German Literature

A Timeline of the History of German Literature (Eine Zeittafel der Geschichte der deutschen Literatur)

This was my final project for GER 454 - German Literature II in 1998, and represents a general survey of the history of German literature. It was cobbled together at a time when the web was in its infancy, so there were not nearly as many resources available online as there are now, so it served as a reference for many students and researchers. It's likely a bit dated now, but I'm making it available in this wiki, after many years of not being available due to the university removing students' personal websites, in the hopes that some may continue to find it useful.

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Old High German Period (800-1050)

The first of the great German works during this period was "Hildebrandslied", a heroic pagan ballad about conflict between father and son. Written using alliterative verse, it was sung by minstrels before exalted audiences. Unfortunately it only survived in fragments.

Though called the Old High German Period, one of the greatest works during this period, "Heliand" (see below), was written in in old low German. In fact, most of the works of this period were not written in old high German, rather in Latin due to pressure from the church to reject the paganism of the time. Therefore a majority of the works produced during this time were by clergy or people otherwise associated with the church.

The first attempts of Teutonic church poetry are biblical epics, and the leader of the Teutonic Christ-singers is the Anglo-Saxon monk Caedmon of Whitby (formerly a swineherd), about 680, who reproduced in alliterative verse, as by inspiration, the biblical history of creation and redemption, and brought it home to the imagination and heart of Old England. This poem, which was probably brought to Germany by Bonifacius and other English missionaries, inspired in the ninth century a similar production of an unknown Saxon (Westphalian) monk, namely, a poetic gospel harmony or life of Christ under the title "Heliand" (i.e., Heiland, Healer, Saviour). About the same time (c. 870), Otfrid of Weissenburg in the Alsace, a Benedictine monk, educated at Fulda and St. Gall, versified the gospel history in the Alemannian dialect, in fifteen hundred verses, divided into stanzas, each stanza consisting of four rhymed lines.

(Above paragraph from: http://www.bible.org/docs/history/schaff/vol7/schaf152.htm)

This period saw the the first German woman author of literature, a nun named Hrotsvit of the cloister of Gandersheim in Saxony. Another example of literature by clergy was the "Song of Walter the Strong-Handed" written by a 10th century monk named Ekkehardus I. A century later, another monk named Ekkehardus IV improved the Latin epic.

Middle High German Period (1050-1300)

During the Middle High German period, some of the highest quality literature was produced to date, especially during the Golden Age (1180-1220). One of the best known developments during this period was the Minnesang.

The Minnesang was "the German tradition of courtly lyric and secular monophony that flourished in the 12th to the 14th centuries. It can be considered the German branch of the Provençal troubadour tradition, though it has independent features. It was cultivated particularly by the nobility, and diffused by traveling musicians. The word 'Minne' can be taken to represent love with both its spiritual and sensual overtones, and its essentially aristocratic poetry was based on the concept of Minnedienst - servitude to love - itself inextricably linked to the feudal system. A recurrent theme is that of the knight's love for an unattainable lady, of undying service without reward. During the peak period of Minnesang (circa 1165-1200), the hôhiu minne ('high Minne') represented the ideal spiritual love between man and woman, the nideriu minne (low Minne) the more physical demands of the man for possession of a woman." (from: The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music)

There were six general types of Minnesang: Minnelied- the man's expression of love; Frauenlied- the woman's song; Wechsel- in which the lovers 'exchange' their views; the Tagelied- like the Provençal Alba, the parting of the lovers at dawn; Tanzlied- dance song; Kreuzlied- crusading song.

One of the most famous Minnesangers was Walther von der Vogelweide. Though chivalry, knighthood, and gallantry were common themes in works like "Iwein" by Hartman von Aue, "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach, and "Tristan und Isolde" by Gottfried von Straßburg, Walther chose to write about love, emotion, and other human feelings.

The Middle High German Period also saw the rise of the epic. A few examples have already been listed. One of the most famous epics of the time was "Nibelungenlied" [in English | auf Deutsch] and has been compared to the German equivalent of "The Illiad."

Early Modern Period (1300-1550)

The arrival of the Early Modern Period brought the period of the Minnesanger to an end, however German Literature continued to develop and flourish. Literature of this period was very different than that of the previous. Where the Minnesangers celebrated knights, chivalry, and gallantry, the writers of the Early Modern Period satirized the idea of such things. This was was mainly due to the decline of knighthood and the rise of the middle class. Some of these writers include Sebastian Brant with his "Narrenshiff", Johann Baptist Fischart, and the Meistersanger Hans Sachs with his "zwei Meisterlieder".

Folklore was also popular during the time. This caused a rise in popular literature, which became increasingly available due to the invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg. Due to these two factors, literacy amongst the German people increased dramatically during this time. Such tales as those of Till Eulenspiegel became very popular amongst the rising middle class. This period also saw the first traces of the Faust legend.

The popularity of poetry decreased during the period, but prose writing filled its void and indeed thrived doing so. Contributors were Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler, and Johannes von Tepl with his "Der Ackerman von Böhmen".

Amongst all writers of this time, none were as controversial nor as well known as Martin Luther. Shortly after he nailed his "95 Theses" to a Catholic church official's door, he was pronounced a heretic by the church. He spent much of his time in the Wartburg near Eisenach. There, he produced a large number of hymns, but what he is most famous for is the translation of the Bible from the original Greek and Hebrew texts. One of the most amazing feats Luther accomplished while translating was to translate the entire New Testament from the original Greek texts in 11 weeks. By doing so, he put the word of God into the hands of the German people so that they no longer depended on the church to dictate to them from Latin texts. This one feat is credited for drastically increasing the literacy rates amongst the German people, and in fact, a majority of the Western world. With the help of Gutenberg's printing press, the Bible was translated and distributed to many other nations and became the most published and purchased book in the world.

Baroque Style Predominates (1550-1700)

Literary development was stunted during this period by the Thirty Year's War (1618-1648). Throughout this period, the baroque style of exaggeration and elaboration predominate. An example of this is "The Adventures of Simplicissimus" by Hans Jacob von Grimmelshausen, who was heavily influenced by visionary Jakob Bohme.

Writers of this period were also obsessed with the idea of trying to be superior to surrounding countries, and thus Sprachgesellschaften (language academies) were founded in the effort to purify and promote the German language.

The tragedy, as a response to the death and destruction of the Thirty Year's War, was very popular amongst writers such as Andreas Gryphius and Daniel Caspar von Lohenstein.

Poetry began to flourish again under authors like Martin Opitz. The sonnet and alexandrine verse were the forms of choice. Influenced by the baroque style, these authors produced vivid and powerful poems including: Paul Fleming's "Zur Zeit seiner Verstossung", Andreas Gryphius' "Tränen des Vaterlandes", Christian Hofmann von Hofmanns-Waldau's "Die Welt", and Simon Dach's "Anke von Tharaw". Protestant poetry also prospered with the hymns of Paul Gerhardt.

Age of Rationalism (1700-1775)

The Age of Rationalism is called the reaction to the excessiveness of the Baroque Age. Actually it was more of a readjustment back to the roots of human nature. Most of the works of this age deal with humanity on one level or another.

This age produced many great authors the first being Johann Gottsched who brought many improvements into German literature, especially in drama. The next great was Gotthold Lessing who formed the basis of modern German dramas and in doing so, was considered be a true liberator of German literature. His "Nathan the Wise" "remains a monument to principles of religious tolerance and human dignity." Christopher Wieland was another important author of the time. A novelist inspired be French refinement and sensuousness, Wieland translated many of Shakespeare's plays into German. The emotionalism of the German people was expressed by Friedrich Klopstock in "The Messiah."

Citations / References

NOTE: these are the original sources as used in 1998; if the reference is no longer available, I have linked to the [Archive.org] archived version.

Primary

• Compton's Encyclopedia
• Encarta
• German Literature Links
• Grolier 1997 Multimedia Encyclopedia (on CD-ROM)
• Literatur Links
• Online German Studies
• Projekt Gutenberg
• Western European Specialists Section

Other

• bibliotheca Augustana
• Luther's Hymns
• German Literature
• Medieval Literature
• 19th Century German Lit
• Olivers Links zur Literatur
• Projeckt Alfred
• The German Collection at the University of Virginia
• DaDaism Online
• German war poetry during WWI