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Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 45 general entries. We are selecting 30 for display.
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 German Literature
Buddenbrooks . This novel is about his hometown Luebeck in Northern Germany
Medical Doctor. Gottfried Benn run a small doctor's practice in Berlin, specializing in treating whores.
Morgue. This book shocked his contempories very much, because he hit a couple of heavy taboos, eg. he writes about dying cancer patients
Die Blechtrommel. This is his most famous book. Experts state, that it won the Nobel Prize for him.
| Which German author fled Berlin, when the Nazis came to power in 1933, returned to East Berlin in 1945 and became Minister for Culture in DDR in 1954 ? | Post-War German Literature
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Johannes R. Becher. Brecht was born in Augsburg 1898 and died in East Berlin 1956. -Heinrich Mann was the elder brother of Thomas, and was born in Lubeck 1871. See above. - Eisler was not a writer but a composer.He and Kurt Weill wrote the music for some of Brecht's works.
| Which German playwright got his own theatre 'am Schiffbauerdamm' in East-Berlin in 1954, but died two years later ? | Post-War German Literature
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Bertold Brecht. Ingeborg Bachmann Austrian author, b. Klagenfurt 1926.Died Rome, 1973.- Gunther Eich.Poet and author of a radioplay 'Traume' (= 'Dreams'.) 1951. - Martin Walser wrote 'Ein springender Brunnen' (1988) and is also a playwright.
| In 1958 a sensation was created by Gunther Grass when he published 'The Tin Drum'.Where was the story situated ? | Post-War German Literature
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Danzig aka Gdansk. Konigsberg is where Immanuel Kant was born. The three other cities all are known as places of protest during the postwar Soviet domination of Eastern Europe. -First there were the Poznan Riots June 1956, after Stalin's death. - Then followed the Prague spring in 1968. - The strikes in Gdansk were the beginning of the end of Soviet rule in Poland.
| When firmly established as a writer Gunther Grass began to intervene in German politics and actively supported a particular German politician. Who was that politcian ? | Post-War German Literature
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Willy Brandt. Other works by Grass are 'Cat and Mouse' {1961;} 'Dog Years' 1963.- W.Brandt was the leader of the SPD from 1964 till 1987. He became Chancellor of G.F.R. in 1969 and stayed in power till 1974. He won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1971.- Konrad Adenauer(b. Cologne 1876- d.Rhondorf 1967) was the first post-war leader of West Germany and had become chairman of the CDU in 1949.Resigned as a Chancellor in 1963. - Helmut Kohl was Chancellor of G.F.R. from 1982 till 1990 and of the Reunified Germany from 1990 till 1998.
Ulfilas' translation of the parts of the Bible into Gothic. Ulfilas, also known as Wulfila (c.311-383) was a missionary to the Visigoths in Dacia (which corresponds roughly to modern Romania). Between c. 348 and 375 he translated about three-quarters of the New Testament and at least one book of the Old Testament from Greek into Gothic.
The Visigoths later moved westwards, sacked Rome in 410, and then set up kingdoms in Southern France and Spain.
The best known copy of Ulfilas' translation is the "Codex argentum". It was made in Ravenna during the reign of the Ostrogoth king, Theodric (reigned, 493-526). It was donated to the University of Uppsala in 1669, where it is one of the most important manuscripts in the library. The Gothic (or East Germanic) languages have all died out.
Merseburger Zaubersprüche. The "Merseburger Zaubersprüche" ("Merseburg Spells") are pagan spells or incantations dating from c. 750. The other works listed are later. (The text is named after Merseburg because the manuscript was found in the main library there: it doesn't mean that these spells were used in that area). The "Hildebrandslied" is a somewhat later heroic poem.
| During the Golden Age of Middle High German literature (c.1190-1250) and also in the preceding twenty years or so, much excellent lyric poetry was written. Who, by common consent, is the leading lyric poet of the period? | German Literature up to c.1600
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Walther von der Vogelweide. Der von Kürenberg's poetry was written in c. 1150-70. In form, the verses are traditional Germanic, and his poetry clearly predates the influence of Provencal poetry in the German-speaking lands. He is best known for the poem 'Ich zoch mir einen Valken'. Dietmar von Aist's poems share some of these characteristics, too. Heinrich von Morungen is widely regarded as the second greatest lyric poet of the time. However, in terms of quality and quantity, the work of Walther von der Vogelweide (c. 1170-1228) is superior and covers a very wide range of subjects. He is, arguably, the most outstanding German lyric poet before Goethe.
| In indexes to histories of German literature and works such as the "Oxford Companion to German Studies" medieval authors are found under their first names. Why? | German Literature up to c.1600
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All of these reasons (In medieval times many people didn't have family names, What appears to be a family name may be a nickname given at the time, What appears to be a family name may be a name assigned by editors in the 19th century or even later). For example, in the case of the name "Gottfried von Strassburg" the apparent surname merely indicates that the author is the Gottfried "from Strasbourg": it was a nickname given during his lifetime. (In some cases, the authors did have family names). Note the exception: Der von Kürenberg, which is a name invented by 19th editors (on the basis of an apparent allusion to himself in one of his poems) and means "The one from Kürenberg". This should be looked up under "Kürenberg". In general reference works, not specifically concerned with German Studies, look up the authors in the usual way.
| The period c. 1450-1600 was the heyday of the guilds of Master Singers in many of the cities of Germany. One city in particular was famous for its "Meistersinger" and included among its members a poet who achieved acclaim throughout Germany. Which city was it? | German Literature up to c.1600
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Nuremberg. The poet was the prolific Hans Sachs (1494-1576). Among his best known poems is 'Die wittenbergisch Nachtigall' ('The Nightingale of Wittenberg') which was published in 1523, some years before Nuremberg adopted Protestantism - and which drew a rebuke from the city council.
As a result of Wagner's opera "Die Meistersinger" (1868) these guilds and that of Nuremberg in particular have been much mythologized. The "Oxford Companion to German Literature" aptly observes that in this opera Hans Sachs "was converted into a German legend".
| Martin Luther (1483-1546) translated the Bible into German. When was his translation of the New Testament first published? | German Literature up to c.1600
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1522. Luther translated the New Testament while staying at the Wartburg disguised as knight after he had been declared an outlaw of the Holy Roman Empire. His translation of the Old Testament was completed in 1534. Luther's translation of the Bible played a key role in establishing the linguistic norms of Early New High German.
| In the seventeenth century the German-speaking lands and many neighbouring areas were afflicted by the Thirty Years' War. What are the dates of this war? | German Literature, c. 1600-1740
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1618-48. The Thirty Years' War is often regarded as a series of conflicts. In most of the areas directly affected it was a disaster. Bands of ill disciplined mercenaries caused much damage and spread disease across Central Europe. Nominally, the war started as a conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants, but it is generally accepted that it was primarily an attempt by the Habsburgs to re-establish control over the Holy Roman Empire. The attempt failed. The devastation caused by the war accelerated the economic decline of Central Europe by comparison with Western Europe.
Few other wars have exercised such a fascination for both popular and literary imagination in Germany.
| In the seventeenth century a number of "Sprachgesellschaften" (that is, "Language Societies") were founded in Germany. What was their purpose? | German Literature, c. 1600-1740
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All of these (To encourage the use of German as a literary language, To establish correct German usage, To reduce the number of foreign words in German). One of the best known was the "Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft", also known as the "Palmenorden". Very few lasted long after the death of their founders. However, the "Pegnische Blumenorden" in Nuremberg, founded in 1644 by Harsdörffer, is still flourishing in the 21st century. The importance attached to the various aims differed from one society to another.
| In an age which saw growing monarchic absolutism, the execution of Charles I was widely viewed in Continental Europe as an act of sacrilege. Andreas Gryphius wrote a drama about Charles I. What were the first words of the title? | German Literature, c. 1600-1740
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Ermordete Majestät ("Murdered Majesty"). The full (short) title was "Ermordete Majestät oder Carolus Stuardus". Despite the horror mentioned in the question there was also some muted sympathy with the Parliamentary side in some of the free cities of the Empire. Andreas Gryphius (1616-64) is widely regarded as the leading German writer of the 17th century. His greatest strengths were tragedy and lyrical poetry.
(Incidentally, England already had a reputation second to none for killing its kings: William II, Edward II, Richard II, Henry VI, Edward V and Richard III had all been killed. However, this was the first case where an English king had been killed by rebellious commoners).
| A German poet of the first half of the 17th century settled in England in 1620 and from 1625 was Secretary for Foreign Tongues ('Latin Secretary'). In 1649 he was succeeded in this post by John Milton. Who was it? | German Literature, c. 1600-1740
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Georg Weckherlin. Weckherlin (1584-1653) had already married an Englishwoman in 1616, and from 1620-25 was in the service of the exiled court of the Count (Elector) Palatine in London. Simon Dach (1605-59) was one of the least pretentious and least 'baroque' poets of the period. Martin Opitz (1597-1639) is well known for his "Buch von der deutschen Poeterey" - a work on poetics which was published in 1624 and which was influential for the rest of the century. Daniel Morhof (1631-91) is best known for a book on poetics that includes a history of the German language and poetry, entitled "Unterricht von der teutschen Sprache und Poesie". The historical section is remarkably thorough and scholarly and one of the first of its kind - and contains the first known mention of Shakespeare in any book published in Continental Europe.
Halle (founded in 1694). At Halle, German was admitted from the outset. The lateness of the admission of German as an academic language may have something to do with the fact that it was not very well standardized, even in 1694.
| In the period up to c. 1760 poets were sometimes honoured by being formally "laureated", that is crowned a poet with a laurel wreath, by the Holy Roman Emperor or, much more commonly, by a person or a body, such as a university, acting with Imperial authority. How many women were "laureated" for poetry by German universities in the period up to 1740? | German Literature, c. 1600-1740
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Three. The three women were: (1) Christiane Marianne von Ziegler (1695-1760), laureated by Wittenberg in 1733, (2) Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann (1714-40), laureated in 1738 by Göttingen and (3) Anna Maragrethe Pfeffer (1679-1746), crowned by Göttingen in 1739. Ziegler is best known for nine poems set to music as cantatas by J. S. Bach. Sidonia Hedwig Zäunemann is known for her occasional poetry, her collected verse and prose, "Poetische Rosen in Knospen" (1738), and her highly unconventional life-style (for the times). Anna Maragrethe Pfeffer published nothing, but the University of Göttingen has a collection of manuscript poems by her.
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