August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben | |
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| Born | August Heinrich Hoffmann (1798-04-02)2 April 1798 |
| Died | 19 January 1874(1874-01-19) (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, librarian, professor |
| Notable work | "Das Lied der Deutschen" |
August Heinrich Hoffmann (calling himselfvon Fallersleben[ˈaʊɡʊstˈhaɪnʁɪçˈhɔfmanfɔnˈfalɐsˌleːbn̩]ⓘ, after his hometown; 2 April 1798 – 19 January 1874) was a German poet associated with theYoung Germany movement. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", whose third stanza is now the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.
Hoffmann was born inFallersleben inLower Saxony, then in the duchy ofBrunswick-Lüneburg.
The son of a merchant and mayor of his native city, he was educated at the classical schools ofHelmstedt andBraunschweig, and afterwards at the universities ofGöttingen andBonn. His original intention was to studytheology, but he soon devoted himself entirely to literature. In 1823 he was appointed custodian of the university library atBreslau, a post which he held till 1838. He was also madeextraordinary professor of the German language and literature at that university in 1830, andordinary professor in 1835. Hoffmann was deprived of his chair in 1842 in consequence of hisUnpolitische Lieder (1840–1841, "Unpolitical Songs"), which gave much offence to the authorities in Prussia.[1]
During his exile, he traveled in Germany, Switzerland and Italy, and lived for two or three years inMecklenburg, of which he became a naturalized citizen. After therevolution of 1848 he was enabled to return to Prussia, where he was restored to his rights, and received the salary attached to a promised office not yet vacant. He married in 1849, and during the next ten years lived first inBingerbrück, afterwards inNeuwied, and then inWeimar, where together withOskar Schade (1826–1906) he edited theWeimarische Jahrbuch (1854–1857).[1]
In 1860 he was appointed librarian toVictor I, Duke of Ratibor at the monasterial castle ofCorvey nearHöxter on the Weser, where he died in 1874.[1][2]
Hoffmann von Fallersleben was one of the most popular poets of his time. In politics he ardently sympathized with progressive tendencies, and he was among the earliest and most effective of the political poets who paved the way for the revolution of 1848. As a poet, however, he acquired distinction chiefly by the ease, simplicity and grace with which he gave expression to the passions and aspirations of daily life. Although he had not been academically trained in music, he composed melodies for many of his songs, and a considerable number of them are sung by all classes in every part of Germany.[1]
Among the best known is the patriotic "Das Lied der Deutschen" which starts with the wordsDeutschland, Deutschland über alles and is set to a 1797 tune byJoseph Haydn. The lyrics were written in 1841 on the island ofHelgoland, then in British possession.[3] The text of the song expresses the pan-German sentiments common to revolutionary republicans of the period, which were considered inflammatory and treasonous in the German-speaking principalities. The phraseüber alles at that time did not refer to militant ideas of conquest of foreign countries, but to the need for loyalty to a united Germany above regional loyalties.[4]
The best of Hoffmann von Fallersleben's poetical writings is hisGedichte ("Poems", 1827), but there is great merit also in his other works:
Many of his children's songs are still popular, and are known by nearly every German child, including "Alle Vögel sind schon da", "Ein Männlein steht im Walde", "Summ, summ, summ", "Winters Abschied" ("Winter ade, scheiden tut weh"), "Kuckuck, Kuckuck, ruft's aus dem Wald", "Der Kuckuck und der Esel", "A, a, a, der Winter der ist da", "Der Frühling hat sich eingestellt", and the Christmas song "Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann".[citation needed] Other composers, includingAmalie Scholl andPauline Volkstein, set Hoffmann von Fallersleben's text to music.[5][6]
Hoffmann von Fallersleben'sUnpolitische Lieder ("Apolitical songs"),Deutsche Lieder aus der Schweiz ("German Songs from Switzerland") andStreiflichter ("Highlights") are interesting mainly in relation to the movements of the age in which they were written. As a student of ancient Teutonic literature, Hoffmann von Fallersleben ranks among the most persevering and cultivated of German scholars. Some of his findings are embodied in hisHorae Belgicae ("Belgian hours"),Fundgruben für Geschichte deutscher Sprache und Literatur ("Sources for the History of German Language and Literature"),Altdeutsche Blätter ("Old German Papers"), andSpenden zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte und Findlinge ("Contributions to German literary history and finds").[1]
His editions of historic works include:
Die deutsche Philologie im Grundriss ("Fundamentals of German Philology", 1836) was at the time of its publication a valuable contribution to philological research, and historians of German literature still attach importance to his
In 1868–1870, Hoffmann published an autobiography in six volumes,Mein Leben: Aufzeichnungen und Erinnerungen ("My Life: Notes and Memories"; abbreviated ed. in 2 vols.: 1894). HisGesammelte Werke ("Collected Works") in 8 volumes were edited by H. Gerstenberg (1891–1894); hisAusgewählte Werke ("Selected Works") in 4 volumes by H. Benzmann (1905). See alsoBriefe von Hoffmann von Fallersleben und Moritz Haupt an Ferdinand Wolf ("Letters of Hoffmann von Fallersleben and Moritz Haupt to Ferdinand Wolf", 1874); J. M. Wagner,Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 1818–1868 (1869–1870), and R. von Gottschall,Porträts und Studien ("Portraits and Studies", vol. 5, 1876).[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hoffmann, August Heinrich".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 561.
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