The ''Göttinger Hainbund'' ("Grove League of Göttingen") was a German literary group in the late 18th century, nature-loving and classified as part of the ''

Sturm und Drang ''Sturm und Drang'' (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto- Romantic movement in German literature and music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity and, in particul ...

'' movement.

Origin and description

It was by means of a midnight ritual in an oaken grove that the ''Göttinger Hainbund'' was founded on 12 September 1772 by

Johann Heinrich Voss Johann Heinrich Voss (german: Johann Heinrich Voß, ; 20 February 1751 – 29 March 1826) was a Germans, German classicist and poet, known mostly for his translation of Homer's ''Odyssey'' (1781) and ''Iliad'' (1793) into German language, German ...

Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty (21 December 1748 – 1 September 1776) was a German poet, known especially for his ballads. Hölty was born in the Electorate of Hanover in the village of Mariensee (today part of Neustadt am Rübenberge) where h ...

Johann Martin Miller Johann Martin Miller (3 December 1750 in Ulm – 21 June 1814 in Ulm) was a German theologian and writer. He is best known for his novel ''Siegwart'', which became one of the most successful books at the time. Life Miller, the son of the Ev ...

, Gottlieb Dieterich von Miller, Johann Friedrich Hahn and

Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs (18 July 1751, in Göttingen – 26 January 1811, in Isernhagen) was a German theologian and a founder of the Göttinger Hainbund literary group. Wehrs, the son of an official, studied theology from 1769 to 1775. His know ...

, in the university town of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

. The members knew one other through their presence at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

or through their contributions to the ''

Göttinger Musenalmanach ''Göttinger Musenalmanach'' was the title of two different literary magazines published in Göttingen, Germany, one running from 1770 to 1807, the other 1896 to 1953. A ''Musen-Almanach'' was a kind of literary annual, and the Göttingen magazine ...

'', a literary annual founded by

Heinrich Christian Boie Heinrich Christian Boie (19 July 1744 – 3 March 1806) was a German author. He was born at Meldorf in Holstein (at the time a part of the Danish monarchy). After studying law at Jena, he went in 1769 to Göttingen, where he became one of th ...

in 1770. Their evident delight in wilderness and untamed Nature (as a counterweight to the rationalism of the Enlightenment) is what scholars use to connect them to ''Sturm und Drang'', although not all commentators agree on who influenced whom, and in what way. In the poetry of the 48-year-old

Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside ...

they found their ideal. Their respect for him ran parallel to their disdain for

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the epic ''Oberon'', which formed the ba ...

's jesting poetry, which they saw as frivolous, Frenchified work. On 2 July 1773, they celebrated Klopstock's birthday: :Klopstock's chair, adorned with roses and carnations, stood at the head of the long table, also decorated with flowers; on it were placed the works of the poet, while under the chair lay Wieland's ''Idris'' torn up. "Cramer," relates Voss, "read some of Klopstock's odes having relation to Germany; then we took coffee, and made lighters for our pipes out of Wieland's writings. Even Boie, who did not smoke, was compelled to light one and to stamp upon the torn ''Idris.'' Afterwards we drank, in Rhine wine, to the health of Klopstock, the League, Ebert, Goethe, and Herder, and to the memory of Luther and Hermann. Klopstock's "Ode to Rhine Wine," and some others, were read. Conversation then flowed freely. With hats on, we talked about liberty and Germany and virtue; you can just imagine how. Then we supped, and finally burnt Wieland's ''Idris'' and likeness. Whether Klopstock has heard of our doings, or only guessed at them, I do not know; but he has written to ask for a description of the day." Wieland was untroubled and responded generously, referring to the members of the ''Hainbund'', in a letter to

Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi (; 25 January 1743 – 10 March 1819) was an influential German philosopher, literary figure, and socialite. He is notable for popularizing nihilism, a term coined by Obereit in 1787, and promoting it as the prime faul ...

, as "well-meaning" youngsters without experience of the world. In fact, by 1779, Voss was counted among Wieland's friends. The term ''Hainbund'' refers to Klopstock's ode ''"Der Hügel und der Hain"'' ("The Hill and the Grove", 1767), which contrasts citified Ancient Greek artistic ideals (symbolised by

Mount Parnassus Mount Parnassus (; el, Παρνασσός, ''Parnassós'') is a mountain range of central Greece that is and historically has been especially valuable to the Greek nation and the earlier Greek city-states for many reasons. In peace, it offers ...

) with the simple rural virtue of the German bard. The two literary predecessors, ''Poet'' and ''Barde'', vie for the allegiance of the modern ''Dichter''. The ''Poet'' condemns the "voice of coarse Nature", but the ''Barde'' wins by emphasizing the closer spiritual connection he holds with the living German, and the ''Dichter'' exclaims: : Another father figure (although not a member) was

Gottfried August Bürger Gottfried August Bürger (31 December 1747 – 8 June 1794) was a German poet. His ballads were very popular in Germany. His most noted ballad, '' Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English and Russian ada ...

. He and Hölty are known as the inventors of the German '' Kunstballade'' ("art ballad"). On Sunday, 18 September 1774, Klopstock passed through the city and paid them a visit. He had intended to leave early the next morning, but transportation was difficult to find, and to their delight he spent nearly the whole of the Monday in their company.Letter from Voss to Ernestine Boie, quoted by Annette Lüchow in ''Klopstock an der Grenze der Epochen,'' edited by Kevin Hilliard, Katrin Maria Kohl, Helmut Riege. Walter de Gruyter, 1995. Pages 216-218. In 1775, most of its members having completed their education, the ''Hainbund'' gradually broke up as they returned to their home cities.

Members

Ernst Theodor Johann Brückner Ernst Theodor Johann Brückner, real name Ernst Brückner, (13 September 1746 – 29 May 1805) was a German Theology, theologian and literary. He was the only foreign member of the Göttinger Hainbund. Life and work Born in Neetzka, Brückne ...

* Carl Christian Clauswitz * Carl August Wilhelm von Closen * Carl Friedrich Cramer * Christian Hieronymus Esmarch * Schack Hermann Ewald * Johann Friedrich Hahn *

Johann Anton Leisewitz Johann Anton Leisewitz (born 9 May 1752 in Hanover, died 10 September 1806 in Braunschweig) was a German lawyer and dramatic poet, and a central figure of the Sturm und Drang era. He is best known for his play ''Julius of Taranto'' (1776), that ins ...

* Gottlieb Dieterich von Miller *

Christian zu Stolberg-Stolberg Christian, Count of Stolberg-Stolberg (15 October 1748 – 18 January 1821) poet, brother of Frederick Leopold, also a poet. Born at Hamburg, he became a magistrate at Tremsbüttel in Holstein in 1777. Of the two brothers Frederick was undoub ...

Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg Friedrich Leopold Graf zu Stolberg-Stolberg (7 November 1750 – 5 December 1819), was a German lawyer, and translator born at Bramstedt in Holstein (then a part of Denmark). He was also a poet of the ''Sturm und Drang'' and early Romantic p ...

Johann Heinrich Voß Johann Heinrich Voss (german: Johann Heinrich Voß, ; 20 February 1751 – 29 March 1826) was a German classicist and poet, known mostly for his translation of Homer's ''Odyssey'' (1781) and ''Iliad'' (1793) into German. Life Voss was born at ...

Associates

Matthias Claudius Matthias Claudius (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of “Asmus”. Life Claudius was born at Reinfeld, Holstein, Reinfeld, near Lübeck, and studied at Jena. He spent the gre ...

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (); (12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in ...

Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk, also Göckingk (13 July 1748 – 18 February 1828) was a German lyric poet, journalist, and Prussian official. Life Goeckingk was born in Gröningen (Landkreis Börde) and went to school in Halberstadt, ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter (3 September 1746 – 18 March 1797) was a German poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Gotha. He started out studying law, but early on was influenced to write for the theatre. After the completion of his univer ...

Joseph Martin Kraus Joseph Martin Kraus (20 June 1756 – 15 December 1792), was a German-Swedish composer in the Classical era who was born in Miltenberg am Main, Germany. He moved to Sweden at age 21, and died at the age of 36 in Stockholm. He has been referred ...

Christian Adolph Overbeck Christian Adolph Overbeck (21 August 1755 in Lübeck – 9 March 1821 in Lübeck) was a German poet, and the Burgomaster of Lübeck. Life Family Overbeck was the son of the lawyer, Georg Christian Overbeck (1713-1786) and his wife Eleonor ...

* Gottlob Friedrich Ernst Schönborn *

Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart (24 March 1739 – 10 October 1791), was a German poet, organist, composer, and journalist. He was repeatedly punished for his social-critical writing and spent ten years in severe conditions in jail. Life Bor ...

* Johann Gottfried Friedrich Seebach * Anton Matthias Sprickmann

Notes

External links

''Der Hügel und der Hain''

Bibliography

* Bäsken, Rothraut: ''Die Dichter des Göttinger Hains und die Bürgerlichkeit. Eine literarsoziologische Studie.'' Königsberg, Berlin 1937 * Grantzow, Hans: ''Die Geschichte des Göttinger und des Vossischen Musenalmanachs''. Univ. Diss., Berlin 1909 * Jansen, Heinz: ''Aus dem Göttinger Hainbund. Overbeck und Sprickmann.'' Münster 1933 * Kahl, Paul: Das Bundesbuch des Göttinger Hains. Edition - Historische Untersuchung - Kommentar. Tübingen 2006. * Kindermann, H.: ''Göttinger Hain''. Stichwort in: Paul Merker, Wolfgang Stammler (Hrsg.): Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturgeschichte, Bd. 1. Berlin 1925/1926, S. 456-462 * Kohlschmidt, Werner: ''Göttinger Hain''. In: Reallexikon der deutschen Literaturgeschichte. 2. Aufl. Bd. 1. Berlin 1958. S. 597-601 * Lüchow, Annette: ''Die heilige Cohorte. Klopstock und der Göttinger Hainbund''. In: Kevin Hilliard, Katrin Kohl (Hrsg.): Klopstock an der Grenze der Epochen. Berlin, New York 1995, S. 152-220 * Pohlmann, Axel: ''Der Hain und die Loge''. In: Quatuor Coronati Jahrbuch, Nr. 38, Bayreuth 2001, S. 129-149 * Prutz, R.E.: '' Der Göttinger Dichterbund. Zur Geschichte der deutschen Literatur'', Leipzig 1841 * Sauer, August: ''Die Dichtungen des Göttinger Hainbunds'', 1887 * Schachner, Walter: ''Das Generationsproblem in der Geistesgeschichte. Mit einem Exkurs über den Hainbund''. Gießen 1937, Nachdruck Amsterdam 1968. * Thomalla, Erika: ''Die Erfindung des Dichterbundes. Die Medienpraktiken des Göttinger Hains''. Göttingen 2018. * Weinhold, Karl: ''Heinrich Christian Boie''. Halle 1868 * Windfuhr, Emil Ernst: ''Freimaurer im Göttinger Hain. Die Gebrüder Stolberg, Voss, Claudius, Bürger und ihre Beziehungen zur Freimaurerei''. Freimaurerische Schriftenreihe Nr. 12. Frankfurt/Main, Hamburg, Mainz o.J. (ca. 1955) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gottinger Hainbund Literary circles Organizations established in 1772