Ludwig Uhland
Ludwig Uhland was a notable German poet and legal scholar, born in Tübingen, Swabia, in 1787. Coming from a family with deep academic roots, including a grandfather who was a poet and professor, Uhland began writing poetry at a very young age. His early influences included Scottish ballads and the works of prominent poets such as Johann Gottfried Herder. After receiving support to attend university, he cultivated his interests in heroic German literature and folk songs, becoming a prominent figure in the Romantic movement.
Uhland's literary career took off with the publication of several ballads and essays, culminating in his significant poetry collection, "Vaterländische Gedichte," published in 1815. Although initially met with limited success, the collection grew to become a staple of German literature, going through numerous editions. Alongside his literary endeavors, he practiced law and engaged in political activities, advocating for parliamentary democracy in Württemberg. He also served as a professor of German at the University of Tübingen and participated in the Landtag parliament. Uhland's contributions to both literature and politics mark him as a key figure in 19th-century Germany, reflecting the cultural and social changes of his time.
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Ludwig Uhland
Poet
- Born: April 26, 1787
- Birthplace: Tübingen, Württemberg, Germany
- Died: November 13, 1862
- Place of death: Tübingen, Württemberg, Germany
Biography
Ludwig Uhland was the son of Johann Friedrich and Rosine Elizabeth Uhland. He grew up in Tübingen, Swabia, his family’s home for generations and a place of established Germanic cultural traditions. Uhland’s father was secretary for the university, and his grandfather, Ludwig Joesph Uhland, a poet, had been a professor of history and theology. The younger Ludwig Uhland began writing poetry in Latin school, where he enrolled in 1793 at the age of six, and his early poetry consisted of hexameters in Latin and simple German rhymes, including poems that were a bit sad in tone for a young boy. Uhland was influenced in his early years by the Scottish songs originally attributed to Gaelic poet Ossian and by the poetry of Johann Gottfried Herder and Ludwig Hölty.
When Uhland’s father was given a grant in 1801 to provide support for his clearly talented young son to attend the university, Uhland began taking private lessons in classical languages and literature. During his studies he found his greatest interests in heroic German literature and in German folk songs. During these years, Uhland published the ballads “Die Kapelle,” “Schäfers Sonntagslied,” “Das Schloss am Meer,” and “Entschluss.”
Around 1805, Uhland began studies at the Tübingen Faculty of Law, where he collaborated with fellow poets to produce the Sonntagsblatt für gebildete Stände (Sunday paper for the educated classes), in which Uhland published an admirable essay on Romanticism in 1807. Uhland finished his exams in 1808 and became licensed to work as an advocate, but he spent most of the next two years working on a doctoral dissertation, time during which he also put out such well-received poems as “Klein Roland” (little Roland), “Der gute Kamerad” (the good comrade), and “Der Wirtin Töchterlein” (the innkeeper’s daughter).
With his doctorate in law in hand in 1810, Uhland granted a request from his father that he study the Code Napoleon in Paris, and he arrived at France’s capital on May 25, 1810, soon finding himself engrossed instead in medieval and Old French manuscripts at the imperial library. When he returned to Germany in 1811, Uhland began practicing law and on the side published an almanac of poetry with Gustav Schwab and Justinus Kerner. He also worked, without pay, for the Minister of Justice from 1812 to 1814, always continuing to produce both ballads and occasional poems. His first major collection of poetry, Vaterländische Gedichte, was published in 1815, and though it didn’t find immediate success, it was continually supplemented and ended up going into nineteen editions by 1851 and forty editions by 1869.
Uhland married Emilie Vischer, a wealthy heiress, in 1820, and this financial support enabled him to focus on both literary and political pursuits. Uhland was among those who fought to restore parliamentary democracy in Württemberg, and he was a professor of German at the University of Tübingen from 1829 to 1832, when he was elected to the Landtag parliament. He left politics in 1838, returning only once, in 1848, during Germany’s brief revolution.