The article in the Britannica on German Literature (Vol. 11, p. 783; equivalent to 55 pages of this Guide) is by Professor John George Robertson, University of London, author of History of German Literature. This article is divided into six sections, and following this scheme the course of reading below is divided into six parts, in connection with each of which the reader should first peruse the correspondingly numbered section in the article German Literature.

Old High GermanI. The Old High German Period, 750–1050:—the articles Ulfilas (Vol. 27, p. 565), by Charles Anderson Scott, author of Ulfilas, Apostle of the Goths; Heliand (Vol. 13, p. 221), by Henry Bradley, author of The Story of the Goths; Einhard (Vol. 9, p. 134), by A. W. Holland; Notker (Vol. 19, p. 824) and Hrosvitha (Vol. 13, p. 842), by A. W. Ward—and see Prof. Ward on the medieval drama in the article Drama (Vol. 8, especially p. 497).

Middle PeriodII. The Middle High German Period, 1050–1350:—the articles Romance (Vol. 23, p. 500), by George Saintsbury; Waltharius (Vol. 28, p. 298), Nibelungenlied (Vol. 19, pp. 637–640), Gudrun (Vol. 12, p. 668), Dietrich of Bern (Vol. 8, p. 221), Ortnit (Vol. 20, p. 341), Wolfdietrich (Vol. 28, p. 772), HelDENBUCH (Vol. 13, p. 218), Lay of Hildebrand (Vol. 13, p. 460), by J. G. Robertson; Ruodlieb (Vol. 23, p. 854), Arthurian Legend (Vol. 2, p. 684), Perceval (Vol. 21, p. 132), and Tristan (Vol. 27, pp. 292–294), by J. L. Weston, author of Legends of the Wagner Drama; Hartmann Von Aue (Vol. 13, p. 37), Gottfried von Strassburg (Vol. 12, p. 277), Wolfram von Eschenbach (Vol. 28, p. 775), by J. L. Weston; Walther von der Vogelweide (Vol. 28, p. 299), Minnesingers (Vol. 18, p. 547), Freidank (Vol. 11, p. 94), Conrad of Würzburg (Vol. 6, p. 968).

14th and 15th CenturiesIII. The Transition Period, 1350–1600:—the articles Frauenlob (Vol. 11, p. 42), Reynard the Fox (Vol. 23, p. 226), Sebastian Brant (Vol. 4, p. 431), Maximilian I. (Vol. 17, p. 922), by A. W. Holland; Meistersinger (Vol. 18, p. 86) and Eulenspiegel (Vol. 9, p. 887), by J. G. Robertson; Hans Sachs (Vol. 23, p. 972), Tauler (Vol. 26, p. 452), Geiler von Kaiserberg (Vol. 11, p. 553), Erasmus (Vol. 9, p. 727), by Mark Pattison and P. S. Allen, editor of the Oxford Erasmus; Reuchlin (Vol. 23, p. 204), by W. Robertson Smith; Ulrich von Hutten (Vol. 14, p. 14), by the Very Rev. G. W. Kitchin, Dean of Durham; Martin Luther (Vol. 17, p. 133), by Dr. T. M. Lindsay, author of A History of the Reformation; Erasmus Alberus (Vol. 1, p. 504), Thomas Murner (Vol. 19, p. 37), Johann Fischart (Vol. 10, p. 425), Philipp Nikodemus Frischlin (Vol. 11, p. 232), Jörg Wickram (Vol. 28, p. 619), Ayrer (Vol. 3, p. 74), Faust (Vol. 10, p. 210).

RenaissanceIV. The Renaissance, 1600–1740:—the articles Paul Gerhardt (Vol. 11, p. 768), Jakob Boehme (Vol. 4, p. 113), Georg Rudolf Weckherlin (Vol. 28, p. 464), Martin Opitz (Vol. 20, p. 129), Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (Vol. 13, p. 29), Simon Dach (Vol. 7, p. 726), Paul Fleming (Vol. 10, p. 494), von Logau (Vol. 16, p. 877), Abraham a Sancta Clara (Vol. 1, p. 72), Johann von Rist (Vol. 23, p. 366), Andreas Gryphius (Vol. 12, p. 642), Moscherosch (Vol. 18, p. 890), Grimmelshausen (Vol. 12, p. 603), Pufendorf (Vol. 22, p. 634), Thomasius (Vol. 26, p. 868), Christian Wolff (Vol. 28, p. 774), by Andrew Seth Pringle-Pattison; Leibnitz (Vol. 16, p. 385), by Prof. W. R. Sorley, Cambridge; Spener (Vol. 25, p. 638), von Canitz (Vol. 5, p. 183), Johann Christian Günther (Vol. 12, p. 730), B. H. Brockes (Vol. 4, p. 624), and, the dictator of the pseudo-classic age, Gottsched (Vol. 12, p. 279).

Classical PeriodV. The Classical Period of Modern German Literature, 1740–1832:—the articles J. J. Bodmer (Vol. 4, p. 111), Gellert (Vol. 11, p. 558), Rabener (Vol. 22, p. 773), J. Elias Schlegel (Vol. 24, p. 329), Klopstock (Vol. 15, p. 848), Lavater (Vol. 16, p. 291), Gerstenberg (Vol. 11, p. 907), Gleim (Vol. 12, p. 118), Götz (Vol. 12, p. 289), Uz (Vol. 27, p. 828), Ramler (Vol. 22, p. 876), Hagedorn (Vol. 12, p. 813), Albrecht von Haller (Vol. 12, p. 855), E. C. von Kleist (Vol. 15, p. 846), Lessing (Vol. 16, pp. 496–499), by James Sime, author of A History of Germany, and J. G. Robertson, and Lessing’s associates—Winckelmann (Vol. 28, p. 707), by James Sime and J. M. Mitchell, Moses Mendelssohn (Vol. 18, p. 120), by Israel Abrahams, author of A Short History of Jewish Literature, and C. F. Nicolai (Vol. 19, p. 662)—; Wieland (Vol. 28, p. 621), by J. G. Robertson; M. A. von Thümmel (Vol. 26, p. 898), A. von Knigge (Vol. 15, p. 850), Musäus (Vol. 19, p. 43), Basedow (Vol. 3, p. 461), Pestalozzi (Vol. 21, p. 284), Hamann (Vol. 12, p. 869).

Sturm und DrangOn the Sturm und Drang period, the articles Herder (Vol. 13, p. 347), the Stolbergs (Vol. 25, p. 953), J. H. Voss (Vol. 28, p. 215), Hölty (Vol. 13, p. 620), Bürger (Vol. 4, p. 812), M. Claudius (Vol. 6, p. 466),—all of the Göttingen school; Goethe (Vol. 12, p. 182), by J. G. Robertson; his imitators and followers, J. M. R. Lenz (Vol. 16, p. 431), Klinger (Vol. 15, p. 846), Friedrich (“Maler”) Müller (Vol. 18, p. 961), Heinse (Vol. 13, p. 216), K. P. Moritz (Vol. 18, p. 838); the great dramatist of the late Sturm und Drang, Schiller (Vol. 24, p. 324), by J. G. Robertson; A. W. Iffland (Vol. 14, p. 291), F. Jacobi (Vol. 15, p. 115).

On the classical period proper, the latter part of the article on Goethe and Schiller, Immanuel Kant (Vol. 15, p. 662), and J. G. Fichte (Vol. 10, p. 313), both by Robert Adamson; the historians Schlosser (Vol. 24, p. 342), Möser (Vol. 18, p. 895), and Johannes von Müller (Vol. 18, p. 962), by W. A. B. Coolidge; the scientists J. G. A. Forster (Vol. 10, p. 674), Alexander von Humboldt (Vol. 13, p. 873), by Agnes Mary Clerke, and Karl Wilhelm von Humboldt (Vol. 13, p. 875), by Archibald Henry Sayce; the dramatist Kotzebue (Vol. 15, p. 919); the novelist Richter, “Jean Paul” (Vol. 23, p. 313); and the poet Matthisson (Vol. 17, p. 901).

RomanticismOn the romantic school: the articles on the founders, August Wilhelm Schlegel and Friedrich Schlegel (Vol. 24, p. 328 and 329), Tieck (Vol. 26, p. 962), Hölderlin (Vol. 13, p. 583), and Novalis (Vol. 19, p. 829); in the second Romantic school, the more realistic Heidelbergers Klemens Brentano (Vol. 4, p. 496), L. A. von Arnim (Vol. 2, p. 630), J. J. von Görres (Vol. 12, p. 260), and, owing much to the interest in folk-literature of the Heidelbergers, the brothers Grimm (Vol. 12, pp. 600–602), by Dr. Henry Sweet of the University of Oxford, Chamisso (Vol. 5, p. 825); the patriot poets Körner (Vol. 15, p. 913) and Arndt (Vol. 2, p. 627); the North Germans Kleist (Vol. 15, p. 846), Zacharias Werner (Vol. 28, p. 523), Fouqué (Vol. 10, p. 749), E. T. W. Hoffman (Vol. 13, p. 561), Eichendorff (Vol. 9, p. 131), and Rückert (Vol. 23, p. 813) and Wilhelm Müller (Vol. 18, p. 963), who, like Byron, found romance, one in the Orient and the other in Greek struggles for liberty; and, of the Swabian school, Uhland (Vol. 27, p. 563), Kerner (Vol. 15, p. 757), Hauff (Vol. 13, p. 65), and Mörike (Vol. 18, p. 837); and the philosopher Schelling (Vol. 24, p. 316).

1832–1870VI. Literature since Goethe, 1832 onwards:—Read G. W. F. Hegel (Vol. 13, p. 200, by the late Prof. William Wallace of Oxford and Prof. J. H. Muirhead, University of Birmingham), Schelling’s successor as a philosophic force in Germany; the articles on the “Young Germans” Heine (Vol. 13, p. 213), by J. Walter Ferrier and J. G. Robertson; Börne (Vol. 4, p. 255), Gutzkow (Vol. 12, p. 744) and Laube (Vol. 16, p. 276); and the historians and philosophers D. F. Strauss (Vol. 25, p. 1002), Gervinus (Vol. 11, p. 908), W. Menzel (Vol. 18, p. 147) and Feuerbach (Vol. 10, p. 303); the dramatists—some more closely connected with the preceding period,—Grabbe (Vol. 12, p. 306) and Grillparzer (Vol. 12, p. 596), Immermann (Vol. 14, p. 335) and Platen-Hallermund (Vol. 21, p. 804), Holtei (Vol. 13, p. 619), Raupach (Vol. 22, p. 921) and Müllner (Vol. 18, p. 965), and, in Austria, besides Grillparzer, Collin (Vol. 6, p. 690), Münch-Bellinghausen, “Friedrich Halm” (Vol. 19, p. 2), Bauernfeld (Vol. 3, p. 538) and Raimund (Vol. 22, p. 861); the novelists Willibald Alexis (Vol. 1, p. 576), Hauff (Vol. 13, p. 65) and Zschokke (Vol. 28, p. 1046); and such poets of the ’30 and the ’48 as Herwegh (Vol. 13, p. 405), Freiligrath (Vol. 11, p. 94), Dingelstedt (Vol. 8, p. 275), Hoffmann von Fallersleben (Vol. 13, p. 561), and, in Austria, a little earlier, Auersperg, “Anastasius Grün” (Vol. 2, p. 900); and the possibly greater poets who were less interested in politics, Geibel (Vol. 11, p. 550), Lenau (Vol. 16, p. 417), Strachwitz (Vol. 25, p. 976), and Droste-Hülshoff (Vol. 8, p. 591).

On the mid-century period:—the articles on Schopenhauer (Vol. 24, p. 372, by Prof. Wallace),—the philosopher of the new age; the natural scientists Vogt (Vol. 28, p. 172), and Büchner (Vol. 4, p. 719); the fiction writers Spielhagen (Vol. 25, p. 667), Gustav Freytag (Vol. 11, p. 212), Ebers (Vol. 8, p. 841), Dahn (Vol. 7, p. 734), “Charles Sealsfield” (Vol. 24, p. 543), Gerstäcker (Vol. 11, p. 906), Storm (Vol. 25, p. 968), Gottfried Keller (Vol. 15, p. 718); and, among those who portrayed peasant and provincial life, Bitzius, “Jeremias Gotthelf” (Vol. 4, p. 15), Auerbach (Vol. 2, p. 899), Stifter (Vol. 25, p. 915), Fritz Reuter (Vol. 23, p. 210); the dramatists Hebbel (Vol. 13, p. 165) and Otto Ludwig (Vol. 17, p. 114); in the Munich School, Bodenstedt (Vol. 4, p. 109), Scheffel (Vol. 24, p. 315), Baumbach (Vol. 3, p. 539), Hamerling (Vol. 12, p. 876), Heyse (Vol. 13, p. 438); and the Platt-Deutsch poet Klaus Groth (Vol. 12, p. 621).

Since 1870On the period since 1870, see the articles Lassalle (Vol. 16, p. 235, by Thomas Kirkup, author of An Inquiry into Socialism) and Marx (Vol. 17, p. 807, by Eduard Bernstein, Socialist deputy on the Reichstag) for new economic views; and Lotze (Vol. 17, p. 23), by J. T. Merz, author of European Thought in the XIXth Century, and Henry Sturt, author of Personal Idealism, and Eduard von Hartmann (Vol. 13, p. 36) for philosophical compromises between science and metaphysics and between pessimism and idealism; the dramatists Anzengruber (Vol. 2, p. 158), Paul Lindau (Vol. 16, p. 717), and, composer and dramatist, Richard Wagner (Vol. 28, p. 236), by W. S. Rockstro, author of A Great History of Music, and D. F. Tovey, author of Essays in Musical Analysis; the historians Sybel (Vol. 26, p. 275), Treitschke (Vol. 27, p. 238), Ranke (Vol. 22, p. 893), Mommsen (Vol. 18, p. 683) and Burckhardt (Vol. 4, p. 809); and Burckhardt’s friend, the early friend of Wagner and the type of a new spirit in German letters, Nietzsche (Vol. 19, p. 672), by F. C. S. Schiller, Oxford, author of Studies in Humanism.

The most important names of the last few years are Sudermann (Vol. 26, p. 20) and Hauptmann (Vol. 13, p. 68). See, besides, the articles on Wilhelm Jensen (Vol. 15, p. 321), Wilhelm Raabe (Vol. 22, p. 765), W. Busch (Vol. 4, p. 869), Peter Rosegger (Vol. 23, p. 734), Fontane (Vol. 10, p. 608), Ebner-Eschenbach (Vol. 8, p. 843), Franzos (Vol. 11, p. 38), K. F. Meyer (Vol. 18, p. 349), Richard Voss (Vol. 28, p. 215), Ernst von Wildenbruch (Vol. 28, p. 633), and for modern German drama, in the article Drama (Vol. 8, especially pp. 535–536).