Ludwig Uhland Biography

Dromo's Den

UHLAND, Ludwig (1787-1862). A distinguished German poet, philologist, and literary historian. Born at Tübingen, April 26, 1787, he studied jurisprudence there in 1802-08, at the same time cultivating mediaeval literature, especially old German and French poetry, the study of which he pursued for eight months in Paris. On his return he began the practice of law at Stuttgart, worked in the Ministry of Justice, and when in 1815 Württemberg was to be granted a new constitution, his lyrics in praise of liberty were enthusiastically received. As a member of the Legislature from 1819 to 1839 he sided with the opposition. In 1848 he was elected to the German National Assembly, but in 1850 retired from political life and settled at Tübingen, devoting himself exclusively to literary pursuits. From 1829 to 1833 he had held the professorship of German literature at the University of Tübingen. As a lyric poet Uhland is remarkable for truth and simplicity of sentiment and his picturesque view of nature. His ballads and romances rank among the most precious ideal treasures of the German nation. During his early life he labored to revive the ballad. None has caught the spirit of the old folk song more fully than he. Of his songs the most widely popular are "Der Wirtin Töchterlein" and "Der gute Kamerad"; of the ballads, "Das Schloss am Meer," "Das Glück von Edenhall," "Des Goldschmieds Töchterlein," "Roland Schildträger," "Der schwarze Ritter," and "Des Sängers Fluch" are in all anthologies. He was the first poet of the Swabian school who sought to combine purity of style with brevity and vigor, and to give romantic sentiment to all. Although poetically effective, his glorifications of German faith, the dramas Ernst, Herzog von Schwaben (1817) and Ludwig der Bayer (1819 ) lack dramatic action and had only moderate success. Uhland was a founder of Germanic and Romance philology. Besides the treatise Ueber das altfranzösische Epos (1812), and an essay Zur Geschichte der Freischiessen (1828), there are to be especially mentioned Walther von der Vogelweide, ein altdeutscher Dichter (1822); Der Mythus von Thôr (1836 ), the result of painstaking original investigation; and the masterly collection Alte hoch- and niederdeutsche Volkslieder (1844-45 ; 3d ed., 1892). His poetical works were repeatedly published as Gedichte and Dramen, while his scientific work is embodied in Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage, edited by Holland, Keller, and Pfeiffer (1865-72). Consult: Mayer, Ludwig Uhland, seine Freunde and Zeitgenossen (ib., 1867); id., Ludwig Uhlands Leben: Aus dessen Nachlass und aus eigener Erinnerung zusammengestellt von seiner Wittwe (ib., 1874); H. Dederich, Ludwig Uhland als Dichter and Patriot (Gotha, 1886); W. L. Holland, Zu Ludwig Uhlands Gedächtnis (Leipzig, 1886); H. Fischer, Ludwig Uhland: eine Studie zu seiner Säkular feier (Stuttgart, 1887); Bernhardt, Uhlands politische Betätigung (1910); A. Hartmann, Ludwig Uhland (Stuttgart, 1913).

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XXII (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 626-627.