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A History of German Literature from the Earliest Times to the Death of Goethe

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A History of German Literature from the Earliest Times to the Death of Goethe THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES FROM THE LIBRARY OF ELI SOBEL A HISTORY OF GERMAN LITERATURE W. SCHERER TRANSLATED FROM THE THIRD GERMAN EDITION BY MRS. F. C. CONYBEARE EDITED BY K MAX MULLER VOLUME I. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1895 [Ail rights reserved'] URL INTRODUCTION. THIS work is a history of German literature from the earliest times to the death of Goethe. The first chapter traces the roots of German nationality back to the period preceding the Aryan separation, and presents a picture of the intellectual condition of our forefathers at the time when they became known to the Romans. The second chapter treats of the rise and development of the German hero -legends in the epoch of the migrations, and during the Merovingian period. The third chapter is devoted to the Mediaeval Renaissance, under the rule of the Carlovingians and the Ottos, the so-called Old High- German period, the chief literary achievements of which consisted in prose and verse translations from the Bible, in short political songs and poetic tales, and in the Latin dramas of the nun Rosvitha. The fourth to the seventh chapters embrace the classical period of Middle High-German lyric and epic poetry, extending from about the eleventh to the middle of the fourteenth century. The eighth and ninth chapters include the next three hundred years, the period of transition from Middle High-German to New High-German. To this epoch belongs Luther's translation of the Bible the of the inclined to the but no ; poetry period drama, great literary masterpiece was produced. The tenth to the thirteenth chapters are devoted to the unfinished epoch in which we live, the New High-German period which began with the close of the Thirty Years' War. Its strength lies in lyric and epic poetry; and, in tracing its development from Paul Gerhardt to Goethe, I have given more space to it than to the earlier centuries. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTER I. PACK The Ancient Germans i Pytheas of Massilia, i. Julius Caesar, i. Tacitus, 2. The Aryans 3 Primitive poetry and its various forms, 5. Rhythm and metre, 5. Germanic religion .......... 6 Three epochs, 6. Proper names, 8. Siegfried, 9. Oldest remains of Poetry 10 Wessobrunner Gebet, 10. Alliteration, 10. Choral songs, u. Lyrics and riddles, 12. Merseburg charms, 13. Poetical elements in primitive law, 14. CHAPTER II. Goths and Franks 16 Three classical periods of German literature, 16. The Heroic Songs 19 The German Migration, 20. Historical elements in the heroic songs, 21. Types of character, 23. Poets at the Court of Attila, 24. Song of Hildebrand, 25. Ulfilas 28 Gothic Christianity, 28. Gothic Bible, 30. Other Gothic frag- ments, 31. The Merovingian Empire 3 a Christianising of German Tribes, 32. The Irish, 33. Rhyme, 34. Old High German, 36. Charlemagne, 36. viii Contents. CHAPTER III. PAGE The Old High-German Period 38 The Anglo-Saxons, 38. Charlemagne, 39. Muspilli, 40. The First Messianic Poems ........ 40 ' Fulda, 41. The Heljand,' 42. Otfried's Gospels, 44. The Mediaeval Benaissance 46 ' Court of Charlemagne, 47. St. Gall, 48. Waltharius,' 49. Notker, 51. Roswitha, 51. The Ottos, 51. The "Wandering Journalists 53 The Gleemen, 54. Ludwigslied, 54. Historical poems, 55. Otto the Great, 56. Herzog Ernst, 57. Latin and Latin-German poems, 57. Song of St. George, 57. CHAPTER IV. Chivalry and the Church 60 French influence, 60. Northmen, 60. Chivalry, 61. Latin Literature 62 'Rudlieb,' 62. Otto von Freising, 66. The Goliards, 67. The Arch-poet, 68. Drama of Antichrist, 70. Lady "World 71 Hostility of the clergy to chivalry, 73. Sermons, 74. Religious epics 74. The nun (inclusa] Ava, 75. Heinrich von Molk, 76. Triumph of ' the secular spirit, 77. Poetic Fragment, Comfort in despair,' 78. The Crusades 79 Pilgrimage of 1064. Ezzo's Song, 80. Williram, Si. Solomon and Morold,8i. Konrad's Rolandslied, 82. Lamprccht's Alexanderlied, 83. ' ' ' Shorter epics, 84. Konig Rother,' 85. Herzog Ernst,' 85. St. ' ' ' Brandan,' 86. Orendel,' 87. St. Oswald,' 87. Count Rudolf,' 88. Frederick II, 90. CHAPTER V. Middle High-German Popular Spies ..... 92 Literary influence of the various districts of Germany, 92. The Hero legends in Saxony, 93. The Revival of the Heroic Poetry ....... 93 Clergy and gleemen, 94. Types of character in the heroic legends, 97. Style of the hmic poems, 100. Contents. ix The Mlbelungenlied 101 Inequalities of the poem, 102. Songs of the first part, 104. Songs ' of the second part, 109. Der Nibelungen Noth,' 112. Dietrich von Bern 115 ' ' ' The Klage,' 115. Battle of Ravenna,' 117. Albhart's Death,' 117. ' ' ' ' Biterolf and the Eosengarten,' 118. The Hiirnen Seifried,' 119. ' ' The later Hildebrandslied,' 119. Ermenrich's Death,' 120. Ortnit and Wolfdie trich 120 ' ' Ortnit,' 120. Wolfdietrich,' 122. Hilde and Gudrun 124 ' Gudrun,' 126. Character of Gudrun, 128. Other characters, 129. The poet's style, 131. Later additions, 133. CHAPTER VI. The Epics of Chivalry 135 Character of the I2th century literature, 135. Oldest love romance ' in Middle High-German, Flore,' 136. Eilhard von Oberge's ' Tristan,' 136. Heinrich von Veldeke 137 Festival of Mainz, A. D. 1184, 137. Henry VI. as a Minnesinger, 137. Assonance and Rhyme, I3S. Veldeke's Aeneid, 138. His songs, 140. His followers: Heinrich vonMorungen, 141. Herbert von Fritzlar, 141. ' Albrecht von Halberstadt, 142. Moritz von Craon, 143. Pilatus,' 144. Hartmann von Aue and Gottfried von Strassburg . 145 The Upper Rhine, 145. Friedrich von Hausen, 146. Reinmar von Hagenau, 147. Hartmann von Aue, 148. (The Arthur romances, 151.) Hartmann and Chrestien of Troves, 153. The popular and chival- rous epics, 155. Gottfried von Strassburg, 157. "Wolfram von Eschenbach 161 ' General characteristics, 162. Life, 165. Songs, 165. Parzival,' 166. 'Titurel,' 173. '\Villehalm,' 173. Successors of the Great Chivalrous Poets 176 Epics after a foreign original, 177. Original Epics, 177. Historical Romances. 178. Rhymed chronicles, 178. Disciples of Wolfram and Gottfried, 179. Rudolf von Ems, 180. Konrad von Wtirtz- ' burg, 180. The later Titurel,' 182. 'Lohengrin', 183. Hadamar von Laber, 184. Clerical poetry, 184. Middle High-German Artistic Epics, 185. Contents. CHAPTER VII. PAGE Poets and Preachers 187 ' Court of the Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia, 187. The Wart- burgkrieg,' 187. St. Elizabeth, 188. Rise of the Minnesang, 189. Walther von der Vogelweide 189 ' Life, 189. His Spriiche,' 192. Minnesang, 194. Older Bajuvarian lyric poetry, 194; (Kiirenberg, 195; Burggraf of Regensburg, 195; von Characteristics Dietmar Aist, 196) ; Walther and Reinmar, 197 ; of Walther's poetry, 198. Minnesang and Meistersang 201 Ulrich von Lichtenstein, 202. Reinmar von Zweter, 204. Neidhart von Reuenthal, 204. Tannhauser, 206. Court of Henry of Swabia, 207. Steimar, 208. The last Minnesingers, 208. The Meistersanger, 209. Mamer, 209. Frauenlob, 210. Regen- bogen, 210. The Wild Alexander, 211. Johann Hadlaub, 211. Didactic Poetry, Satire and Tales . .212 The Winsbeke, 212. The \Vild Man, 214. Werner von Elmen- dorf, 214. Thomas'n of Zirclaria, 214. Freidank, 215. Satires and Tales, 216. Strieker, 217. The so-called Seifried Helbling, 218. 'Farmer Helmbrecht,' 218. 'The Bad Wife,' 219. Enenkel, 219. ' ' The Wiener Meerfahrt,' 220. Der Weinschwelg,' 220. Hugo von Trimberg, 220. Ulrich Boner, 221. The Mendicant Orders 222 Decay of Middle High-German Poetry, 223. The Franciscans, 226. Berthold of Regensburg, 226. The Dominicans, 229. Albertus Magnus, 229. The Mystics, 229. Mathilde of Magdeburg, 231. Opposition to the Papal power, 232. Rulmann Merswin, 240. CHAPTER VIII. The Close of the Middle Ages 235 Characteristics of the period from 1348 to 1648, p. 236. Origin and Rise of the Drama 238 Play of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, 238. The Church Festivals originated the Drama, 239. Religious Drama, 241-244. Reuchlin's ' llenno,' 244. Roman comedy revived, 245. Bongs and Ballads .......... 246 The later Meistersingers, 246. Volkslieder, 248. Ballads, 250. Rhymed Couplets .......... 253 ' ' Reineke Fuchs,' 254. Wittenweiler's Ring,' 255. 'The Devil's Net,' 256. Hermann von Sachsenheim, 756. Sebastian Brand, 256. Thomas Muvner, 257. Maximilian I, 258. Contents. xi Prose 259 Prose romances, 259. Eulenspiegel, 261. History, 262. Acker- mann aus Bohmen,' 263. Niclas von Wyle, 264. The New Learning, or Humanism 264 Heinrich von Langenstein, 265. Gutenberg, 265. Regiomon- tanus, 265. Peuerbach, 266. ^.neas Sylvius, 266. Celtis, 266. 'Brotherhood of the Common Life,' 267. Erasmus, 267. Bebel, 268. Erfurt circle of writers and the Epistolae obscurorum virorum, 269. CHAPTER IX. The Reformation and the Renaissance .... 371 The Period from 1517 to 1648, pp. 271, 272. Martin Luther 272 Translation of the Bible, 274. Language, 275. Preaching, 276. Church Song, 277. Pamphlets, 279. Luther's influence, 281. Luther's Associates and Successors 282 Luther's opponents. The Anabaptists, 282. Roman Catholics, 282. Hutten, 282. Dialogues, 282. First newspapers, 285. Verse and Song, 285. Calvinist hymns: Marot, 287. Kaspar Scheid, 287. Johann Fischart, 288. Secular Literature , ......... 290 Melanchthon,29i. Science, 291. Latin poetry, 293. Translations, 293. Fables, 293. Proverbs, 294. Farcical anecdotes, 295. Secular ' songs, 296. Novels, 296. Jorg Wickram, 297. Faust,' 298. The Drama from 1517 to 1620 300 Luther, 301. Various sorts of drama, 302. Switzerland, 303. Alsace, 304. Hans Sachs, 304. Luther's circle, 306. Nicodemus Frischlin, 309. English actors, 310. Ayrer, 311. Heinrich Julius, Duke of Brunswick, 311. Improvements early in the sixteenth century, 311. The Thirty Years' "War 314 Science and Poetry before the War, 314. South-west Germany, 316. ' The Fruit-bringing Society.' 317. Poetry after the outbreak of the war, 318. Martin Opitz, 319. Fleming, 322. Dach, 322. Strass- burg, 323. Nuremberg, 323. Hamburg, 323. Rist, 324. Zesen, 324. Andreas Gryphius, 325. Popular play of Dr. Faustus, 330. CHAPTER X. The Dawn of Modern Literature ... 331 Development of Germany since the peace of Westphalia, 331. Literature and religion, 333. Princely patronage, 334.
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