Introduction
German-language literature from the 8th century to the present day, including works by Austrian and Swiss authors. It is divided into periods that correspond to the development of the German language and the growth and unification of Germany as a nation. See also Austrian Literature.
Period of Old High High German (800-1100)
The oldest known literary work is the epic poem Hildebrandslied (Hildebrand's Song), written around the year 800 and of which only a fragment has been preserved. Other legends deal with heroic personages like Teodorico, king of the Ostrogoths; Attila, king of the Huns, and Sigfrid.
In 381, Ulfilas, bishop of the Goths, translated the Bible into their vernacular and an anonymous priest wrote Muspili (900), an alliterative poem in Bavarian dialect that describes the Last Judgment. Another important work written in Old High German is the epic poem Heliand (9th century).
The monks preserved the literature and history of their time. However, during this period, most literary works were written in Latin, using German for translations from the ancient language. During the 9th and 10th centuries, a popular oral literature was developed, consisting of narratives and ballads that, until approximately the 14th century, were not fixed in writing.
Middle High German Period (1100-1370)
While prose writings and theater were almost always didactic-religious works, poetry developed as a secularized mode of expression. The Spielleute (itinerant gamblers) told stories based on the experiences of warriors returning from the Crusades. Among the epic poems of this period, König Rother (King Rother, 1150) gained the greatest recognition. Another important style was the courtly epic, in which Hartmann von Que, Gottfried von Strassburg, Wolfram von Eschenbach and Heinrich von Veldeke stood out. A variation was the epic poems starring animals. Reineke Fuchs (Reineke the Fox, 1180) by Heinrich the Glîchesaere are the best examples. The most important epic poem of this period is the anonymous 13th century Nibelungenlied (Singing of the Nibelungs).
Lyric poetry developed in the form of Minnesang or courtly lyric, composed by lyric poets called Minnesänger. The great master of this type of poetry was Walther von der Vogelweide.
The Reformation was reflected in literature, especially through Martin Luther, whose translation of the Bible established New High German as the literary language of Germany. In secular literature appear the Meistergesang (songs of the masters), written by guilds of artisans called Meistersinger (master-singers). Also the simple lyrical poems called Volkslieder (popular songs, see Folklore) were popular. The Schwank, a grotesque form of comic argument, has given popular expression to the stories of malicious rogues like Till Eulenspiegel. Sebastian Brant wrote his famous satire Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools, 1491), and Johann Fischart also achieved success. This period records the first appearance of the legendary professor Johann Faust in the anonymous narrative History of Dr. Johann Fausten.
At the end of the 15th century, theater in German began to take secularized form in Fastnachtsspiele (carnival performances). Among the most important playwrights are Burkard Waldis, Nikodemus Frischlin and Hans Sachs.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the critic Martin Optiz advocated the imitation of French literary models. At this time, poets such as Simon Dach, Paul Flemming, Johann Scheffler, commonly called Angelus Silesius, Baron Friedrich von Logau and Paul Gerhardt achieved greater individuality of expression.
The effects of the Thirty Years' War can be felt in the work of novelist Hans Jakob Christoph von Grimmelshausen. The comedies of satirist Andreas Gryphius also describe post-war disenchantment.
18th century
At the beginning of the 18th century, there was an important movement that broke with foreign influences and realism appeared in the novel. In the first period, called pre-classical, the following stand out:Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock — author of the religious epic poem Messiah — and Christoph Martin Wieland.
August Wilhelm von Schlegel ( 1767-1845) was, along with his brother Friedrich, one of the important critics of the early German Romantic period. He wrote Lectures on Literature and Art (1801) and On Literature and Drama, among other works. His translations of Shakespeare, Calderón de la Barca, Luís Vaz de Camões, Garcilaso, Lope de Vega, Petrarca and Torquato Tasso became famous.
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing's dramas are at the origin of modern German theater and the flowering of the Enlightenment spirit in Germany.
The philosopher Johann Gottfried von Herder was the dominant figure in the Sturm und Drang, a movement that borrowed its name from a theatrical work by Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger. This movement advocated the use of national elements and was inspired by the Volkslied (popular poetry) whose principles can be found in the early dramas of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich von Schiller.
The classical period is manifested in the evolution of Goethe and Schiller, during the transition from romanticism to classicism, a circumstance that is also present in the work of the poet Friedrich Holdërlin, the playwright and author of short novels Heinrich von Kleist and the narratives of the humorist Johann Friedrich. Richte (better known by the pseudonym Jean Paul).
In 1798, the growing romantic trend became dominant with the first appearance of the periodical Das Athenäum, edited by three friends:the writer Ludwig Tieck and the critics August Wilhelm von Schlegel and Friedrich von Schlegel. Das Athenäum influenced poets such as Ernst Moritz Arndt and Karl Theodor Körner. The work of the philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling gave the movement a philosophical foundation, while popular narratives and mythology received attention in the compilations made by the Brothers Grimm. A remarkable collection of German folk songs was compiled by the poet and playwright Clemens Maria Brentano and his brother-in-law Achim von Arnim.
Romantic themes characterize the work of Novalis, Ludwig Tieck, Joseph von Eichendorff, Adelbert von Chamisso, Ludwig Uhland, Eduard Mörike, Nikolaus Lenau and E. T. A. Hoffmann, the master of the fantastic tale.
Revolution and Reaction
During the 1830s, the movement called Junges Deutschland (Young Germany) — in which Heinrich Heine took part — supported liberals in an attempt to change the absolute power of feudal princes.
Political ideas dominated German theater in the 19th century. In addition to Christian Dietrich Grabbe, the revolutionary playwright Georg Büchner, a pioneer of psychological realism, Friedrich Hebbel, the Austrian Franz Grillparzer, Ferdinand Raimund, Johann Nepomuk Nestroy and Ludwig Anzengruber stand out. Composer Richard Wagner exerted a profound influence on 19th-century German theater.
Among the most popular narrators of the 19th century are Adalbert Stifter, Swiss novelist Gottfried Keller, Jeremiah Gotthelf, Wilhelm Raabe, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Theodor Storm and Theodor Fontane.
The dominant idealism was replaced by the materialism that manifests itself in the work of authors such as Paul Johann Anselm von Feuerbach, Leopold von Ranke — considered the founder of objective writing of history —, Theodor Mommsen and Jakob Burckhardt.
The development of psychology and history, combined with Nietzsche's conception of the artist as a radical critic of society, inspired the most important literary movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries:naturalism, expressionism and epic theater.
The naturalist movement appeared after the heyday of realism. Among its greatest exponents are Arthur Schnitzler and Gerhart Hauptmann.
At the beginning of the 20th century, other important movements in 20th German literature were neoclassicism, neoromanticism, symbolism, surrealism, Dadaism - and, with greater importance for German letters to which it is closely linked - expressionism that insists emphasizing psychological problems. In addition to the playwright Frank Wedekind, Walter Hasenclever, Ernst Toller, Fritz von Unruh, Georg Kaiser, Carl Zuckmayer, Georg Trakl, Georg Heym and Franz Werfel stand out.
The most original and evocative playwright of the modern period was Bertolt Brecht. He started out as an expressionist but soon developed his own style that would find continuity in the works of Peter Weiss, Rolf Hochhuth and Heinar Kipphart. Other important theater authors are Friedrich Dürrenmatt and Max Rudolf Frisch.
German Civilization
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