German Romanticism

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Caspar David Friedrich, (1774-1840)
Moonrise by the Sea, 1822, 55x71 cm Caspar David Friedrich - Mondaufgang am Meer - Google Art Project.jpg
Caspar David Friedrich, (1774–1840)
Moonrise by the Sea, 1822, 55x71 cm

German Romanticism (German: Deutsche Romantik) was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German variety developed relatively early, and, in the opening years, coincided with Weimar Classicism (1772–1805).

Contents

The early period, roughly 1797 to 1802, is referred to as Frühromantik or Jena Romanticism. [1] The philosophers and writers central to the movement were Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder (1773–1798), Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling (1775–1854), Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829), August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767–1845), Ludwig Tieck (1773–1853), and Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis) (1772–1801). [2]

The early German Romantics strove to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, by viewing the Middle Ages as a simpler period of integrated culture; however, the German Romantics became aware of the tenuousness of the cultural unity they sought. [3] Late-stage German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the daily world and the irrational and supernatural projections of creative genius. In particular, the critic Heinrich Heine criticized the tendency of the early German Romantics to look to the medieval past for a model of unity in art and society. [3]

A major product of the French occupation under Napoleon was a strong development in German nationalism which eventually turned the German Confederation into the German Empire after a series of conflicts and other political developments. German Romanticism was nationalistic and therefore became hostile to the ideals of the French Revolution. Major Romantic thinkers, especially Ernst Moritz Arndt, Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Heinrich von Kleist, and Friedrich Schleiermacher, embraced reactionary politics and were hostile to political liberalism, rationalism, neoclassicism, and cosmopolitanism. [4]

Literary figures

Angelica Kauffman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1787 Der junge Goethe, gemalt von Angelica Kauffmann 1787.JPG
Angelica Kauffman, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , 1787
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim Heinrich Heine, 1831, Kunsthalle Hamburg Heinrich Heine-Oppenheim.jpg
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim Heinrich Heine , 1831, Kunsthalle Hamburg
Joseph von Eichendorff Joseph von Eichendorff.jpg
Joseph von Eichendorff

Philosophical figures

Composers

Richard Wagner, 1860 Richard Wagner, Paris, 1861.jpg
Richard Wagner, 1860

Visual artists

Philipp Otto Runge, Self Portrait, 1802-1803, Kunsthalle, Hamburg Philipp Otto Runge 005.jpg
Philipp Otto Runge, Self Portrait, 1802–1803, Kunsthalle, Hamburg

Architecture

Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Project for church in Oranienburger Vorstadt, Berlin Entwurf Kirchen Oranienburger Vorstadt III Perspektive.jpg
Karl Friedrich Schinkel. Project for church in Oranienburger Vorstadt, Berlin

See also

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References

  1. Beiser, Frederick C., The Romantic Imperative: the Concept of Early German Romanticism (2003), p. ix
  2. Beiser, Frederick C., The Romantic Imperative: the Concept of Early German Romanticism (2003), p. 7
  3. 1 2 "German literature – Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  4. Siegfried Heit and Otto W. Johnston, "German Romanticism: An Ideological Response to Napoleon." Consortium on Revolutionary Europe 1750–1850: Proceedings (1980), Vol. 9, p187-197.
  5. "European anthem | European Union".

Further reading