George, Stefan (1868–1933)

German poet. His early poetry was inspired by French Symbolism, but his concept of himself as regenerating the German spirit first appears in Des Teppich des Lebens/The Tapestry of Life 1899, and later in Der siebente Ring/The Seventh Ring 1907. Das neue Reich/The New Empire 1928 shows his realization that World War I had not had the right purifying effect on German culture. He rejected Nazi overtures and emigrated to Switzerland 1933.

George was born in Büdesheim, Bingen. In 1892 he founded the journal Blätter für die Kunst, aimed at reforming the German language. He gathered round him an exclusive circle (the ‘George-Kreis’), which was to have a profound influence on German and other European intellectual life. His first poetry is akin to the French Symbolists in its aloofness and imagery: Hymnen 1890, Das Jahr der Seele 1897, and Der Teppich des Lebens. In his later poems he is more aware of the cultural task of the poet in society, but continues to stress spiritual over social values: Der siebente Ring, Der Stern des Bundes 1914, and Das neue Reich. He also published many translations and adaptations from Stéphane Mallarmé, Arthur Rimbaud, Shakespeare, and Dante.