Georg Philipp Harsdörffer (1 November 1607 – 17 September 1658) was a Jurist, Baroque-period

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and translator. Born in

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

, he studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

at Altdorf and

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...

. He studied at the

University of Strassburg The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. The French university traces its history to the ea ...

under professor

Matthias Bernegger Matthias Bernegger ( la, Bernegerus, also ''Matthew'';Jerzy Dobrzycki: ''The reception of Copernicus' heliocentric theory'', International Union of the History and Philosophy of Science. Nicolas Copernicus Committe/ref> born 8 February 1582 in Hall ...

. He subsequently traveled through the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. While he was in Italy, he came into contact with members of learned academies. He shared his desire for reform in literary and

linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

for the improvement of moral and culture of the society. His knowledge of languages earned him the appellation "the learned." He was well-versed in contemporary

French culture The culture of France has been shaped by geography, by historical events, and by foreign and internal forces and groups. France, and in particular Paris, has played an important role as a center of high culture since the 17th century and from t ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. As an innovative poet, he was receptive to ideas from abroad. He is still known for his "Germanizations" of foreign-language terms. As a member of the

Fruitbearing Society The Fruitbearing Society (German Die Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft, lat. ''societas fructifera'') was a German literary society founded in 1617 in Weimar by German scholars and nobility. Its aim was to standardize vernacular German and promote it a ...

(Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft) he was called ''der Spielende'' (the player). In 1644 jointly with Johann Klaj he founded the order of the Pegnitzschäfer (Pegnitz Shepherds), a

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

, in Nuremberg. He was known by the name Strephon among the members of this order. His writings in

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

fill fifty volumes, and a selection of his poems, which are mostly interesting for their form, can be found in Müller's ''Bibliothek deutscher Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts'', vol. ix (Leipzig, 1826). Widmann (Altdorf, 1707) wrote a biography of him. In his ''Treatise to Protect the Work on the German Language (1644)'', he asserted that German ‘speaks with the tongues of nature.' He was the father of Karl Gottlieb Harsdörffer (1637–1708).http://www.idc.nl/ead/dsc.php?faid=316faid.xml&c01=all

External links

References

* This work in turn cites: ** Julius Tittmann, ''Die Nürnberger Dichterschule'' (Göttingen, 1847) ** Hodermann, ''Eine vornehme Gesellschaft, nach Harsdörffers "Gesprächspielen"'' (Paderborn, 1890) ** T. Bischoff, "Georg Philipp Harsdörffer" in the ''Festschrift zur 1600 jahrigen Jubelfeier des Pegnesischen Blumenordens'' (Nuremberg, 1894) ** Krapp, ''Die asthetischen Tendenzen Harsdörffers'' (Berlin, 1904). * S. Taussig, C. Zittel (éds.), ''Japeta. Édition et traduction'', Brepols Publishers, 2010, * Stefan Manns, ''Grenzen des Erzählens. Konzeption und Struktur des Erzählens in Georg Philipp Harsdörffers "Schauplätzen"''. Berlin 2013 (= Deutsche Literatur. Studien und Quellen; 14); (zugl. Univ. Dissertation, FU Berlin 2010). {{DEFAULTSORT:Harsdorffer, Georg Philipp 1607 births 1658 deaths German poets Writers from Nuremberg German male poets German-language poets Baroque writers