Biedermeier refers to the literature, music, the visual arts and interior design in the period between the years 1815 (Vienna Congress), the end of theNapoleonic Wars, and 1848, the year of theEuropean revolutions. Under theNazi regime, some authors went into exile (Exilliteratur) and others submitted to censorship ("internal emigration",Innere Emigration). TheNobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German language authors fourteen times (as of 2023), or the third most often, behind only French language authors (with 16 laureates) and English language authors (with 32 laureates) with winners includingThomas Mann,Hermann Hesse,Günter Grass, andPeter Handke.
Periodization is not anexact science but the following list contains movements or time periods typically used in discussing German literature. It seems worth noting that the periods ofmedieval German literature span two or three centuries, those of early modern German literature span one century, and those of modern German literature each span one or two decades. The closer one nears the present, the more debated the periodizations become.
Graph of works listed in Frenzel,Daten deutscher Dichtung (1953). Visible is medieval literature overlapping with Renaissance up to the 1540s, modern literature beginning 1720, and baroque-era works (1570 to 1730) in between; there is a 20-year gap, 1545–1565, separating the Renaissance from the Baroque era. The Diagram was first published in Olaf Simons,Marteaus Europa, oder Der Roman, bevor er Literatur wurde (Amsterdam/ Atlanta: Rodopi, 2001), p. 12. It does not give a picture of the actual production of German literature, but the selection and classification of literary works by Herbert Alfred and Elizabeth Frenzel.[1]
Medieval German literature refers toliterature written in Germany, stretching from theCarolingian dynasty; various dates have been given for the end of the German literary Middle Ages, theReformation (1517) being the last possible cut-off point.
The Old High German period is reckoned to run until about the mid-11th century, though the boundary to Early Middle High German (second half of the 11th century) is not clear-cut.
The earliest texts date from the second half of the 8th century: translation aids (glosses andglossaries) for those learning to readLatin and translations of Latin Christian texts (prayers,creeds,confessions) for use inmissionary or pastoral work among the lay population. Translations and, later, adaptations of Latin Christian texts, continue throughout the period, and are seen inOtfrid'sgospel harmony in the 9th century and the extensive works ofNotker III in the early 11th century.
The most famous work in OHG is theHildebrandslied, a short piece of Germanic alliterative heroic verse which besides theMuspilli is the sole survivor of what must have been a vast oral tradition. Another important work, in the northern dialect of Old Saxon, is a life of Christ in the style of a heroic epic known as theHeliand.
Middle High German proper runs from the beginning of the 12th century, and in the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year "golden age" of medieval German literature referred to as themittelhochdeutsche Blütezeit (1170–1230). This was the period of the blossoming of MHG lyric poetry, particularlyMinnesang (the German variety of the originally French tradition ofcourtly love). One of the most important of these poets wasWalther von der Vogelweide. The same sixty years saw the composition of the most important courtly romances. These are written in rhyming couplets, and again draw on French models such asChrétien de Troyes, many of them relatingArthurian material, for example,Parzival byWolfram von Eschenbach. The third literary movement of these years was a new revamping of the heroic tradition, in which the ancient Germanic oral tradition can still be discerned, but tamed and Christianized and adapted for the court. These high medievalheroic epics are written in rhymed strophes, not the alliterative verse of Germanic prehistory (for example, theNibelungenlied).
The Middle High German period is conventionally taken to end in 1350, while theEarly New High German is taken to begin with theGerman Renaissance, after the invention of movable type in the mid-15th century. Therefore, the literature of the late 14th and the early 15th century falls, as it were, in the cracks between Middle and New High German, and can be classified as either. Works of this transitional period includeThe Ring (c. 1410), the poems ofOswald von Wolkenstein andJohannes von Tepl, the German versions ofPontus and Sidonia, and arguably the works ofHans Folz andSebastian Brant (Ship of Fools, 1494), among others. TheVolksbuch (chapbook) tradition which would flourish in the 16th century also finds its origin in the second half of the 15th century.
The Baroque period (1600 to 1720) was one of the most fertile times in German literature. Many writers reflected the horrible experiences of theThirty Years' War, inpoetry andprose.Grimmelshausen's adventures of the young and naïve Simplicissimus, in the eponymous bookSimplicius Simplicissimus,[2] became the most famous novel of the Baroque period.Martin Opitz established rules for the "purity" of language, style, verse and rhyme.Andreas Gryphius andDaniel Caspar von Lohenstein wrote German languagetragedies, orTrauerspiele, often on Classical themes and frequently quite violent. Erotic, religious andoccasional poetry appeared in both German and Latin.Sibylle Ursula von Braunschweig-Lüneburg wrote part of a novel,Die Durchlauchtige Syrerin Aramena (Aramena, the noble Syrian lady), which when complete would be the most famous courtly novel in German Baroque literature; it was finished by her brotherAnton Ulrich and edited bySigmund von Birken.[3][4]
Sturm und Drang (the conventional translation is "Storm and Stress"; a more literal translation, however, might bestorm and urge,storm and longing, orstorm and impulse) is the name of a movement in German literature andmusic taking place from the late 1760s through the early 1780s in which individualsubjectivity and, in particular, extremes of emotion were given free expression in response to the confines of rationalism imposed bythe Enlightenment and associatedaesthetic movements. The philosopherJohann Georg Hamann is considered to be the ideologue ofSturm und Drang, andJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a notable proponent of the movement, though he andFriedrich Schiller ended their period of association with it, initiating what would becomeWeimar Classicism.
The first ideas ofRomanticism arose from this movement, directly criticizing the Enlightenment's position that humans can fully comprehend the world throughrationality alone, suggesting thatintuition andemotion are key components ofinsight and understanding.[5] Published in 1774,The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe began to shape the Romantic movement and its ideals.
German Romanticism was the dominant movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. German Romanticism developed relatively late compared to itsEnglish counterpart, coinciding in its early years with the movement known asGerman Classicism orWeimar Classicism, which it opposed. In contrast to the seriousness of English Romanticism, the German variety is notable for valuing humor and wit as well as beauty. The early German romantics tried to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, looking to theMiddle Ages as a simpler, more integrated period. As time went on, however, they became increasingly aware of the tenuousness of the unity they were seeking. Later German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the everyday world and the seemingly irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius.Heinrich Heine in particular criticized the tendency of the early romantics to look to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and society.
PoeticRealism (1848–1890): 19th-century German Realism in literature, emerging after 1848, focused on depicting everyday life with accuracy and restraint. Writers moved away from Romantic idealism, emphasizing the middle class, social norms, and personal morality. Rather than political upheaval, they portrayed quiet, internal conflicts and the subtle ironies of bourgeois life. This literary realism aimed for poetic realism, blending realistic detail with refined artistic form. Key authors includeTheodor Fontane,Gustav Freitag,Gottfried Keller,Wilhelm Raabe,Adalbert Stifter,Theodor Storm. Their works reflect a belief in gradual societal progress, often with a sense of quiet resignation and irony, avoiding extremes of sentimentality or revolutionary zeal.
Naturalism (1880–1900): German Naturalism in literature, emerging in the late 19th century, aimed to depict life with scientific objectivity and detailed realism. Influenced by French Naturalists like Émile Zola, it focused on the deterministic effects of environment, heredity, and social conditions on individuals, especially the marginalized. Naturalist writers rejected idealization, portraying poverty, disease, and moral decay with stark precision. Dialogue often mimicked actual speech patterns, including dialects. Prominent figures include Gerhart Hauptmann, whose play Before Sunrise exemplifies the movement. German Naturalism sought to expose societal injustices, emphasizing a mechanistic, cause-and-effect view of human behavior shaped by forces beyond individual control. Key authors include naturalistic writers wereGerhart Hauptmann,Arno Holz andJohannes Schlaf.
A well-known writer ofGerman literature wasFranz Kafka. A Kafka novel,The Trial, was ranked #3 onLe Monde's 100 Books of the Century.[6] Kafka's iconic writing style that captures themes of bureaucracy and existentialism resulted in the coining of the term “Kafkaesque.”[7] Kafka's writing allowed a peek into his melancholic life, one where he felt isolated from all human beings, one of his inspirations for writing.[8]
Much of contemporary poetry in the German language is published in literary magazines.DAS GEDICHT, for instance, has featured German poetry from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Luxemburg for the last twenty years.
A PhysicianHeinrich Hoffmann (1809–1894) written a book filled withcautionary tales called:Der Struwwelpeter it was published in 1845 and was given as a Christmas gift for his 3-year-old son. After that, the anniversary of Struwwelpeter and its legacy still goes on until 1864 it was reillustrated by the author himself and it was still claimed as a classic.
Another book was also inspired by Der Struwwelpeter was a book Called: (Max und Moritz) "Max and Moritz" written and illustrated by a poet and artistWilhelm Busch (1832–1908) and it was published in 1865 it certainly became popular because of its goofy cartoon style from Busch's mind and imagination with the word of phrases and rhymes to it.
The rise ofRomanticism in19th-century Europe revived interest in traditional folk stories, which to the Brothers Grimm represented a pure form of national literature and culture. With the goal of researching a scholarly treatise on folktales, they established a methodology for collecting and recording folk stories that became the basis forfolklore studies. Between 1812 and 1857 their first collection was revised and republished many times, growing from 86 stories to more than 200. In addition to writing and modifying folktales, the brothers wrote collections of well-respectedGermanic andScandinavianmythologies, and in 1838 they began writing a definitive German dictionary (Deutsches Wörterbuch), which they were unable to finish.
The popularity of the Grimms' collected folktales has endured. They are available in more than 100 translations and have been adapted by renowned filmmakers, includingLotte Reiniger andWalt Disney, in films such asSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The Nobel Prize in Literature has been awarded to German-language authors fourteen times (as of 2020), tying with French-language authors, or the second most often after English-language authors (with 32).
The following writers are from Germany unless stated otherwise:
^Frenzels' book is a standard work in so far as defining a moderncanon of German literature; however, the selection of authors especially for theNazi era has been criticized as "grotesque" or as exhibiting "bizarre gaps" (viz. omitting Jewish authors); see Volker Weidermann,Ein grotesker Kanon,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 May 2009.Daten deutscher Dichtung was reprinted in 35 editions, but was discontinued in 2009.
Bernd Lutz, Benedikt Jeßing (eds.): Metzler Lexikon Autoren: Deutschsprachige Dichter und Schriftsteller vom Mittelalter bis zur Gegenwart, Stuttgart und Weimar: 4., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage 2010
German poetry from 1750 to 1900, ed. by Robert M. Browning. Foreword byMichael Hamburger, New York : Continuum, 1984, 281 pp. (German Library),ISBN0-8264-0283-6
Twentieth-Century German Poetry: An Anthology, edited by Michael Hofmann, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008 (Paperback Edition), 544 pp.,ISBN0-374-53093-9
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