UHLAND, JOHANN LUDWIG (1787-1862), German poet, was born at Tubingen on April 26, 1787. He studied juris prudence at the university of his native place, but also devoted much time to mediaeval literature. Having graduated as a doctor of laws in 181o, he went for some months to Paris; and from 1812 to 1814 he worked at his profession in Stuttgart, in the bureau of the minister of justice. He had begun his career as a poet in 1807 and 1808 by contributing ballads and lyrics to L. von Seckendorff's Musenalmanach; and in 1812 and 1813 he wrote poems for J. Kerner's Poetischer Almanach and Deutscher Dichterwald. Uhland's ballads follow the form of the masterpieces of Goethe and Schiller, but they have some of the spirit of naïve wonder of the mediaeval poet, i.e., they belong definitely to the Romantic school. But his style has a precision and grace which distinguish his best work from that of most of the contemporary Romantic poets. His work strengthened the national spirit, and he himself did good practical work as a liberal member of the Wiirttemberg assembly, and, later, as a member of the Frankfurt parliament. In 1815 he collected his poems in a volume entitled Gedichte.
To almost every new edition he added some fresh poems. He wrote two dramatic works—Errut, Herzog von Schwaben and Ludwig der former published in 1818, the latter in 1819.
Uhland was not only a poet and politician; he was also an ardent student of the history of literature. In this field he pub lished Das altfranzosische Epos (1812) ; Der Mythus von Thor nach nordischen Quellen (1836) ; and Alte both- and nieder deutsche V olkslieder (1844-45). He died at Tlibingen on Nov. 13, 1862.
Uhland's Gesammelte Werke, edit. by H. Fischer, were published in 1892 in 6 vols. ; also by L, Frankel (2 vols., 1893) and L. Holthof (19o1). His Gedichte passed through nearly 5o editions in the poet's lifetime; jubilee ed. of the Gedichte and Dramen (1886). A critical ed. by E. Schmidt and J. Hartmann appeared in 1898 (2 vols.). Uhland's Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung and Sage were pub lished in 8 vols. (1865-73) ; his Tagebuch von 1810-1820 by J. Hart mann (1893). See H. Mayne, Uhlands Jugenddichtung (1899) ; H. Schneider, Uhland. Leben, Dichtung, Forschung (192o).