GERMAN LITERATURE SINCE GOETHE (1832-1928) Young Goethe's death a great age in Ger man poetry came to a close. Long before 1832 Romanticism had begun to lose ground, and the French July revolution of 1830 virtually brought the movement to an end. In philosophy Schel ling had given place to G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831), now the dominant force in German philosophy; and the Hegelian meta physics proved a less fruitful influence on literature than that of Fichte and Schelling. The transference of Romantic ideas to re ligion and politics had led to reaction ; Romanticism became the cloak for a kind of Neocatholicism, and Romantic politics, as enunciated by men like F. von Gentz (1764-1832) and Adam 1VIiiller (1779-1829) was an apology for the Metternich regime in Austria. Only at the universities-in Gottingen, Heidelberg and Berlin-did the movement continue, in the best sense, to be pro ductive; German philology, German historical science and German jurisprudence benefited by Romantic ideas, long after Romantic poetry had been superseded. The day of Romanticism was over; but a return to the classic and humanitarian spirit of the 18th century was impossible. The social condition of Europe had been profoundly altered by the French Revolution; the rise of indus trialism had created new economic problems, the march of science had overturned old prejudices. The leadership in literature passed to the unromantic school of "Young Germany." The new school was called into existence by political persecu tion: in Dec. 1835 the German "Bund" issued a decree sup pressing the writings of Heinrich Heine, Karl Gutzkow, Ludolf Wienbarg, Theodor Mundt and Heinrich Laube. Of these men, Heine (1797-1856) is by far the most famous. He had made his reputation in 1826 and 1827 with Die Harzreise and his Buch der Lieder, both of which show how deeply he was immersed in the Romantic traditions. The Buck der Lieder is, in fact, one of the greatest of German song-books. But Heine felt more acutely than any other man of his time how the ground was slipping away from beneath his feet; he hailed the July revolutions as the first stage in the "liberation of humanity"; and sought in France the freedom and intellectual stimulus which Germany withheld from him. But these sympathies were always counteracted by doubts whether, after all, life had not been better in that old Romantic Germany of his childhood for which, to the last, he retained so warm an affection. To these doubts were added bitter disappoint ments and the excruciating tragedy of his "mattress grave"; the gifted poet and satirist were often overshadowed by the cynic.
Heine's contemporary and fellow-fighter, Ludwig Borne (1786 1837), was a more whole-hearted representative of the "Young German" point of view; and his brilliant Brie f e aus Paris (183o 33) form a landmark in the development of German prose style. Karl Gutzkow (1811-78) had become a man of letters under the influence of the July revolution, and in an early novel, Wally, die Zwei flerin (1835), then regarded as atheistic and immoral, he fought for the new ideas. His best literary work was the come dies with which he enriched the German stage of the '4os, and the long novels Die Ritter vom Geiste (1850-51), and Der Zauberer von Rom (1858-61). Heinrich Laube (1806-84), also the author of social novels and Reisenovellen in the style of Heine's Reise bilder, was another of the leaders of the new movement ; but he is best remembered as Germany's greatest theatre manager : his directorship (1850-67) of the Burgtheater of Vienna forms one of the most brilliant periods in the history of the modern stage. The scholarship and learning of this period were strongly infused with Hegelianism, the leading spirits being D. F. Strauss (1808 74), author of the Leben Jesu (1835), the historians G. G. Ger vinus (1805-71) and W. Menzel (1798-1873), and the philosopher L. A. Feuerbach (1804-7 2) .
Outside the circle of "Young Germany," efforts were being made to keep alive the Romantic tradition, or provide a surrogate for it. The historical novel, for instance, which Romanticists like Arnim had cultivated, fell at an early date under the influence of Sir Walter Scott ; Wilhelm Hauff, Heinrich Zschokke (177i 1848) and K. Spindler (1796-1855) were the most prominent amidst the many imitators of the Scottish novelist. The drama, too, was endeavouring to adapt itself to the new horizons. In Germany its representatives were either unbalanced geniuses such as C. D. Grabbe (1801-36), or poets with too little theatrical blood in their veins like K. L. Immermann (1796-1840), or with too much, like E. von Raupach (1784-1852), K. von Holtei (1798-188o) and Adolf Milliner (1774-1829)-the last named being the chief representative of the so-called "fate-tragedy." But in Austria the developments were more promising. For Aus tria possessed one dramatic poet of the highest rank, Franz Grill parzer (1791-1872). More successfully than any other dramatist of his time, Grillparzer carried out that task which Kleist had first seriously faced, the reconciliation of the classicism of Goethe and Schiller with the Romantic and modern spirit. His Sappho (1818), Das goldene Vliess (1820), Konig Ottokars Gluck and Ende (1825), Der Traum, ein Leben (1834) and Des Meeres and der Liebe Wellen (1831), are works of high rank. E. F. J. von Miinch-Bellinghausen (1806-71), Grillparzer's more popular con temporary, who wrote under the pseudonym of Friedrich Halm, is now unread. Other Austrian dramatists are E. von Bauern feld (1802-90) , who wrote some admirable comedies, and F. Raimund (179o-1836) and J. Nestroy (1801-62), who cultivated the popular Viennese fairy-play and farce.
The transitional character of the age is best illustrated by K. L. Immermann, already mentioned, and A. von Platen-Hallermunde (1796-1835). Immermann's dramas had little success in the theatre, but one at least, Merlin (1832), is a dramatic poem of great beauty. In his novels, however, Die Epigonen (1836) and Miinchhausen (1838-39), Immermann reflected the spirit of his time. Platen is a poet who stands peculiarly alone ; he was an antagonist both of Romanticism and "Young Germany" ; even with Immermann he came into sharp conflict. He, the least sub jective of all German lyric poets, began as an imitator of oriental poetry, and soon attained an extraordinary mastery of poetic form; his Sonette aus V enedig (1825) are the finest sonnets in the German tongue.
Meanwhile the political ideas of the "Young German" move ment, gained ground in the unsettled conditions prevailing be tween the revolutions of 1830 and 1848. The early '4os were in German literature marked by an outburst of political poetry, which may be compared with the national and patriotic lyric of 1813. Initiated by mediocre talents like N. Becker (1809-45) and R. E. Pru+z (1816-72), the movement found a vigorous champion in Georg Herwegh (1817-75), who in turn succeeded in winning Ferdinand Freiligrath (1810-76) for the revolutionary cause. Others joined in the revolutionary cry—F. Dingelstedt (1814-81), A. H. Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798-1874), and a number of Austrians, who had more reason for discontent than the North Germans. But the best Austrian political poetry, the Spaziergange eines Wiener Poeten (1831), by "Anastasius Grin" (Graf A. A. von Auersperg, 1806-76), belonged to a decade earlier. The po litical lyric came to an end in 1848 ; the revolutionists of the '4os were, if not appeased, at least silenced by the ineffective risings of that year. If Freiligrath be excepted, the chief lyric poets of this epoch stood aside from the revolutionary movement ; E. Geibel (1815-84) was only temporarily interested in the political movement, and his best work is purely lyrical. M. von Strach witz's (1822-47) promising talent did not feel at home in the political atmosphere ; while Annette von Droste-Hiilshoff 1848), Germany's greatest poetess, and the Austrian, Nikolaus Lenau (1802-50), are imbued with that pessimistic resignation which is characteristic of the best German literature between 1850 and 1870.
The 20 years between 1850 and 1870 were pre-eminently an age of prose fiction. Friedrich Spielhagen (1829-1911) followed in Gutzkow's footsteps, and in a series of excellent novels from Pro blematisclie Naturen (186o) to Sturmflut (1876), held the mirror up to the social problems which agitated the German mind in these decades. Gustav Freytag (1816-95), although an older man, freed himself more successfully from the "Young German" tradi tion ; his romance of German commercialism, Soll and Haben (1855), is the masterpiece of mid-century fiction of this class.
Less successful were Die verlorene Handschri f t (1 864) and his series of historical novels, Die Ahnen (1872-80). As was, how ever, only natural in an age of social and political interests, the his torical novel occupies a subordinate place. The influence of Scott, which in the earlier period had been strong, produced only one writer of distinction, Wilhelm Haring ("Willibald Alexis," 1798– 1871). In the series of six novels, from Der Roland von Berlin to Dorothe, published between 1840 and 1856, Alexis gave Germany, and more particularly Prussia, a historical fiction which has been compared with the Waverley Novels. But Alexis had no successor, and the historical novel soon made way for a type of fiction seen in the "antiquarian" novels of ancient Egyptian life by Georg Ebers (1837-98), and the historical romances of Felix Dahn (1834-1912), in which the accurate reproduction of remote condi tions was held of more account than poetic inspiration or artistic power. Under Fenimore Cooper's influence American life and adventure came into vogue. The chief German writers who made these their theme, were K. A. Postl, who wrote under the pseu donym of Charles Sealsfield (1793-1864) and Friedrich Ger stacker (1816-72).
Of greater importance was the novel of peasant and provincial life, of which Immermann had given an excellent example in Der Oberhof, a short story embedded in his Miinclihausen. A Swiss pastor, A. Bitzius, better known by his pseudonym "Jeremias Gotthelf" (1797-1854), was, however, the real founder of the peasant romance; and his simple, unvarnished stories of Swiss life were followed not long afterwards by the more famous Schwarz wiilder Dorf geschichten (1843-54) of Berthold Auerbach (1812 82) . These village stories seem to us now lacking in naïveté, but they enjoyed a wide popularity in their day, and were the forerun ners of a large body of peasant literature dealing with South Ger man village life. With this group of writers may also be associated A. Stifter (18o5-68), who has given us unforgettable pictures and impressions of the life and scenery of Bohemia.
Meanwhile, the Low German peoples benefited by this revival of interest in dialect and peasant life ; Fritz Reuter (1810-74) brought honour to the Plattdeutsch of the north, with his Mecklen burg novels, especially Ut de Franzosentid (186o), Ut mine Festungstid (1863) and Ut mine Stromtid (1862-64), books which have a place beside the best High German fiction of the period ; what Reuter did for Plattdeutsch prose, his contemporary, Klaus Groth (1819-99), the author of Quickborn (1852), did for its verse. Another north German, Theodor Storm (1817-88), is the author of short stories of delicate, lyric inspiration, steeped in that elegiac Romanticism which harmonized so well with mid century pessimism. In Switzerland Gottfried Keller (1819-9o), a native of Zurich, was a modern Romanticist of a robuster type; his magnificent autobiographical novel, Der grune Heinrich 55), might be described as the last in the great line of Romantic fiction that had begun with Wilhelm Meister, and his volumes of short stories, Die Leute von Seldwyla (1856-74) and Ziiricher Novellen (1878) contain masterpieces of the first rank.
In the German theatre of these decades French influence was predominant ; and the successful German playwrights, such as R. Benedix (1811-73) and Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer (1800-68 ), have small literary interest. Gustav Freytag's admirable comedy, Die Journalisten (1852), was one of the few exceptions. But the German drama of this epoch is not to be judged by the theatres. At the middle of the century Germany could point to two writers who, each in his way, contributed to the development of the modern European drama : Friedrich Hebbel (1813-63) and Otto Ludwig (1813-65) . Hebbel is the most original German dramatist of the 19th century. His first tragedy, Judith, appeared in 1840, his masterpieces, Herodes and Marianne, Agnes Bernauser, Gyges and sein Ring, and the trilogy of Die Nibelungen between 1850 and 1862. They inaugurate the psychological drama, while Lud wig's Der Erbforster (185o) is a forerunner of modern realism.
Between 1852 and r86o King Maximilian II. of Bavaria gathered round him in Munich some of the most distinguished writers of the day. A leading spirit of the group was Emanuel Geibel. F. von Bodenstedt (1819-92) , revived the Oriental in terest with his Mirza Sclia ff y; and J. V. von Scheffel (1826-86), won wide popularity with his historical novel Ekkehard and his verse-romance, Der Trompeter von Siickingen This kind of light epic, which had been cultivated earlier by O. von Redwitz (1823-91) and G. Kinkel (1815-82), was, in fact, one of the favourite forms of poetry at this time, its most successful exponents being J. Wolff (1834-1910) and R. Baumbach (1840 1905) ; while others, such as H. Lingg (1820-19o5) and R. Hamerling (183o-89) devoted themselves to the more ambitious epic. The pessimism of the age is deeply engrained in the verse of H. Lorm (pseudonym for Heinrich Landesmann, 182I-19o2) and H. Leuthold (18 2 . The most important prose-writer of the Munich group is Paul Heyse (183o-1914), the best of whose "Novellen" or short stories give him a place beside Storm and Keller. He is also the author of two important long novels, Kinder der Welt (1873) and Im Paradiese From 1870 to 1900.-The Franco-German War had little or no immediate effect on literary development. The interest of the nation was engrossed, not by literature, but by the Kultur kampf, the financial difficulties due to unscrupulous speculation, and the rapid rise of social democracy as a political force. The intellectual basis of the lattep movement was laid by Ferdinand Lassalle (1825-64) and Karl Marx (1818-83), author of Des Kapital (1867-94). The influence of Hegel was still strong, and the "historical" method was generally in vogue at the German universities. H. Lotze (181 7-81) attempted to establish a corn promise between science and metaphysics; while in his Philosophie des Unbewussten (1869), E. von Hartmann (1842-1906) aimed at reconciling pessimism with idealism. But in literature and art the dominant force was still the philosophy of Schopenhauer. In lyric poetry there was, however, some reaction to the war, and the singers of the revolution of 1848 were among the first to welcome the unification of Germany. At the same time, men of the older generation, like Herwegh, Freiligrath and Geibel could ill conceal a certain disappointment with the new regime; the united Germany of 1871 was not what they had dreamed of in their youth, when all hopes were set on the Frankfurt parliament.
The novel continued to be what it was before 187o, the most popular form of German literature, but the novelists who enjoyed favour in the early ' 7os were all older men; while the drama was even less promising. The iambic tragedy was cultivated by the Munich school, by A. Wilbrandt (183 7-191 1), A. Lindner (1831 88), by the Austrian F. Nissel (1831-93), and A. Fitger (184o 1909) ; but • it was characteristic of the time that Halm was popular, while Hebbel and Grillparzer were neglected. The most gifted German dramatist between 187o and 188o was an Austrian, Ludwig Anzengruber (1839-89), who produced a series of power ful plays dealing with the life of the Austrian peasant. But the popular playwrights of this epoch were either writers who culti vated the bourgeoise comedy-G. von Moser (18 2 5-1903) , O. Blumenthal (1852-1918)-or who, like P. Lindau (1839-1918), imitated French models. The only encouraging sign in the dramatic history of this period is the marked improvement of the German stage, an improvement due to the artistic reforms introduced by the duke of Meiningen in his Court theatre and to the ideals of a national theatre realized at Bayreuth by Richard Wagner (1813-83 ). The first performance of Wagner's tetralogy Der Ring des Nibelungen at Bayreuth in the summer of 1876 was a significant event in the history of the German drama.
In marked contrast to all this, the last 15 years of the loth century were a period of intense literary activity. Among the younger generation, growing up as citizens of the united German empire, a more hopeful spirit prevailed. The influence of Schopen hauer was on the wane, and at the universities Kant was taking the place of Hegel. L. von Ranke (1795-1886) was still the domi nant force in German historical science, and between 1881 and 1888 nine volumes appeared of his last great work, W eltgeschichte. Other historians of the period were H. von Sybel (1817-95) and H. von Treitschke (1834-96), the latter a vigorous and inspiring spokesman of Germany's political aspirations; while J. Burck hardt (1818-97), author of the masterly Kultur der Renaissance in Italien (186o), exerted an influence on German thought which was not confined to academic circles. Literary criticism perhaps benefited most of all by the new outlook. It became more cos mopolitan in spirit, a change which is more particularly noticeable in its attitude to Goethe whose greatness had been hitherto over shadowed by Schiller's.
The thinker who embodies the spirit of this period was Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). Nietzsche had begun as a disciple of Schopenhauer and a friend of Wagner, but his mature thought is militantly individualistic, and in its optimism the sharpest contrast to mid-century pessimism. The individual, not the race, the Herrenmensch, not the slave, self-assertion, not self-denying renunciation-are the pivotal ideas round which his ethics turn. Nietzsche looked forward to the human race emerging from the effete culture of tradition, and re-establishing itself on a basis in harmony with man's primitive instincts. Like Schopenhauer be fore him, Nietzsche was a stylist of the first rank, and his literary masterpiece, Also sprach Zarathustra (1883-91), is one of the most important works of its epoch.
The German lyric reacted most quickly to the individualism of Nietzsche-himself a lyric poet of considerable gifts. Detlev von Liliencron (1844-1909) was the first to break, in his Ad jutantenritte (1883), with the traditions of the past; and an anthology, Moderne Dichtercharaktere (1885) by W. Arent (b. 1864), may be regarded as the manifesto of the new movement. Representative lyric poets of this period are G. Falke 1916), A. Holz (1863-1929), K. Henckell (1864-1929), F. Ave narius (1856-1923 ), K. Busse (1872-1918) and Richard Dehmel (1863-192o). Heinrich Hart (1855-1906), a critic of the new school, was also the author of an ambitious Lied der Menschheit (vols. 1-3, 1888-96) ; but the master of the epic in this age, and one of its greatest poets, is a Swiss, Karl Spitteler (1845-1924) His Olympischer Friihling appeared in two parts in 190o and 1906. The lighter side is represented by the poetry of the so called tfberbrettl or cabaret; its chief exponent was 0. J. Bier baum (1865-1910), whose lyrics are collected in Irrgarten der Liebe (19o1) .
Nietzschean individualism was only one of many factors which contributed to the vitality of this new literature. The realistic movement, as it had developed in France, Russia and Scandinavia, now became a dominant force in Germany. The centre of this movement was Berlin, which, since it had become the imperial capital, was rapidly also becoming the literary metropolis. The hovel reacted quickly to this new realism, more especially as some of the older and established writers, such as F. Spielhagen and A. Wilbrandt, regarded it with sympathy. Theodor Fontane (1819-98), wrote between 188o and 1898 a series of novels in which the finer elements of French realism were grafted on the German tradition. To the older school belong Wilhelm Jensen (183 7-191 1), and that fine humourist, Wilhelm Raabe (1831 191o), with whom may be associated as other humourists of this period, H. Seidel (1842-1906) and W. Busch (1832-1908). Two eminent Austrian authors, Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830 1916), and Ferdinand von Saar (1833-1906), both excel as writers of short stories. An Austrian, too, is Peter Rosegger (1843-1918), who won popularity with his many novels of peasant life. German prose in Switzerland is represented pre-eminently by Konrad Ferdinand Meyer (18 2 5-98 ), who turned to literature com paratively late in life. Meyer resembles his compatriot Keller in being not merely a master of the short story-for his themes he turns with preference to the period of the Renaissance-but also a writer of virile, original verse.
Realistic novels were written by H. Conradi (1862-9o), Max Kretzer (b. 1854), M. G. Conrad (1846-1927), K. Bleibtreu (1859-1928), K. Alberti (pseudonym for Konrad Sittenfeld, 1862-1918) and Hermann Sudermann (1857-1928), whose Fran Sorge (1887) and Der Katzensteg (I 889) are among the best of this period. His later and longer novels Es War (1894) and Das hohe Lied (1908), are marred by a crass sensationalism. Realistic, too, in its origins was the so-called Heimatskunst, the cultivation of the province, which was responsible for many excellent novels. Here may be mentioned as representative of widely different areas of the German-speaking world H. Lons (1866-1916) and Otto Ernst (1862-1926) in the north; H. Stehr (b. 1864) in Silesia ; F. Lienhart (1865-1929) and E. Zahn (b. 186 7) in the south-west. Particularly popular were the novels (Jorn Uhl, 1901) of G. Frenssen (b. 1863) . Studies of child life and educa tional problems proved particularly attractive to later writers, such as Hermann Hesse (b. 1877), Emil Strauss (b. 1866), Rudolf Huch (b. 1862) and Friedrich Huch (1873-1913). Men tion ought also to be made of W. von Polenz (1861-1903), G. von Ompteda (1863-1931), W. Hegeler (b. 1870) and G. Hermann (b. 1871). On the whole, the greatest novel of this epoch is Buddenbrooks (1902) by Thomas Mann (b. 1875), who is also the author of masterly short stories. Some of the best fiction was the work of women, the most distinguished being Helene Bohlau (1859-1919), Gabriele Reuter (b. 1859), Clara Viebig (C. Cohn Viebig, b. 186o) and Ricarda Huch (b. 1867).
The theatre, however, was the arena in which the decisive literary battles of the day were fought out. In Oct. 1889 Haupt mann's play, V or Sonnenau f gang, was produced on the then re cently founded Freie Biihne in Berlin; and a month later, Die Ehre by Sudermann met with a more enthusiastic reception in Berlin than had fallen to the lot of any German play for more than a generation. Before that date, Ernst von Wildenbruch 1909) had attempted to revive the historical tragedy, and other dramatists, such as Richard Voss (1851-1918), had experimented with realism.
Gerhart Hauptmann (b. 1862) is the most eminent of con temporary German dramatists. His early plays, the most powerful of which is Die Weber (1892), were works of uncompromising realism; but in Hanneles Himmel f ahrt (1893) he combined real ism with the poetic mysticism of a child's dream, and in Florian Geyer (1895) he adapted the methods of realism to an historical theme. In 1896 he, to all appearance, abandoned realism for poetic allegory in Die versunkene Glocke. Hauptmann's sub sequent work is exceedingly varied and ranges from the frank naturalism of Fuhrmann Henschel (1898) and Rose Berndt (1903), to subtle psychological studies in Der arme Heinrich (1902) and Kaiser Karls Geisel (1908), and the poetic mysticism of Und Pippa tanzt! (1906). Hauptmann has also written some excellent comedies (Der Biberpelz, 1893). Hermann Sudermann (1857-1928) had a more immediate popularity with the long se ries of plays of modern life which opened with Die Ehre. Of these the best are perhaps Heimat (1893) and Das Gluck im Winkel (1896). With less success Sudermann attempted in Johannes (1898) a tragedy on the lines of Hebbel. Sudermann's talent showed less capacity for development than Hauptmann's; he was a practical playwright rather than a dramatic poet.
Besides Hauptmann and Sudermann, the most talented drama tists of this period were Max Halbe (b. 1865), O. E. Hartleben (1864-1905), G. Hirschfeld (b. 1873), Ludwig Fulda (b. 1862), Max Dreyer (b. 1862), and especially Frank Wedekind (1864 1918). In Vienna, notwithstanding the preponderant influence of Berlin, the drama retained its Austrian characteristics, with writers like Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), Hermann Bahr and Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929), the last mentioned being one of the greater poetic forces of his time.
The 20th Century.-The movement of realism and im pressionism had not progressed very far before it was plain that it was but a passing phase; even before the end of the century it had ceased to be the dominating force in German letters. The lyric, at all times the most sensitive expression of the German literary temperament, soon broke away; and under the influence of similar movements in France, it is to be seen feeling its way towards a new form, describable at one time as neo-classic, at another as neo-romantic, but in either case definitely opposed to the previous impressionism. The representative poet of this revolt was Stefan George , whose finely chiselled verse effected, from the early '9os on, a complete break with the past. But even here there was no permanence; a younger generation of poets came to the front who, while profoundly influenced by Stefan George's formal beauty, felt the need of more subjective and emotional expression. But there could be no question of going back; for by this time impressionism had been definitely discredited by new doctrines of "expressionism," in accordance with which the interpretation of the outside world by the poet, or indeed, the superimposition of his ego upon that world, was of the first importance. Prominent among the poets of this new phase are Max Dauthendey (1867-1918), Christian Morgen stern (1871-1914), Alfred Mombert (1872- ), and Theodor Daubler (1876-1934), whose most notable work is an epic, Nordlicht (1910) ; nor must Georg Heym (1887-1912) be for gotten, whose early death deprived the lyric of a talent of great promise. The most gifted poet of this last phase of the German lyric is Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), a native of Prague. Rilke's subtle spiritual mysticism and haunting cadences have made the deepest impression of all upon the present generation. The World War was, of course, responsible for much political and patriotic poetry of ephemeral value, and indeed, in no form of literature did the war bring about more confusion than just here ; but on the other hand, the lyric responded more quickly to the new ideas awakened by the terrible tragedy and dev astation which had overwhelmed Europe. The militarism of the war-poets was soon displaced by an intense pity for suffering humanity and a craving for the reconstruction of human society on the basis of a universal brotherhood. Among the new poets who have given voice to this aspiration towards spiritual and social regeneration the most significant is Franz Werfel (b. 189o).
The drama of the 2oth century shows an even more surprising change of front, compared with the activity of the preceding generation. Here the doctrine of expressionism has full sway, and aided by the remarkable technical development of the German theatre, has produced a drama of extraordinary interest, which, whatever its ultimate value may be, represents the most complete repudiation of the old realism. Of the older writers only Haupt mann has in some measure kept abreast of the movement ; his later dramas show an increasing tendency to dwell on subtle psychological problems of allegorical implication, and thus adapt themselves to the changing spiritual horizon; but the actual leadership has passed to younger hands. The drama of ex pressionism, which obviously owes much to the Swede Strindberg and the Belgian Maeterlinck, was inaugurated in 1912 by Der Bettler by Reinhard Sorge (1892-1916) ; but the new art did not assert itself until two years later, on the eve of the war, when Die Burger von Calais by Georg Kaiser (b. 1878) and Der Sohn by Walter Hasenclever (b. 1890) were produced. Kaiser's talent is extraordinarily facile and prolific, and much of his work has consequently little abiding value. He began with satiric comedies which show clearly the influence of Wedekind, as do also those of Karl Sternheim (b. 1881) ; but in Von Morgen bis Mitternacht (1916), Die Koralle (1917), and the trilogy Gas (1918-20), he has given German expressionism some of its most characteristic works. A vigorous talent of the movement is Ernst Toiler (b. 1894), while with Reinhard Goering (1887-1936), author of See schlaclit (1917) and Scapa Flow (1919), Paul Kornfeld (b. 1889), Hanns Johst (b. 189o) and Johannes R. Becher (b. 1891), the expressionist drama seems in danger of dissolving in nebulous mysticism and losing all touch with the practical theatre. This, too, is true of the dramas Ein Geschlecht (1916) and Platz (1920) by Fritz von Unruh (b. 1885), a dramatist of real poetic gifts who, before the war, had written two effective dramas of military life, to become, in its course, a convert to anti-militarism.
Side by side with this expressionist drama there has been a considerable neo-romantic revival in the theatre; many of the younger poets have gone back to mediaeval and even ancient sagas and history for their themes, discovering in them modern im plications and infusing into them a very modern psychology. The abiding value of this aspect of the contemporary drama seems, however, open to question. The chief poets who come in question here are Herbert Eulenberg (b. 1876), Ernst Hardt (b. 1876), K. G. Vollmoller (b. 1878), Wilhelm von Scholz (b. 1874) and Paul Ernst (1886-1933). Here, too, should be mentioned the spacious mystic trilogy Aeon (19o7-11) by Alfred Mombert, and the fine drama Spiegelmensch (1920) by F. Werfel. Of the more recent dramatists in Austria, Karl Schonherr (b. 1869) and Anton Wildgans (1881-1932); in Switzerland Max Pulver (b. 1889), may be mentioned.