Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/787

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GERMANY (Language and Literature)
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with political and commercial relations; Raumer (1781-1873), the historian of the Hohenstaufen; Leopold von Ranke (1795), whose labors embrace a vast field of modern history; Dahlmann (1785-1860), the German Guizot, author of “Sources of German History,” and the historian of Denmark and of the English and French revolutions; and Gervinus (1805-'71), the historian of German literature, Shakespearian critic, and author of the great history of the 19th century. Here may be mentioned also Rotteck (1775-1840), whose excellent universal history has been very popular on account of its liberal political views, and Weber, the author of several universal histories. While Niebuhr introduced a profounder method in the study of early Roman history, Bunsen, Lepsius, and others made discoveries in Egyptian and oriental antiquities, and a third impulse proceeded from the active researches in the field of classical archæology and philology. These combined influences are more or less manifest in the labors in ancient history of. Böckh, Karl Otfried Müller, Duncker, Droysen, Mommsen, Kortüm, Adolph Schmidt, Plass, Wachsmuth, Tittmann, Flathe, Manso, Abeken, Schwegler, E. Curtius, Lassen, Jahn, Hermann, Teuffel, and Movers. In the special study of Sanskrit Roth, Böhtlingk, Benfey, Fick, A. Weber, and others have won distinction. The history of the middle ages has been treated by Rühs, Rehm, and Wilken, and more especially by Leo, Hammer, Fallmerayer, Aschbach, Lappenberg, Dahlmann, Schäfer, Röpell, Kriegk, and Gregorovius. Various branches of oriental history and literature have been actively explored by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, Flügel, Plath, Radeloff, Ewald, and Nöldeke. Among writers on modern history are Dohm, Saalfeld, Bülau, Münnich, Häusser, and Treitschke. The humanitarian and cosmopolitan direction given to historical studies by the writers and philosophers of the 18th and 19th centuries, and especially by Herder and Kant, is manifest in the comprehensiveness of views which Rotteck, and chiefly Schlosser, bring to bear upon their labors, as well as in many works on particular sections and occupations of the people. This has culminated in what may be designated as a new science, which the Germans call Culturgeschichte, i. e., a history which treats of the moral, intellectual, social, and politico-economical, as well as political development of the people. Among the principal laborers in this new sphere of investigation are Wachsmuth (1784-1866), author of Europaische Sittengeschichte and of Allgemeine Culturgeschichte; Scherr, author of Geschichte deutscher Cultur und Sitte; Klemm (1802-'69), author of Allgemeine Culturgeschichte der Menschheit, and of Allgemeine Culturwissenchaft; and Henne-am-Rhyn, author of Culturgeschichte der neueren Zeit. The same tendency to dwell upon the practical realities of life extends over many other departments of literature in Germany, and is most strongly expressed in recent biographies and autobiographies, especially in that of Perthes. A more physiological method in these branches of investigation has been adopted by Riehl in his Naturgeschichte des Volkes als Grundlage einer deutschen Socialpolitik. The literature of travels was greatly stimulated by Johann Georg Adam Forster, commonly called Georg Forster (1754-'94), who accompanied Cook on his second voyage round the world, and who, in Alexander von Humboldt's opinion, inaugurated a new era of scientific voyages. A still more powerful impulse was given by Humboldt himself, by his travels in the equinoctial regions of America, and in central Asia. The travels of Lichtenstein (1780-1857) in southern Africa were of great scientific importance. The travels of Prince Maximilian of Wied (1782-1867) furnished valuable additions to the knowledge of the natural history and ethnology of Brazil and the United States. The explorations of Martius (1794-1868) in Brazil are important for the studies of botany, ethnology, geography, and statistics. Pöppig (1797-1868) visited Chili, Peru, and the river Amazon. Among the other explorers of South America are Burmeister (born 1807), who travelled more particularly in Brazil, and Johann Jakob von Tschudi (1818), a relative of Friedrich von Tschudi, author of Das Thierlelen in der Alpenwelt, and an active traveller, especially in Peru. Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk (1804-'65), a German by birth, but employed in the service of the British government, travelled in British Guiana, Barbadoes, Hayti, &c. His works were published in German by his brother, Otto Shomburgk (1810-'57). Another brother, Moritz Richard Schomburgk, travelled in British Guiana at the expense of the king of Prussia, and afterward in Australia in company with a fourth brother, Julius Schomburgk. The East has been visited by G. H. von Schubert (1780-1860), especially Egypt, Palestine, and Greece, and by Seetzen (1767-1811), whose Reisen durch Syrien, Palastina, die Trans-Jordan-Länder, Arabia Peträa und Unterägypten, were edited by F. Kruse. Minutoli (1772-1846) wrote on his travels to Upper Egypt. Rüppell (born 1794) explored Nubia, Kordofan, Arabia Petræa, and is best known by his travels in Abyssinia. The most eminent writers on Egypt are Lepsius, Brugsch, Baron Bunsen, Ebers, Dümichen, and Lauth. The historian Raumer gave graphic descriptions of his travels in Venice, England, Italy, and the United States; and Joseph Russegger (1802-'63) wrote comprehensively on his travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Venedey (1805-'71) gave accounts of England, Ireland, and southern France. Moritz Wagner (born 1813) has published his travels in Algeria, the Caucasus, Colchis, Persia, and Kurdistan, and, in conjunction with his companion Scherzer, in North America and Costa Rica. Froebel (born 1806) has described “Seven Years' Travels in Central America, Northern Mexico, and