German literature

The literature of Germany. The earliest written records date from the late 8th century and consist of glosses and translations from Latin of religious and philosophical works. However, there existed a tradition of oral literature, Heldenlieder, or songs describing the deeds of heroes, battle songs, pagan hymns, and laments, which provided a rich source for the developing vernacular literature.

Old High German and Latin The most substantial extant work written in Old High German is the fragmentary alliterative poem the Hildebrandslied about 800. Another early work is the Old Saxon heroic poem, Heliand about 830 (see Heliand, The), a life of Christ written in traditional alliterative verse. Scholars continued to write in Latin, however, and of particular interest among these works are the Waltharius about 930, an epic of Germanic legend, and plays by the 10th-century nun Roswitha. Writing in Latin on religious themes continued during the 10th century.

Middle High German When a resurgence of the vernacular occurred, having been forced into subservience to Latin after the early attempts at encouragement by Charlemagne, the language revealed the transition from Old to Middle High German. Subject matter too had changed; secular concerns and authors replaced the religious didacticism of monks and scholars, and the love lyric (Minnesang) and epic were the forms most often employed. The Minnesingers correspond to the troubadours and the Welsh and Irish bards, though the characteristics of the Minnesang were influenced by those of French poetry. Many of these wandering poets were knights, such as Walter von der Vogelweide, the most famous of them all, and from them the ordinary people learnt of important events during the 13th and 14th centuries. Among epic poems the greatest is the Nibelungenlied, the German national epic; both this poem and Gudrun about 1210, are mines of national and heroic saga. Among the Minnesingers were Heinrich von Veldeke, Gottfried von Strassburg, Hartmann von Aue, and Wolfram von Eschenbach, all of whom were authors of court epics (Tristan und Isolde, Der arme Heinrich/Poor Heinrich, Parzival, by the last three authors respectively). Another important development in the use of the vernacular in the 13th century was that laws began to be written in German instead of Latin, as is clear from the two collections Sachsenspiegel 1230 and Schwabenspiegel 1270. Rudolf of Ems and Konrad von Wurzburg were among the poets of the 13th century, and the epic Meier Helmbrecht about 1250, by Wernher der Gartner, introduces a note of realism.

The 15th century was fruitful in all kinds of popular literature. Passion plays and mysteries were performed throughout the country; Volkslieder, or national ballads, were composed; prose was for the first time handled with success in the romantic and wonder-telling Volksbücher, such as Tyll Eulenspiegel, Dr Faust, and Die Schildburger, and the degeneracy of many ecclesiastics offered a rich field for both mocking satires and serious theological discussions. The 15th and 16th centuries were also the age of the artisan-poets, or Meistersingers. These were already associated into guilds for their trade, and conceived the founding of guilds of poetry, which should draw up a strict code of rules for the composition of correct and model verse.

Early Modern This period begins in the 16th century with the standard of language set by Martin Luther's German Bible 1522–34. Luther's followers included Ulrich von Hutten. The Reformation was celebrated in the work of the Meistersinger Hans Sachs and popular drama reached its climax in the Fastnachtsspiel as handled by him. Further literary development was halted during the Thirty Years' War (1618–48), and the period from 1624 to 1748 has been called the Age of Imitation.

Real literary talent was scarce, and people believed that the art of writing poetry could be taught. The French classicists Racine, Corneille, and Molière became the models for all young writers. At the many German courts French manners and language were zealously cultivated, and native tales and ballads were neglected.

To this somewhat lifeless period belonged the Silesian poets, who are usually divided into two schools. Of the first the chief exponent was Martin Opitz, while Hoffmann von Hoffmannswaldau (1618–1679) is typical of the second. Romances and tales of fiction and adventure steadily gained ground; there were many German versions of Robinson Crusoe, and the stormy years of the Thirty Years' War were reflected in numerous ‘tales of ups and downs’, by far the liveliest of which was the Simplicissimus of Hans Grimmelshausen.

18th century The rivalry between the Leipzig and Zürich schools in the 18th century contributed much towards clearing away the pedantry and artifice which seemed likely to submerge any work of real literary value. Thanks to the Swiss leaders Johann Bodmer and Johann Breitinger, imagination and emotion reappeared in poetry, while Johann Gottsched, the foremost of the Leipzig scholars, helped with his Kritische Dichtkunst to wean taste away from the French influence. Important also were the two great writers of Protestant hymns after Luther, namely Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676) and Christian Gellert, for it was chiefly through them that literature diffused itself among ordinary people. Gellert's fables also, with their arresting simplicity, shared in this work of popular education.

The second classical period opens 1748, and the great movement towards literary regeneration, which may be said to culminate in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, was heralded by Friedrich Klopstock, Gotthold Lessing, Johann Herder, and Christoph Wieland. Klopstock's epic Messias, inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost, is the finest expression of the admiration that German writers felt for the English masterpiece. In his Laokoon and other critical works, Lessing drew attention to the difference between French pseudo-classicism and the true Hellenic spirit revealed in Greek sculpture and drama. The sensuous and witty romances of Wieland occupy an important place in the history of German prose, as does his fairy epic Oberon 1780. From the historical point of view the great merit of Herder was his deep love of all poetry that was truly national. He gathered together the Volkslieder (folk songs) of many nations, and studied and wrote about ancient Hebrew poetry.

Herder may be seen as the source of inspiration for all that was noble in the Sturm und Drang movement, which now assailed literature; but in a broader sense this movement must be regarded as part of a general unrest and desire for change against the restraints of rationalism. The term Sturm und Drang (Storm and Stress) was taken from the title of a play by Friedrich von Klinger. The intentions of the leading exponents, Klinger and Maler Müller (1749–1825), were to fling away the shackles of art and to give free rein to all their enthusiasms and poetic ideals. Unfortunately, the movement's followers were not all outstanding literary talents, and many plays and novels are marred by extravagances of passion and hideous caricature.

Goethe remains aloof from the normal channels of literary development; his work, especially Faust, belongs to universal literature. This, the summary of its author's intellectual life, may be said to mirror the eternal struggles of the human race. His plays Iphigenie (prose version 1779, verse version 1787), Egmont 1788, and Torquato Tasso 1790, rank with Wallenstein 1799, Maria Stuart 1800, Die Jungfrau von Orleans 1801, and Wilhelm Tell 1804, four of the finest dramatic productions of Schiller, his friend and (almost) rival. These two stand easily at the head of German dramatists. Moreover they both outgrew the fevers of the Sturm und Drang period, and Goethe especially discovered harmony between the calm and self-restraint of classicism and the warmth, colour, and emotional fullness of Romanticism.

Another poet, Friedrich Hölderlin, although active while Goethe and Schiller were still in their prime, was not understood or appreciated by his contemporaries. It was not until 80 years after his death that he came to be seen as one of Germany's great poets, largely as a result of Stefan George's recognition of his genius. His lyrics, classical in style, are among the best in the language. Jean Paul Richter, too, stands quite apart from the contemporary Romantic phase. At the time his novels were praised even more highly than Schiller's or Goethe's works, and especially those classified as humorous, the first of which was Die unsichtbare Loge/The Invisible Lodge 1793. All his writings were remarkable for their wit and exuberant creativity.

19th century In the early years of the 19th century the Romantic school flourished, its theories based on the work of J L Teck and the brothers August and Friedrich von Schlegel, who, with their followers, widened the province of poetry to include music, philosophy, and all the other elements of intellectual life; they were opposed to the shallow utilitarianism and rationalistic theories of their age, and turned back to the Middle Ages for inspiration. They also studied Eastern literature, folklore, and pre-Christian folk beliefs. It was a time of admirable translations, such as the elder Schlegel's Shakespeare 1797–1810, and was also the period when German philology and medieval literature were first seriously studied, for both the Grimm brothers came under the influence of Romanticism. Major Romantics included Novalis, Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano, J F von Eichendorff, Adelbert von Chamisso, J L Uhland, and E T A Hoffmann.

In time the Romantic school began to lose its hold, and the movement known as Young Germany emerged around 1830. The writers of this period do not form a definite school, but all reflect in their works the uncertainty and transition that Europe was experiencing. Furthermore, industrial, social, and economic problems began to permeate literature, as did G W F Hegel's philosophy. The leading writers were Heinrich Laube (1806–1884), the author of social works of fiction; Ludwig Börne (1786–1837), whose Briefe aus Paris/Letters from Paris are of vital importance in the progress of German prose; and Heinrich Heine, the greatest of them all. From 1850 to 1870 the novel engrossed most writers, as it became the favourite vehicle of expression all over Europe. There were many social novels on the basis of Die Ritter vom Geiste by Karl Gutzkow (1811–1878); political and antiquarian novels; stories which dealt with the peasants, such as Berthold Auerbach's Schwarzwälder Dorfgeschichten/Country Tales from the Black Forest 1843–54 and works by Jeremias Gotthelf (1797–1854); and tales in the form of biography, such as Gottfried Keller's Der grüne Heinrich/Green Heinrich 1854.

For some time such authors as Wilhelm Raabe and Theodor Fontane devoted themselves to realistic fiction, but towards the turn of the century writers increasingly dealt with problems of emotion and psychology, among them Friedrich Spielhagen, Clara Viebig, Helene Bohlau, Gabriele Reuter, and Thomas Mann, notably in Buddenbrooks 1901. In dramatic literature the two outstanding writers of the 19th century were the Austrian Franz Grillparzer and Friedrich Hebbel. Influential in literature, as in politics and economics, were Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche.

20th century Before World War I German literature experienced comparative calm. Important writers of this period were the dramatists Gerhart Hauptmann, brother of Carl Hauptmann, his contemporary Hermann Sudermann, Frank Wedekind, the Austrian Hugo von Hofmannsthal, and the poets Richard Dehmel, Rainer Maria Rilke, and Stefan George. The main influences were naturalism and its opposite, ‘art for art's sake’ (see aestheticism), Hauptmann leading the former school and Stefan George the latter. The Impressionist novel derived from the naturalists with, however, a greater emphasis on character. Outstanding among the Impressionist novelists are Emil Strauss (1866–1960), Hermann Hesse (Nobel Prize 1946), Jakob Wassermann, and the brothers Heinrich and Thomas Mann, the latter especially a notable figure in world literature (Nobel Prize 1929). Poets of the period showed an interest in the modern world, in machinery, and the subjection of physical resources to the use of civilized humanity.

Towards the end of World War I weariness and despair, accentuated in Germany by the revolution of 1918, had their effects on the younger writers. Johannes Becher in his works violently opposed war, and the chaotic state of life was expressed generally in literature by expressionism, a movement borrowed from painting in a spirit of almost ecstatic mysticism. Some writers, such as Armin T Wegner, turned to the countryside. Labourer poets of the war were Karl Broger, Gert Engelke, Max Barthel, and Heinrich Lersch. War novels were written by E M Remarque and one of the greatest war books, Opfergang, was written by Fritz von Unruh in the trenches 1916. Post-war Germany was mirrored in Ernst Toller's tragedy Hinkemann, and Reinhard Goering in the drama Seeschlacht represents the attitude of the navy in the war. Satirists of the early 20th century were the novelist Heinrich Mann, the poet and essayist Karl Kraus, and the dramatist Carl Sternheim. Expressionist drama, dealing with types and making use of allegory, was written by Walter Hasenclever, Fritz von Unruh, Franz Werfel, Arnolt Bronnen, Ernst Toller, Georg Kaiser, and Anton Wildgans. A significant novelist of this period was Alfred Döblin, but the unique works of Franz Kafka only gained influence after the author's death. The expressionist writers were often socialists, and their work also revealed a changed attitude towards women, the relationship between men and women being intellectual rather than emotional. In 1922 expressionism subsided and painters and writers, tired of dealing with types and symbols, sought new forms.

Some writers, such as von Unruh and Stefan Zweig, made use of historical subjects, while others showed a renewed interest in the Catholic religion. Lion Feuchtwanger, Bruno Frank, and Emil Ludwig also achieved international renown. The Austrian novelist and playwright Robert Musil became known posthumously by his great and long novel Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften/The Man without Qualities 1930–33, dealing with life in prewar Austria. Hans Carossa wrote fine autobiographical stories. Rilke is now recognized as one of the major poets of the 20th century. Even under the Nazis, literature managed to survive persecution and dictation principally by concentrating on historical and biographical work in which hostility to the regime could be disguised. Alfred von Martin's Burckhardt und Nietzsche/Burckhardt and Nietzsche 1941, and Matthias Gelzer's Julius Caesar 1941, are examples. The majority of great writers, however, went into exile.

Surrealistic tendencies had their exponents in Hermann Kasack (Die Stadt hinter dem Strom/The Town behind the Stream) and Hermann Broch (Der Tod des Vergil/The Death of Virgil, Die Schuldlosen/The Guiltless), both writers dealing with a person's relationship to death and his or her expectations after death. Immediate post-war literature was chiefly concerned with the attempt to explain the rise and fall of Nazi Germany. The first work of moral and literary merit was Theodor Haecker's Tag- und Nachtbücher/Day and Night Books 1947, justifying the catastrophic end of the Reich, although political works of little literary value continued to appear during the following years. A further feature in West Germany was the great number and popularity of translations, especially of British and US fiction, while literature in East Germany began to reflect the political situation on Marxist lines, represented by Anna Seghers and Bertolt Brecht. Among essayists and novelists are Ernst Jünger and his brother Friedrich Georg Jünger, Alfred Andersch, Walter Jens, Heinrich Böll, Siegfried Lenz (1926– ), Uwe Johnson (1934–1984), and Hans Werner Richter. Lyrical poetry is represented by the works of Hermann Hesse, Gottfried Benn, Gunther Eich, Rudolf Hagelstange, Hans Egon Holthusen, and Karl Krolow. Erich Kästner produced topical satire and amusing children's novels. In the field of drama Bertolt Brecht, Carl Zuckmayer, Wolfgang Borchert, Martin Walser and the Swiss playwrights Max Frisch and Friedrich Dürrenmatt tended to disregard tradition and to create provocative plays.

The late 1950s and early 1960s produced few great writers, but Günter Grass, who was little known outside the avant-garde reviews and theatre clubs until his Die Blechtrommel/The Tin Drum 1959, won universal acclaim, and Hans Hellmut Kirst, in his trilogy 0815, created an irrepressible iconoclast of militarism, Gunner Asch.

East German literature After 1945 a distinctive literature, determined primarily by the political ideology of the state, developed in the German Democratic Republic. The older generation of communist writers and intellectuals, such as Willi Bredel, Johannes Becher, Anna Seghers, Bertolt Brecht, and Ernst Bloch, returned from exile and continued to write in their traditional forms, but by 1949 the concept of socialist realism, proclaiming the norm of the typical, became the cultural demand of the Communist Party. This was a period of severe cultural purges and attacks on formalism which even included Brecht. Strict cultural orthodoxy proved, however, to be counterproductive and in 1956 a thaw (Tauwetterperiode) was welcomed by both younger and older writers. It proved short-lived; repercussions in East Germany from political events in other East European countries led to intellectuals for the first time joining those fleeing to the West. Nonetheless, the thaw had been beneficial and, together with a gradual relief from the oppressive economic conditions of the 1950s, writers started to free themselves from the restrictive literary shackles. Most writers remained Marxists and wanted not the overthrow of the regime, but its liberalization and restructuring. Poets such as Franz Fuhmann, Gunter Kunert, Volker Braun, and Reiner Kunze asserted their right to a personal, subjective vision of reality, while novelists such as Christa Wolf (1929– ), Hermann Kant, and Jurek Becker proved that there was much literary talent in the German Democratic Republic.