Explore the development of German literature from its early beginnings to modern times, focusing on key movements, authors, and works.
History of German Literature – Study Notes
| Period | Approx. Dates | Key Characteristics | Representative Authors & Works |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle High German (Mittelhochdeutsch) | 1050‑1350 | Courtly romance, Minnesang (love poetry), chivalric epics; strong oral tradition. | Walther von der Vogelweide – “Unter der Linden”; Hartmann von Aue – Erec; Wolfram von Eschenbach – Parzival. |
| Early Modern (Early New High German) | 1350‑1650 | Humanism, Reformation, rise of the printing press; religious polemics and moral essays. | Martin Luther – Der Kleine Katechismus; Johann Fischart – Das Narrenbüchlein; Hans Sachs – Meistersinger‑Lieder. |
| Baroque | 1600‑1720 | Contrasts of order vs. chaos, elaborate style (Stil), religious themes, “vanitas” motifs. | Andreas Gryphius – Tränen des Vaterlandes; Martin Opitz – Buch von der deutschen Poeterey; Paul Fleming – Rubella. |
| Enlightenment (Aufklärung) | 1720‑1800 | Reason, didacticism, rise of the novel, early Romantic precursors. | Gotthold Ephraim Lessing – Nathan der Weise; Johann Gottfried Herder – Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit; Friedrich Schiller – Die Räuber (late Enlightenment). |
| Sturm‑ und Drang | 1765‑1785 | Emotional intensity, individualism, rebellion against classicism; precursor to Romanticism. | Johann Wolfgang von Goethe – Die Leiden des jungen Werthers; Friedrich Schiller – Die Räuber (also fits). |
| Weimar Classicism | 1770‑1832 | Synthesis of Enlightenment rationality & Romantic emotion; emphasis on form, aesthetics, humanism. | Goethe – Faust I; Schiller – Wilhelm Tell; Johann Gottfried Herder (influence). |
| German Romanticism | 1798‑1850 | Folk culture, nature, the supernatural, the “inner self”, emphasis on the irrational. | Novalis – Heinrich von Ofterdingen; E.T.A. Hoffmann – Der Sandmann; Clemens Brentano – Des Knaben Wunderhorn; Achim von Arnim – Volkslieder. |
| Biedermeier | 1815‑1848 | Domesticity, middle‑class values, modest realism; reaction against political turmoil. | Adalbert Stifter – Der Nachsommer; Theodor Storm – Der Schimmelreiter (early realism). |
| Realism & Naturalism | 1850‑1900 | Detailed social observation, critique of bourgeois society, scientific outlook. | Theodor Fontane – Effi Briest; Gustav Freytag – Soll und Haben; Gerhart Hauptmann – Die Weber (Naturalist drama). |
| Expressionism | 1905‑1925 | Fragmented form, inner angst, urban alien |