems” (Leipsic, 1848), W. W. Skeat his “Songs and Ballads” (London, 1864), and W. C. Sanders his “Poems” (1869). — See Ludwig Uhland, seine Freunde und Zeitgenossen, by Mayer (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1867); Uhland's Leben, edited by his widow (Stuttgart, 1874); and Uhland und Rückert, by S. Pfizer (1875).