Wilhelm Hauff was a writer of extraordinary fancy and invention, but working for a more obvious purpose, and producing narratives more related in character to popular legends. He was born in 1802, at Stuttgard, and in early life showed a great predilection for telling childish narratives. Being designed for the theological profession, he went to the University of Tubingen in 1820. --- On leaving the university, Hauff became tutor to the children of the Wurttemberg minister of war, General Ernst Eugen Freiherr von Hugel, and for them wrote his Tales, which he published in his "Almanach of Tales for the year 1826". --- Only a few of his famous tales take place in Germany, among them the "Nose, the Dwarf" and "The Cold Heart." --- Hauff needs only to be known to become popular in any country. His works, which are somewhat numerous, were published in a complete edition by the poet Gustav Schwab, in 1830. Wilhelm Hauff died in 1827, before he had completed his twenty-sixth year.

"Michael Kohlhaas" is a novella written by famed writer Heinrich von Kleist (1777-1811). The story is based upon the historical figure of Hans Kohlhase, a 16th century merchant who turned violent after being attacked and victimized by the authorities. As a result, he gathered around him a band of criminals and spread terror throughout the whole of Saxony. --- "The novella is a good example of Kleist's excellent narrative art: The action can be summed up in a few words, such as the formula for this story, given expressly on its first page: 'His sense of justice made him a robber and a murderer.' There is no leisurely exposition of time, place, or situation; all the necessary elements are given concisely in the first sentences. The action develops logically, with effective use of retardation and climax, but without disturbing episodes; and the reader is never permitted to forget the central theme. The descriptive element is realistic, with only pertinent details swiftly presented, often in parentheses, while the action moves on. The characterization is skilfully indirect, through unconscious action and speech. The author does not shun the trivial or even the repulsive in detail, nor does he fear the most tragic catastrophes ... The whole work in all its parts is firmly and finely forged by a master workman. --- Kleist has remained a solitary figure in German literature. Owing little to the dominant literary influences of his day, he has also found few imitators. Two generations passed before he began to come into his heritage of legitimate fame. Now ... his place is well assured among the greatest dramatic and narrative authors of Germany." (John S. Nollen)

No literature can produce a more original writer than Ernst Theodor Wilhelm Hoffmann (1776 1822), a German Romantic author of fantasy and horror, better known by his pen name E. T. A. Hoffmann (Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann). His works are very numerous and were published at Berlin in fifteen volumes. He is the subject and hero of Jacques Offenbach's famous but fictional opera The Tales of Hoffmann.---Of the two tales in this book, "The Sandman" is from the collection "Night Pieces," and The Elementary Spirit is from his "Later Works." In these stories, Hoffmann's purpose is to point out the ill-effect of a morbid desire after an imaginary world, and a distaste for realities. Different as their adventures are, there is a striking similarity in the characters of Nathaniel (in "The Sandman") and Victor (in "The Elementary Spirit"). However wild may be the subjects of Hoffmann, and however rambling his method of treating them, his style is remarkably lucid.---The story of the Sandman had its origin in a discussion which actually took place between La Motte Fouque (a German writer of the romantic movement, 1777 1843) and some friends, at which Hoffmann was present. Some of the party found fault with the cold, mechanical deportment of a young lady of their acquaintance, while La Motte Fouque zealously defended her. Here Hoffmann caught the notion of the automaton Olympia, and the arguments used by Nathaniel are those that were employed by La Motte Fouque."

Wilhelm Raabe's novel entitled Der Hungerpastor (1864) is a classic example of the so-called "poetic realism" to which many - primarily bourgeois - German writers were devoted between 1850 and 1890. --- Wilhelm Raabe (1831 - 1910) became famous following the publication of his first novel, Die Chronik der Sperlingsgasse (The Sparrow Lane Chronicle), in 1856. His late works are known for their social criticism, while earlier novels, such as The Hunger Pastor, were intended to be primarily educational. --- With the figure of Hans Unwirrsch in The Hunger Pastor, Raabe completely lives up to his motto - "Look up to the stars. Pay attention to the streets." The budding pastor, who was born into poverty, "hungers" for knowledge and a respected place in society, but he constantly stumbles over obstacles that his own life, as well as the lives of his family and friends, place before him. --- Raabe's rambling style makes his works difficult reading for many contemporary readers. In this version of The Hunger Pastor, several chapters have therefore been summarized by the translator, while the most important ones are published in their original length. --- Despite some anti-Semitic elements, which were commonly found in the works of some 19th century bourgeois writers in Germany, The Hunger Pastor is and remains a German literature classic.

Gottfried Keller (1819-1890), one of the greatest German authors in Switzerland, was a confirmed bachelor, not by choice but by necessity. He had been in love several times, but all he received in return was friendship and respect. --- In 'The Governor of Greifensee', one of Keller's Zurich Novellas, the hero, Salomon Landolt, the noble and impartial judge and governor, hits upon the grotesque plan of inviting all his former sweethearts to a festival at his castle. The five ladies accept the invitation not knowing that the others would be there. They are sincerely glad to see their old friend again; for it was not he who had deserted or injured any of them, they all for one reason or another had rejected the hand of the worthy suitor. --- It was Keller's own experience. The novel is a fine example of Keller's humor and art of story-telling. The five love affairs of the governor are told with exquisite grace and subtle characterization.

Love is necessarily an important element in all imaginative literature, but with Gottfried Keller it does not overshadow all other aspects of life. Great passion we do not find in his works. In "A Village Romeo and Juliet", it is not ill-consuming love that makes the two young people seek death, but the bitter realization of life's law, as they understood it, which made it impossible for them ever to be united. The story is a fine illustration of what a great artist may make out of his raw material. Keller had read in a newspaper a report of the suicide of two young people, the sort of tragedy that we may read almost daily in newspapers; he seized upon the possibilities of the situation and the result was this story, perhaps the best he ever wrote. --- Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) was one of the foremost Swiss novelists and one of the most original figures of German literature since Goethe, a master of style worthy to be classed with the great names of all ages. (John Albrecht Walz)

"Colas Breugnon" is a charming romance of life in Burgundy three hundred years ago. It is an "autobiographical" novel, the story being told in the first person by Colas, who reviews his fifty years of life, and describes all its joys and sorrows. The story is gay and humorous, and full of wise observations about life. --- "Colas Breugnon is the jovial Burgundian, the lusty wood-carver, the practical joker always fond of his glass, the droll fellow. Before everything, Colas Breugnon is a free man. He loves his king, but only so long as the king leaves him his liberty; he loves his wife, but follows his own bent; he is on excellent terms with the priest of a neighboring parish, but never goes to church; he idolizes his children, but his vigorous individuality makes him unwilling to live with them. He is friendly with all, but subject to none; he is freer than the king; he has that sense of humor characteristic of the free spirit to whom the whole world belongs. From the artistic point of view, 'Colas Breugnon' may perhaps be regarded as Rolland's most successful work. This is because it is woven in one piece, because it flows with a continuous rhythm, because its progress is never arrested by the discussion of thorny problems. It is written throughout in the same key. The first sentence gives the note like a tuning fork, and thence the entire book takes its pitch. Throughout, the same lively melody is sustained. The writer employs a peculiarly happy form. His style is poetic without being actually versified; it has a melodious measure without being strictly metrical. This work is unlike any of Rolland's other writings. It is not an historic study, a critical appreciation, a philosophic essay, nor yet even, in the strictest sense of the word, a novel. It is rather a volume of reminiscences as told by a man of fifty; and the very aimlessness with which this man talks is in itself a pleasure; for Breugnon is himself the one subject of the book, holding our attention by the display of a wayward, sympathetic, and aggressive personality." (Stefan Zweig)