HOME | CATEGORY HOME | Art | Austria | Christmas | Churchill | Classics | Climate | Climbing | COVID | Culture | English language | English literature | EU | France | Free speech | French literature | German language | German literature | Germany | Goethe | Gotthard | Heine | Heloise Höchner | Misc | Nature | Philosophy | Pound | Religion | Romania | Romansh | Rousseau | Rückert | Schubart | Schubert | Science | Senn | Sociology | Switzerland | UK | UK monarchy | Ukraine | US | Website | WW1 | WW2 100 articles in category 'German literature'. Where is your brother? On the 83rd anniversary of the first judicial murders of the White Rose martyrs, excerpts of a speech given by Heinrich Böll on remembering the dead of the Nazi terror. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2026-02-22 18:09 Words: 3,244; reading time: 14 minutes Updated on 2026-03-14 No laughing matter German jokes and German theatre. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2026-02-20 09:14 Words: 1,085; reading time: 4 minutes Quote and image of the month for November Erich Kästner, Sachliche Romanze; Martin Parr, A couple in a cafe Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2025-11-01 07:22 Words: 684; reading time: 3 minutes Erinnerung an die Marie A. One more notch on the plum tree: Bertolt Brecht's selective memory. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2021-10-07 07:11 Words: 6,157; reading time: 27 minutes Quote and image of the month for November Quote: Hermann Hesse, Im Nebel. Image: Giovanni Giacometti, Nebbia (Maloja). Posted on UTC 2020-11-01 05:02 Words: 1,799; reading time: 8 minutes Herbsttag, Autumn Day Rainer Maria Rilke's farewell to autumn – or, why great poetry should be read slowly. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-31 12:12 Words: 1,428; reading time: 6 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien The master's midlife crisis. [8 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 64,316; reading time: 4 hours 52 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien I-IV I Prolog II Saget, Steine, mir an III Mehr als ich ahndete schön IV Ehret, wen ihr auch wollt! Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 9,215; reading time: 41 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien V-VIII V Laß dich, Geliebte VI Fromm sind wir Liebende VII Froh empfind ich mich VIII Kannst du, o Grausamer Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 6,468; reading time: 29 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien IX-XII IX O wie fühl ich in Rom X Wenn du mir sagst XI Herbstlich leuchtet die Flamme XII Alexander und Cäsar Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 3,665; reading time: 16 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien XIII-XVI XIII Euch, o Grazien XIV Hörest du, Liebchen XV Amor bleibet ein Schalk XVI Zünde mir Licht an, Knabe! Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 11,037; reading time: 50 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien XVII-XX XVII Zwei gefährliche Schlangen XVIII Cäsarn wär ich wohl nie XIX Warum bist du, Geliebter XX Manche Töne sind mir Verdruß Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 5,991; reading time: 27 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien XXI-XIV XXI Eines ist mir verdrießlich XXII Schwer erhalten wir uns XXIII Zieret Stärke den Mann XXIV Epilog Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 10,994; reading time: 49 minutes Goethe's Römische Elegien Paralipomena Some bits on the side. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-10-21 06:42 Words: 10,748; reading time: 48 minutes Swiss National Day, 1 August Gottfried Keller's poem Sommernacht. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-08-01 03:04 Words: 999; reading time: 4 minutes Friedrich Rückert's Über alle Gräber Recovering a particularly poignant poem from the Kindertodtenlieder Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-07-10 10:55 Words: 1,913; reading time: 8 minutes Quote and image of the month for February Quote: Bertolt Brecht, Fragen eines lesenden Arbeiters. Image: Albin Egger-Lienz, Mann und Weib. Posted on UTC 2020-02-03 14:17 Words: 1,705; reading time: 7 minutes A book burning The Frankfurt Book Fire of 1758. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-02-01 08:02 Words: 1,886; reading time: 8 minutes Quote and image of the month for January Quote: Siegfried Lenz, Heimatmuseum. Image: Anshelm Schultzberg, A Winter Morning after a Snowfall in Dalarna. Posted on UTC 2020-01-25 11:13 Words: 478; reading time: 2 minutes Die Sterne D 939 Musical mission impossible: Leitner's terrible poem and Schubert's attempted rescue. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-01-20 14:15 Words: 1,895; reading time: 8 minutes Franz Schubert and Franz von Schlechta Cracking the door, but just a little bit. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-01-17 16:43 Words: 4,553; reading time: 20 minutes Fischerweise D 881 Franz Xaver Freiherr Schlechta von Wssehrd's mediocre poem, rescued by Franz Schubert. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-01-15 10:21 Words: 4,770; reading time: 21 minutes Ueber allen Gipfeln Ist Ruh' D 768 One genius stands on another's shoulders: Goethe and Schubert. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2020-01-01 08:14 Words: 10,235; reading time: 46 minutes Quote and image of the month for December Quote: Werner Bergengruen, The Shepherds. Image: Jules Bastien-Lepage, The Annunciation to the Shepherds. Posted on UTC 2019-12-16 07:13 Words: 1,110; reading time: 5 minutes All Souls' Day 2019 2 November in the words of Rainer Maria Rilke. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-11-02 14:22 Words: 660; reading time: 3 minutes Quote and image of the month for October Quote: Georg Trakl, Verklärter Herbst. Image: Peder Severin Krøyer, Wine Harvest in the Tyrol. Posted on UTC 2019-10-18 10:17 Words: 614; reading time: 2 minutes The trembling aspen A look at the literary and musical life of a Populus tremula, with a contribution from Franz Schubert. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-09-27 14:12 Words: 7,116; reading time: 32 minutes Updated on 2025-07-28 Quote and image of the month for September Quote: Rudolf Hagelstange Bei den schwarzen Baptisten. Image: Norman Rockwell, The Problem We All Live With. Posted on UTC 2019-09-17 13:02 Words: 1,928; reading time: 8 minutes Franz Schubert and Ludwig Rellstab Yet more Schwanengesang nonsense. Seven execrable poems, six desperate settings, one super hit. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-09-09 14:27 Words: 9,402; reading time: 42 minutes Updated on 2020-10-22 The chestnut tree at the gate How to learn German in nine days. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-08-28 09:27 Words: 2,321; reading time: 10 minutes Updated on 2019-10-04 Heinrich Heine and Franz Schubert Two worlds collide. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-08-26 09:07 Words: 6,392; reading time: 29 minutes Franz Schubert and Heinrich Heine Dismantling Schwanengesang — and about time, too. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-08-14 17:12 Words: 18,353; reading time: 1 hour 23 minutes Updated on 2019-09-15 Goethe on ice Showing off in Frankfurt and Weimar. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-06-16 08:22 Words: 4,333; reading time: 19 minutes Updated on 2019-11-13 Diving deep into Goethe's Der Fischer Keeping cool on the bottom with the eighteen year-old Franz Schubert. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-06-08 16:51 Words: 8,922; reading time: 40 minutes Updated on 2019-06-12 Quote for the first day of May From romance to realism Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-05-01 10:21 Words: 523; reading time: 2 minutes Walpurgisnacht Chimney breasts – bottoms, too. Can Walpurgisnacht survive the #metoo era? Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-04-28 10:03 Words: 352; reading time: 1 minute Wilhelm Müller's 'three suns' Memories of Die Winterreise in the current northern hemisphere cold snap. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-02-01 11:04 Words: 1,197; reading time: 5 minutes Dass sie hier gewesen D 775: Rückert and Schubert Two lyrical geniuses at work. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-01-16 15:29 Words: 2,828; reading time: 12 minutes Friedrich Rückert – Kindertodtenlieder Blogging rhymes of passage through the dark forest of shades. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2019-01-13 10:39 Words: 27,368; reading time: 2hours 4 minutes Updated on 2020-07-11 Alinde D 904: Rochlitz and Schubert A lesson in metrical magic from the master. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2018-12-03 13:12 Words: 5,364; reading time: 24 minutes Quotes and images of the month for December Quotes: George Eliot Journals, Friedrich Hebbel, Diaries. Images: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Virgin and Child. Posted on UTC 2018-12-01 07:32 Words: 2,485; reading time: 11 minutes The Poets' War Heinrich Heine and August Platen calling each other names. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2018-09-30 22:32 Words: 3,700; reading time: 16 minutes Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock: Der Zürchersee Love Island 30 July 1750, with a Seefahrt that is not to be sniffed at. A meditation for the Swiss National Day, 1 August. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2018-07-30 17:26 Words: 11,894; reading time: 54 minutes Updated on 2020-10-22 Scrapbook for March The cloud of unknowing | Nerve gas: you ask, we answer. | The cheque's in the post | Amelia Earhart | Persil Man | Dog-bites-man Posted on UTC 2018-03-01 02:01 Words: 1,139; reading time: 5 minutes 21 December: the centenary of Heinrich Böll's birth Rushing to the post office. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-12-22 11:33 Words: 555; reading time: 2 minutes 13 December: Saint Lucy's Day Johann Peter Hebel's classic story Unverhofftes Wiedersehen, 'The Unhoped-for Reunion'. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-12-11 08:53 Words: 4,131; reading time: 18 minutes Quote and image of the month for September Quote: Wolfdietrich Schnurre, Der Schattenfotograf, 1978. Images: Various, The Cheder. Posted on UTC 2017-09-01 01:02 Words: 326; reading time: 1 minute Goethe's Gotthard obsession Three long journeys in 22 years, culminating in a pact with the Devil. [3 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-09-20 10:16 Words: 31,761; reading time: 2 hours 24 minutes 1775. Lili: the first Gotthard journey On the road with the Werther tribute band. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-09-20 10:17 Words: 7,578; reading time: 34 minutes Updated on 2017-11-19 1779. Charlotte: the second Gotthard journey Educating your duke. Don't bother. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-09-20 10:18 Words: 15,519; reading time: 1 hour 10 minutes 1797. Barbara: the third Gotthard journey Tell, Faust and a box of rocks. 220 years ago on 16 September Goethe entered Switzerland en route to the Gotthard. How time flies! Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-09-20 10:19 Words: 7,743; reading time: 35 minutes Quote and image of the month for August Quotes: Heinrich Heine (1831) and Conrad Ferdinand Meyer (1887). Images: Léopold Robert, L'Arrivée des Moissonneurs dans les marais Pontins (1830) and Friedrich Kallmorgen, Erntezeit (1891). Posted on UTC 2017-08-01 01:02 Words: 951; reading time: 4 minutes Quote and image of the month for July Quote: Georg Heym, Ophelia, 1911. Image: John Everett Millais, Ophelia, 1851-2. Posted on UTC 2017-07-01 01:02 Words: 1,138; reading time: 5 minutes Goethe's Heidenröslein Surviving a little prick. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-06-01 11:05 Words: 11,463; reading time: 52 minutes Updated on 2017-07-25 The French, dontcha luv 'em! No. And neither did Goethe. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-19 12:53 Words: 733; reading time: 3 minutes Christian Schubart: the prison years The author of Die Forelle gets taught a lesson. [10 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:40 Words: 20,749; reading time: 1 hour 34 minutes Schubart's dungeon cell in Hohenasperg Now you see it, now you don't. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:41 Words: 2,875; reading time: 13 minutes The commander and the clergyman Bad cop and even worse cop with some old scores to settle. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:42 Words: 2,725; reading time: 12 minutes His Serene Radiance Carl Eugen, Duke of Württemberg. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:43 Words: 1,759; reading time: 7 minutes Re-education Improving you until you stink. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:44 Words: 573; reading time: 2 minutes Some relief, 1778 The worst seems to be over. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:45 Words: 1,580; reading time: 7 minutes Fresh air, 1779 A glimpse of a distant, unreachable horizon. The permissibility of pleasure. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:46 Words: 2,117; reading time: 9 minutes The entertainer, 1780 Keeping the commander and his troops cheerful. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:47 Words: 2,231; reading time: 10 minutes Renewal, 1782 Recovering from Rieger. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:48 Words: 1,110; reading time: 5 minutes The Crypt of Princes Insult your captor publicly: that will get you out of prison in no time. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:49 Words: 1,709; reading time: 7 minutes Free at last He might have been better off staying in prison. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-05-15 18:50 Words: 3,221; reading time: 14 minutes Lied auf dem Wasser zu singen D 774. Great poem. Great music. Two geniuses at work. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-04-30 10:01 Words: 5,809; reading time: 26 minutes Who's afraid of Immanuel Kant? 230 years of the Critique of Pure Reason Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-04-23 16:38 Words: 648; reading time: 2 minutes Too much understanding Gotthold Lessing's little boy Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-03-18 16:11 Words: 463; reading time: 2 minutes Quote and image of the month for January Quote: Wilhelm Busch, [Sahst du das wunderbare Bild von Brouwer?]. Image: Adriaen Brouwer, Die Operation am Rücken. Posted on UTC 2017-01-01 01:02 Words: 281; reading time: 1 minute Trembling above the abyss Goethe conquering one of his demons in Strasbourg Cathedral. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-01-22 13:50 Words: 1,166; reading time: 5 minutes Deutschland, Deutschland über alles 220 years and still going strong – well, some of it at least. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2017-01-09 08:43 Words: 4,734; reading time: 21 minutes Updated on 2017-02-14 Rustling inspiration More for Schubert fans: a closer look at Wohin? from Die schöne Müllerin. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-09-22 13:56 Words: 1,243; reading time: 5 minutes Channelled speech Decorating the slaughterhouse with geraniums. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-09-19 09:23 Words: 1,575; reading time: 7 minutes Updated on 2016-09-20 Walking with Walser Martin Walser, Heimatkunde and the art of leaving things unsaid. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-09-04 17:00 Words: 1,608; reading time: 7 minutes Quote and image of the month for August Quote: Friedrich Schiller, Wilhelm Tell. Image: Ernst Stückelberg, Wilhelm Tell mit Sohn/William Tell and son. Posted on UTC 2016-08-01 01:02 Words: 537; reading time: 2 minutes Quote and image of the month for May 2016 Quote: Stefan Zweig, Die Welt von Gestern: Erinnerungen eines Europäers. Image: Friderike und Stefan Zweig auf einem Bahnhof/The Zweigs on a station platform. Posted on UTC 2016-05-01 01:02 Words: 393; reading time: 1 minute Do not sleep… …while the stewards of the world are busy. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-04-13 15:31 Words: 1,044; reading time: 4 minutes The real Lili Marleen Certainly not hanging around lamposts. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-04-03 07:18 Words: 1,443; reading time: 6 minutes Updated on 2026-04-03 Heinrich Heine, 17 February 1856 A tardy commemoration of the 160th anniversary of the death of Heinrich Heine. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-03-17 09:31 Words: 1,215; reading time: 5 minutes Die Forelle Fishy tales, speculations, a decade in a dungeon, oblivion and immortality. You can't beat a good song. [5 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:50 Words: 18,547; reading time: 1 hour 24 minutes Franz Schubert – The Trout Quintet The young genius playing for his supper in provincial Austria. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:51 Words: 1,418; reading time: 6 minutes Franz Schubert – The Trout A taste of immortality for a forgotten poet from an unknown composer. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:52 Words: 430; reading time: 1 minute Christian Schubart – The road to doom How to make enemies and the fine art of annoying nearly everyone at the same time. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:53 Words: 7,717; reading time: 35 minutes Christian Schubart – Taking the bait Muddying the waters and choosing the perfect bait for the victim: a masterpiece! Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:54 Words: 6,835; reading time: 31 minutes Christian Schubart – The Trout The bright, romantic allegory of deception and kidnap on the autopsy slab. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-02-07 16:55 Words: 1,953; reading time: 8 minutes Nathan's rings Lessing's Nathan, not called 'the Wise' for nothing. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2016-01-18 16:14 Words: 925; reading time: 4 minutes Die Winterreise Schubert yet again, but no cheerful bits at all this time, just loss, betrayal, rejection, alienation and wandering. [5 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:10 Words: 9,781; reading time: 44 minutes Chapter 1 – The birth of the text of Die Winterreise. The 'Urania' text, the 'Waldhornist' text and Schubert's synthesis. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:11 Words: 1,210; reading time: 5 minutes Chapter 2 – Poems 1-12 A narrative of loss, rejection and wandering: the first twelve poems of the Die Winterreise and the narrative thread. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:12 Words: 1,768; reading time: 8 minutes Chapter 3 – Poems 13-24 Themes of despair, alienation and wandering: the last twelve poems of the Die Winterreise; thematic structure and the death paradox. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:13 Words: 2,061; reading time: 9 minutes Chapter 4 – Wilhelm Müller The biographical background to Wilhelm Müller's poem collection Die Winterreise. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:14 Words: 1,913; reading time: 8 minutes Chapter 5 – Franz Schubert The biographical background to Franz Schubert's setting of the song-cycle Winterreise. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-31 16:15 Words: 2,325; reading time: 10 minutes Die schöne Müllerin Schubert again. Two blondes making out. A talking stream looks on as the hunter gets the girl. Many trigger alerts here. [4 pages] Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-03 16:10 Words: 9,504; reading time: 43 minutes Chapter 1 – The song-cycle and its prologue The genesis of the idea of a song-cycle from Wilhem Müller's prologue to Die schöne Müllerin. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-03 16:11 Words: 2,021; reading time: 9 minutes Chapter 2 – Poems 1-12 Love and joy: a structural analysis of the first twelve poems of the Die schöne Müllerin. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-03 16:12 Words: 2,360; reading time: 10 minutes Chapter 3 – Poems 13-23 Despair and death: a structural analysis of the last eleven poems of the Die schöne Müllerin. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-03 16:13 Words: 2,558; reading time: 11 minutes Chapter 4 – The context of the work The problem of the narrative song-cycle; the biographical component. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-12-03 16:14 Words: 2,242; reading time: 10 minutes All Souls' Day, 2 November Some thoughts for All Souls' Day, 2 November on the Litany for All Souls' Day of Johann Georg Jacobi, set to music by Franz Schubert. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-11-02 10:12 Words: 1,730; reading time: 7 minutes Nietzsche's birthday Friedrich Nietzsche would have been 171 today, so let's dig out one or two of his undeservedly neglected poems to celebrate the occasion. Posted by Richard Law on UTC 2015-10-15 09:03 Words: 415; reading time: 1 minute
