PREFATORY NOTE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Less than a year has passed since the publication of the "Short History of German Literature," but the publishers feel called upon already to issue a new edition. The author desires to thank the public and the critics for the marks of favor shown to his book. The work has been improved in important ways. The text has been carefully revised, and a full analytical index placed at the end. In an appendix, one or two errors are corrected, and the attempt made to defend some positions of the book which have been made the subject of sharp strictures. The author feels grateful for assurances he has received that what he has written has stimulated readers to make a closer acquaintance with German literature, and hopes his chapters will have a still farther usefulness.

ST. LOUIS, November 15, 1879.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

FIRST PERIOD OF BLOOM.

CHAPTER I.

THE BEGINNINGS.

First Appearance of the Germans in History; the Strife

with Rome; Ulfilas; Karl the Great: as a Warrior,

as a Law-giver and Organizer, his Court, his Influ-

ence on Literature; the Work of the Monks; the

Time of the Hohenstauffen

CHAPTER II.

THE NIBELUNGEN LIED.

The Burgundian Court at Worms; Wooing of Brunhild;

Marriage of Siegfried and Kriemhild; Death of

Siegfried; Etzel's Wooing; Rüdiger; Kriemhild's

Revenge

PAGE

1-22

23-49

CHAPTER III.

THE NIBELUNGEN LIED (continued).

High Appreciation in which the Poem is held; its

Origin and History; the Poem as a Picture of

Primitive German Life and Spirit; Critique of the

Principal Characters; Comparison with Homer;

Spots made interesting through Connection with

the Poem.

50-81

CHAPTER IV.

GUDRUN.

The German Odyssey; a Picture of the Life of the early

Sea Rovers; the Heroes of Friesland; Horant's

Singing; the Abduction of Hilda; the Betrothal

of Gudrun; her Captivity; the Heroes at Sea;

the Washing at the Beach; the Rescue; the Ani-

mal Epic

PAGE

82-103

CHAPTER V.

THE MINNESINGERS.

Walther von der Vogelweide; Hadlaub of Zürich;

Ulrich von Lichtenstein; "The Rose-garden at

Worms; " Hartmann von Aue; Gottfried von Strass-

burg; Wolfram von Eschenbach.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROSE.

The German Kaisers; Political Circumstances of Ger-

many from the End of the Thirteenth Century;

Strassburg; the Chroniclers; the Preachers; the

Satirists; the Drama

CHAPTER VII.

THE MASTERSINGERS.

Heinrich Frauenlob; the Artisans; Literary Life of

the Cities; Hans Sachs; "The Tailor and the

Flag; " "Saint Peter and the Goat; 99 "The Wit-

tenberg Nightingale; " Nuremberg .

CHAPTER VIII.

LUTHER IN LITERATURE.

Outline of Luther's Career; his vast Literary Activ-

ity; his Influence upon the German Language

104-131

132-154

155-171

and Literature; the Translation of the Bible; his

Polemical Writings; his Preaching, Letters,

Hymns; Places Associated with Luther

CHAPTER IX.

THE THIRTY YEARS WAR.

From Luther to the End of the Sixteenth Century;

Friedrich, King of Bohemia; Wallenstein and

Gustavus Adolphus; the Portraits in the Castle

at Coburg; Lützen; Exhaustion of Germany;

Decay of Literature

PAGE

172-205

206-245

PART II.

SECOND PERIOD OF BLOOM.

CHAPTER X.

LESSING.

Gottsched and Bodmer; Sketch of Lessing's Life; the

"the

Fables; the early Dramas; "Laocoon;"

Hamburg Dramaturgy; " Writings: Political, Pol-

emical, Theological; "Nathan the Wise; " Les-

sing's Resemblance to Luther

CHAPTER XI.

KLOPSTOCK, WIELAND, AND HERDER.

Klopstock's Youth; Appearance of the "Messias; " his

Patriotism; his wide Influence; Career of Wieland;

the Favorite of the Elegant World; "Oberon;

"The Abderites; " Contrast with Klopstock; the

Career of Herder; Immense Range of his Studies;

his Influence upon Poetry; his "Ideas upon the

Philosophy of History; " Greatness as a Preacher;

his Church and Statue at Weimar

246-299

300-329