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
(, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...
'' 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,
Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty,
Johann Martin Miller,
Gottlieb Dieterich von Miller,
Johann Friedrich Hahn and
Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs, in the university town of
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) 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. According to the 2022 German census, 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 (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
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 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 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, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...
'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 a German philosopher, writer and socialite. He is best known for popularizing the concept of nihilism. He promoted the idea that it is the necessary result of Enlightenment th ...
, 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 (; , ''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 scenic views of the c ...
) 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 (ballad), Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English l ...
. 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
*
Heinrich Christian Boie
*
Ernst Theodor Johann Brückner
*
Carl Christian Clauswitz
*
Carl August Wilhelm von Closen
*
Carl Friedrich Cramer
*
Christian Hieronymus Esmarch
*
Schack Hermann Ewald
*
Johann Friedrich Hahn
*
Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty
*
Johann Anton Leisewitz
*
Johann Martin Miller
*
Gottlieb Dieterich von Miller
*
Christian zu Stolberg-Stolberg
*
Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg-Stolberg
*
Johann Heinrich Voß
*
Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs
Associates
*
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 (ballad), Lenore'', found an audience beyond readers of the German language in an English l ...
*
Matthias Claudius
*
Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué
*
Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk
*
Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter
*
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock
*
Joseph Martin Kraus
*
Christian Adolph Overbeck
*
Gottlob Friedrich Ernst Schönborn
*
Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart
*
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