German Romanticism
Dominant intellectual movement emphasizing emotion, nature, and medieval idealization
About German Romanticism
German Romanticism (Deutsche Romantik) was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, profoundly influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature, and criticism. The movement developed relatively early compared to English Romanticism and initially coincided with Weimar Classicism (1772–1805). The early period, roughly 1797 to 1802, is referred to as Frühromantik or Jena Romanticism. Central figures included Wilhelm Heinrich Wackenroder, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, August Wilhelm Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck, and Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis). Early German Romantics strove to create a new synthesis of art, philosophy, and science, viewing the Middle Ages as a simpler period of integrated culture. The movement emphasized emotion over reason, individual genius over established rules, and the sublime power of nature. Late-stage German Romanticism emphasized the tension between the daily world and irrational, supernatural projections of creative genius. German Romanticism was rooted in the quest for a distinctly German culture and national identity, partly as a reaction to French cultural dominance. Major themes included folk culture, mythology, fairy tales (notably collected by the Brothers Grimm), and the Romantic ideal of the artist as a misunderstood genius.