August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen
Das Lied der Deutschen
The "'" , has been used wholly or partially as the national anthem of Germany since 1922. The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire...
", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.
Biography
Hoffmann was born in FallerslebenFallersleben
Fallersleben is a district in the City of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany, with a population of 11,269 . The village of Fallersleben was first mentioned in 942 under the name of Valareslebo. Fallersleben became a city in 1929, and was incorporated into Wolfsburg in 1972. Before 1972, it belonged...
(today it belongs to Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig , and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG...
), Brunswick-Lüneburg
Brunswick-Lüneburg
The Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg , or more properly Duchy of Brunswick and Lüneburg, was an historical ducal state from the late Middle Ages until the late Early Modern era within the North-Western domains of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, in what is now northern Germany...
, then part of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
.
The son of a merchant and Mayor of his native city, he was educated at the classical schools of Helmstedt
Helmstedt
Helmstedt is a city located at the eastern edge of the German state of Lower Saxony. It is the capital of the District of Helmstedt. Helmstedt has 26,000 inhabitants . In former times the city was also called Helmstädt....
and Braunschweig, and afterwards at the universities of Göttingen and Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
. His original intention was to study theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
, but he soon devoted himself entirely to literature. In 1823 he was appointed custodian of the university library at Breslau, a post which he held till 1838. He was also made extraordinary professor of the German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and literature at that university in 1830, and ordinary professor in 1835. Hoffmann was deprived of his chair in 1842 in consequence of his Unpolitische Lieder (1840–1841, "Unpolitical Songs"), which gave much offence to the authorities in Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
During his exile, he traveled in Germany, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and lived for two or three years in Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern...
, of which he became a naturalized citizen. After the revolution of 1848 he was enabled to return to Prussia, where he was restored to his rights, and received the salary attached to a promised office not yet vacant. He married in 1849, and during the next ten years lived first in Bingerbrück
Bingerbrück
Bingerbrück is a Stadtteil of Bingen am Rhein, on the opposite side of the river Nahe from the old town of Bingen. It was self-administering until 1969.- Binger Mäuseturm :...
, afterwards in Neuwied
Neuwied
Neuwied is a town in the north of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, capital of the District of Neuwied. Neuwied lies on the right bank of the Rhine, 12 km northwest of Koblenz, on the railway from Frankfurt am Main to Cologne...
, and then in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
, where together with Oskar Schade
Oskar Schade
Oskar Schade was a German philologist and Germanist who was born in Erfurt.In 1860 he received his habilitation at Halle, and from 1863 to 1906 was a professor at the University of Königsberg...
(1826–1906) he edited the Weimarische Jahrbuch (1854–1857).
In 1860 he was appointed librarian to the Duke of Ratibor
Ratibor
Ratibor is a Slavic origin male name containing words: "raci/rati" - "war, fight" and "bor" - "fight, warrior" and may refer to:*The German name of Racibórz, Poland*Ratibor...
at the monasterial castle of Corvey near Höxter
Höxter
Höxter is the seat of the Höxter district, and a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel in the centre of the Weser Uplands...
on the Weser, where he died in 1874.
Works
Hoffmann von Fallersleben was one of the most popular poets of modern Germany. In politics he ardently sympathized with the progressive tendencies of his time, and he was among the earliest and most effective of the political poets who prepared the way for the outbreak of 1848. As a poet, however, he acquired distinction chiefly by the ease, simplicity and grace with which he gave expression to the passions and aspirations of daily life. Although he had not been scientifically trained in music, he composed melodies for many of his songs, and a considerable number of them are sung by all classes in every part of Germany.Among the best known is the patriotic "Das Lied der Deutschen
Das Lied der Deutschen
The "'" , has been used wholly or partially as the national anthem of Germany since 1922. The music was written by Joseph Haydn in 1797 as an anthem for the birthday of the Austrian Emperor Francis II of the Holy Roman Empire...
" which starts with the words Deutschland, Deutschland über alles and is set to a 1797 tune by Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn , known as Joseph Haydn , was an Austrian composer, one of the most prolific and prominent composers of the Classical period. He is often called the "Father of the Symphony" and "Father of the String Quartet" because of his important contributions to these forms...
. The lyrics were written in 1841 on the island of Helgoland, then in British possession. The text of the song expresses the pan-German sentiments common in revolutionary republicans of the period and were highly inflammatory in the princedoms of the German-speaking world. This sentiment was, of course, considered high treason. The phrase über alles did not refer to militant ideas of conquest of foreign countries, but to the need for loyalty to a united Germany to replace all other regional loyalties.
The best of his poetical writings is his Gedichte ("Poems", 1827), but there is great merit also in his
- Alemannische Lieder ("Alemannic Songs", 1826),
- Soldatenlieder ("Soldier Songs", 1851),
- Soldatenleben ("Soldier's Life", 1852),
- Rheinleben ("Rhine Life", 1865), and in his
- Fünfzig Kinderlieder ("Fifty Children's Songs"),
- Fünfzig neue Kinderlieder ("Fifty New Children's Songs"), and
- Alte und neue Kinderlieder ("Old and New Children's Songs").
His Unpolitische Lieder, Deutsche Lieder aus der Schweiz ("German Songs from Switzerland") and Streiflichter ("Highlights") are not without poetical value, but they are mainly interesting in relation to the movements of the age in which they were written.
As a student of ancient Teutonic literature, Hoffmann von Fallersleben ranks among the most persevering and cultivated of German scholars, some of the chief results of his labors being embodied in his Horae Belgicae, Fundgruben für Geschichte deutscher Sprache und Literatur ("Sources for the History of German Language and Literature"), Altdeutsche Blätter ("Old German Papers"), Spenden zur deutschen Literaturgeschichte und Findlinge.
Among his editions of particular works may be named
- Reineke Vos,
- Monumenta Elnonensia and
- TheophilusTheophilusTheophilus is a male given name with a range of alternative spellings. Its origin is the Greek word Θεόφιλος from θεός and φιλία can be translated as "Love of God" or "Friend of God," i.e., it is a theophoric name, synonymous with the name Amadeus which originates from Latin...
Die deutsche Philologie im Grundriss ("Fundamentals of German Philology", 1836) was at the time of its publication a valuable contribution to philological research, and historians of German literature still attach importance to his
- Geschichte des deutschen Kirchenliedes bis auf Luther ("History of the German Church Song until Luther", 1832; 3rd ed., 1861),
- Unsere volkstümlichen Lieder ("Our Folk Songs", 3rd ed., 1869) and
- Die deutschen Gesellschaftslieder des 16. und 17. Jahrh. ("German Society Songs of the 16th and 17th Centuries", 2nd ed., 1860).
In 1868-1870 Hoffmann published in 6 vols. an autobiography, Mein Leben: Aufzeichnungen und Erinnerungen ("My Life: Notes and Memories", an abbreviated ed. in 2 vols., 1894). His Gesammelte Werke ("Collected Works") were edited by H. Gerstenberg in 8 vols. (1891–1894); his Ausgewählte Werke ("Selected Works") by H. Benzmann (1905, 4 vols.). See also Briefe von Hoffmann von Fallersleben und Moritz Haupt an Ferdinand Wolf ("Letters by Hoffmann von Fallersleben and Moritz Haupt to Ferdinand Wolf", 1874); J. M. Wagner, Hoffmann von Fallersleben, 1818-1868 (1869–1870), and R. von Gottschall, Porträts und Studien ("Portraits and Studies", vol. v., 1876).