. The second period terminates with the close of the fifteenth century. It includes the 3Iinnesingers, or German Trouba dours, who were the result of the inter eonrse of Germany with Italy and France, which made German scholars acquainted with the amatory literature of Provence. The most renowned Alinnesingers were Wolfram von Esehenbach, who wrote Parcivol, Walter von der Vogelweide, the most graceful and popular of all, and Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Otto von Friesingen achieved renown for his his tories, which were written in Latin.
The third period, ,dating from the com mencement of the fifteenth century, at which time the German language was fully developed and subjected to rule, ex tends to the present time. It has been shb divided by German critics into three parts, viz.: 1. to the commencement of the Thirty Years' War; 2. to Klupstock and Leasing; 3. to our own day. The progress of the Reformation in the fifteenth century ope rated very favorably upon Garman lite rature. Melanethon, Luther, Ulric von llutten and the other leaders of the movement were also distinguished schol ars. The celebrated Paracelsus, the natu ralist., Gesner, the painter, Albert Darer, and the astronomers Kepler and Cc; er niens, flourished also in the Efteenth cen tury. The most distinguished poet of this period was Hans Sachs, the shoe maker poet of Nuremberg. Ile was the master of a school or guild of poetry, which was then considered as an elegant profession. In the number of his works he rivals Lope de Vega, as he is said to have written 6048, 208 of which were comedies and tragedies. He died in 1576. Martin Opitz, who marks the eomt»ence ment of a new era. in German poetry, was born in 1597. He first established true rhythm in poetry, by measuring the length of the syllables, instead of merely counting them, as formerly. His princi pal poems are Vesuvius, Judith, and a number of lyrics. He was followed by Paul Flemming and Simon Bach, who wrote in the low German dialect. As prose writers of the seventeenth century, Putfendorf, a writer on jurisprudence and international law, Leibnitz, the distin guished philosopher and the Brothers Baumgarten, are most prominent. There is no great name in German literature, however, from Opitz till the middle of the last century, when Gellert, Gessner, Klopstock and Hagedorn were the inau guration of a new life. Under these au thors, and others of less note, the Ian gunge attained a richness of expression, a flexibility of style, and a harmony of modulation which it never possessed be fore. Gellert, horn in 1715, is distin guished for his "Spiritual Songs and Odes," his letters and his romance of The Swedish Countess, which is the first domestic novel written in the German language. Gessner is best known through his idyls, in which he followed the classic. models. Hagedorn, who died in 1754, wrote many poems ; he is supposed to have exercised considerable influence en Klopstoek in his earlier years. As prose writers, Forster, Mendelseulni, the philos opher, and Alus:iais, who made a collec tion of German legends and traditions, are worthy of note.
With Klopstock commenced the golden age of German literature, and the list of renowned names continues unbroken un til the present time. Klopstuck was burn in 172•. In his odes aml lyrical poems he struck out a new anal bold path, cast ing aside the mechanical rules of the older schools of German poetry. His greatest work is the Messias, a sacred epic, which was commenced in 1745, and finished in 1771. Lessing, born in 1729, stands by the side of Klopstock as a poet, while he is also distinguished as a prose writer. lie may be considered as the first successful German dramatist, his plays of Emilia Galati, Minna rota Barnhelm, and Nathan the Wise, still keeping their place on the stage. As a critical writer on all branches of the Fine Arts, he is also distinguished. Wieland follows next in the list of German classics. Born in 1733, he is the link between the age of Gellert and Klopstoclt, and that of Schiller and Gotithe. .He died in 1813. His principal works are The New Amadis, which illustrates the triumph of spiritual over physical beauty, the heroic epic of a romantic of the middle ages, the drama of Alceste, the History of the Abderites, a satirical ro mance, besides many letters, satires, and criticisms on literature and art. II enter,
his cotemporary, in addition to his fame as a poet, is celebrated for his philosoph ical and theological writings, and his Spirit of Hebrew Poetry. lie died in 1803. At the commencement of this century, Wieland, Herder, Goethe, and Schiller, were gathered together at the Court of Weimar—the most illustrious congregation of poets since Shakspeare, Spelt-Tr. Ben Johnson, and Fletcher, met together in London. Goethe was born in 1719, amid from his boyhood displayed a remarkable talent for literature, science, and art. His first romance, The Sor rows of Brerter, produced a sensa tion throughout all Europe. [Hs tragedy of Glitz. eon Berliehingen, written at the age of 22, established his fame as a poet. After his settlement at Weimar, in 1776, his works fidlowed each other rapidly. He the tragedies of Iphigenia, Etmzont, Ta.sso, acid Clariga, the pasto ral epic; of Vervains sari Dorothea, the philosophical romances Of Meis ter and Die Wahlrerwandschgften, the Diran, a collection of ismins founded in his studies of Oriental Warm ore, and the first part of his great est work, Faust. Ile also published nar ratives of travel in France and Italy, and Wahrheit and Dichtung, an autobiogra phy of his life. His philosophic and sci entific writings, especially his theory of color, are scarcely less celebrated than his literary works. He is equally a mas ter in all departments of literature, and is generally acknowledged as the greatest author since Shalispeare. lie died in 1832. Schiller, born in 1759, exercised scarcely less influence on German litera ture, than Goethe. His tragedy of the Robbers produced nearly as great a revo lution as the Sorrows of Weller. On account, of this and other works he was obliged to fly from his native Wurtem berg, and after many vicissitudes, settled in Weimar, with his great colleagues. After a brief but intense and laborious life, he died in After the Robbers, he wrote the following dramatic works : Fiesco, Cabal and Lore, Dun Carlos, The Maid of Orleans, Marie Stuart, William Tell, The Bride of Messina, and Wallenstein. The last is the great est drains in the German language. His lyrical poems are unsurpassed. His principal prose works are the History of the Netherlands and History of the Thirty Years' !Var. This period, so glorious for German literature, produced also the poets, Burger, author of Lenore awl The Wild Huntsman; Count Stol berg • Voss, author of Luise ; Sans and .N1 attllisson, elegiac poets; Tiedgc, au thor of Crania ; and the hero Kilmer, the Tyrtams of the wars of 1812 and IBIS. The department of prose was filled by many distinguished writers of philoso phy, history, and romance, smite of whom are still living. Kant, who lived from 1724 to 1804, is the father of modern German philosophy, and exercised a great influence on all his cotemporaries. Schle gel, in the department of literary criti cism, and Winekelmann, in that of art, are renowned names. Hegel and Fichte succeeded Kant as philosophers, and Al exander von Humboldt became the lead er of a new and splendid company of writers on cosmic:11 science. The natty) of 'fleck howls the school of modern Ger man romance. He was born in 1773, and early attracted attention by his Blue beard and Puss in Boots. In addition to a great number of plays, romances, and poems, he produced, in conjunction with Schlegel, a German translation of Shalt speare, which is the most remarkable work of its kind in all literature. Jean Paul Richter, the most original and pe culiar of all German authors, was horn in 1763, and dieil in 1325. His first work was a humorous and satirical production, untitled The Ci'reenlandic Lawsuit, fol lowed by "Selections from the Ihril's papers." His works are distinguished by a great knowledge of human nature, a bewildering richness of imagination, and a style so quaint and involved, as almost to form a separate dialect. Ills hest works are Titan, Hesperus, Die un sichtbare Loge, and Flower, Fruit and Thorn Pieces. E. T. A. Hoffman is scarcely less original, in his romances, which have a wild, fantastic, and super natural character Among other Ger man authors, the brothers Grimm are celebrated for their Kinder and Hans Miihrchen, the notorious Kotzebue for his plays, and Wolfgang Mentzel for his History of Germany and German litera ture.