A ''Musen-Almanach'' ("Muses' Almanac") was a kind of literary annual, popular in Germany from 1770 into the mid-19th century. They were modelled on the '' Almanach des Muses'' published in Paris from 1765.

Development in the 1770s

The first example was

Johann Christian Dieterich Johann Christian Dieterich (1722The '' Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie'' gives 1712, but this contradicts church records.–1800) was the founder of the Dieterich'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung publishing house and a close friend of Georg Christoph ...

's '' Göttinger Musenalmanach'' (GMA) of 1770. It was promoted by the mathematician

Abraham Gotthelf Kästner Abraham Gotthelf Kästner (27 September 1719 – 20 June 1800) was a German mathematician and epigrammatist. He was known in his professional life for writing textbooks and compiling encyclopedias rather than for original research. Georg Chr ...

, and published by Heinrich Christian Boie (in partnership with

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 ...

). As a literary outlet for students 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 ...

, it received contributions from

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 S ...

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 ...

and his relative Gottlob Dietrich Miller, Johann Friedrich Hahn, Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs,

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 in ...

, and others. In 1774 Boie made Voss editor, but Voss soon left for

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and started a competing almanac; in spring 1775, he was replaced by Leopold Friedrich Günther Goeckingk; he was joined the next year by

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 ad ...

, who became sole editor in 1779. After Bürger's death in 1795 he was replaced by

Karl Reinhard Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austri ...

. A semi-pirated imitation by Engelhard Benjamin Schwickert, ''Leipziger Almanach der deutschen Musen'', simultaneously appeared in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

. Despite including nineteen stolen items, it was on sale ''before'' the GMA. The editor was Christian Heinrich Schmid, and in subsequent years it would include the work of

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 ...

Christian Fürchtegott Gellert Christian Fürchtegott Gellert (4 July 171513 December 1769) was a German poet, one of the forerunners of the golden age of German literature that was ushered in by Lessing. Biography Gellert was born at Hainichen in Saxony, at the foot of th ...

Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (2 April 1719 – 18 February 1803) was a German poet, commonly associated with the Enlightenment movement. Life Gleim was born at the small town of Ermsleben in the Principality of Halberstadt, then part of Prussia ...

and

Karl Wilhelm Ramler Karl Wilhelm Ramler (25 February 1725 – 11 April 1798) was a German poet, Berlin Cadet School master. Ramler was born in Kolberg. After graduating from the University of Halle, he went to Berlin, where, in 1748, he was appointed professo ...

. From 1776 it was titled ''Leipziger Musen-Almanach'', and from 1782 Benjamin took over as editor. The third almanac to appear was that of the

previously mentioned, the ''Hamburger Musenalmanach''. The first issue of 1776 lost money, and Voss transferred management to Carl Ernst Bohn, but continued to edit, with the help (from 1779 to 1786) of Goeckingk. In Vienna in 1777, the ''Wienerischer Musenalmanach'' (or ''Wiener Musen-Almanach'' from 1786) appeared. The editor was Joseph Franz von Ratschky, and he was joined by Aloys Blumauer in 1781, and later by Gottlieb von Leon and Martin Joseph Prandstätter. The last issue appeared in 1796.

Schiller's ''Musenalmanach''

Other similar almanacs were less successful, including

Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...

's ''Anthologie'' (1782) which only appeared once. His second attempt was ''Musen-Almanach'' (1796–1800) which is the most famous example in the entire genre, because of the contributors:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

Johann Gottfried Herder Johann Gottfried von Herder ( , ; 25 August 174418 December 1803) was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the Enlightenment, ''Sturm und Drang'', and Weimar Classicism. Biography Born in Mohrun ...

Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck was born in B ...

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Part ...

and

August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel the leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His trans ...

. Inspired by his example, there followed ''Musenalmanache'' by

and

(Tübingen 1802), by

Johann Bernhard Vermehren Johann Bernhard Vermehren (6 June 1777 in Lübeck – 29 November 1803 in Jena) was an early Romanticism, Romantic poet and scholar. He earned a doctoral degree in philosophy from the University of Jena in 1799, obtaining habilitation one year ...

(Leipzig 1802 and Jena 1803), the ''Musenalmanach'' by

Adelbert von Chamisso Adelbert von Chamisso (; 30 January 178121 August 1838) was a German poet and botanist, author of ''Peter Schlemihl'', a famous story about a man who sold his shadow. He was commonly known in French as Adelbert de Chamisso (or Chamissot) de Bonc ...

and

Karl August Varnhagen von Ense Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (21 February 1785 in Düsseldorf – 10 October 1858 in Berlin) was a German biographer, diplomat and soldier. Life and career He was born in Düsseldorf, the younger brother of Rosa Maria Varnhagen, a noted poet, ...

(1804–1806), the ''Poetische Taschenbuch'' of

Friedrich Schlegel Karl Wilhelm Friedrich (after 1814: von) Schlegel (; ; 10 March 1772 – 12 January 1829) was a German poet, literary critic, philosopher, philologist, and Indologist. With his older brother, August Wilhelm Schlegel, he was one of the main figure ...

(Berlin 1805–1806) and the ''Musenalmanach'' edited by Leo von Seckendorf (Regensburg 1807–1808).

Mass marketing, and ''Taschenbücher''

The heyday of the almanac was perhaps the 1820s, during which decade they gradually began to appear in England in an etiolated form as

literary annual Gift books, literary annuals, or keepsakes were 19th-century books, often lavishly decorated, which collected essays, short fiction, and poetry. They were primarily published in the autumn, in time for the holiday season and were intended to be g ...

s. In 1823, a writer in the ''

European Magazine ''The European Magazine'' (sometimes referred to as ''European Magazine'') was a monthly magazine published in London. Eighty-nine semi-annual volumes were published from 1782 until 1826. It was launched as the ''European Magazine, and London Re ...

'' of London commented: :In Germany, the most popular species of work is what is called their Almanacs. The booksellers are generally concerned in such speculations, and there is scarce a toilette on which one or several of them are not to be found. Such works contain the ''coups d'essai'' of swarms of maiden authors, and with the ephemeral and lighter pieces of writers whose reputation is established. Some of these Almanacs are of a more serious and useful character, and the whole of them are generally bound with taste and fancy, and are ornamented with elegant engravings.Philological Society (Great Britain). "Literary and Scientific Intelligence, Foreign and Domestic. -- Munich." From ''The European magazine, and London review.'' Volume 84 (1823), page 366. The ''Musen-Almanach'' was gradually superseded by the ''Taschenbuch'' ("pocket book") and by the literary magazine as we know it today — some still bearing the word ''Musenalmanach'' in their titles. However, short-lived annuals of the same kind continued to appear as late as the 1860s.

Notes

Bibliography

* Carl Christian Redlich: ''Versuch eines Chiffernlexikons zu den Göttinger, Voßischen, Schillerschen und Schlegel-Tieckschen Musenalmanachen''. Meißner, Hamburg 1875 * Hans Köhring: ''Bibliographie der Almanache, Kalender und Taschenbücher für die Zeit von ca. 1750 bis 1860''. Self-published, Hamburg 1929. Reprinted Bad Karlshafen 1987. * York-Gothart Mix: ''Kalender? Ey wie viel Kalender!. Literarische Almanache zwischen Rokoko und Klassizismus''. HAB, Wolfenbüttel 1986, . * York-Gothart Mix: ''Die deutschen Musen-Almanache des 18.Jahrhunderts''. Beck, München 1987. * York-Gothart Mix: ''Populäre Almanache im frühmodernen Europa''. De Gruyter, Berlin 2002. . * Maria Gräfin Lanckoronska, Arthur Rümann: ''Geschichte der deutschen Taschenbücher und Almanache aus der klassisch-romantischen Zeit''. H. Th. Wenner, Osnabrück 1985.

External links

Digitalisat des Wienerischen Musenalmanachs auf das Jahr 1777

Inhaltsverzeichnis deutscher Almanache (1770–1850)
1770 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Annual magazines published in Germany Defunct literary magazines published in Germany German-language magazines Magazines established in 1770 Magazines established in 1796 {{Commons