Karl Joseph Simrock (28 August 1802 – 18 July 1876) was a German poet and writer. He is primarily known for his translation of ''Das

Nibelungenlied The (, or ; or ), translated as ''The Song of the Nibelungs'', is an epic poetry, epic poem written around 1200 in Middle High German. Its anonymous poet was likely from the region of Passau. The is based on an oral tradition of Germanic hero ...

'' into modern German.

Life

He was born in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, where his father was a music publisher. He studied law at the

University of Bonn The University of Bonn, officially the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (), is a public research university in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the () on 18 October 1818 by Frederick Willi ...

and

Humboldt University The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public university, public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III of Prussia, Frederick W ...

, Berlin, and in 1823 entered the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n civil service, from which he was expelled in 1830 for writing a poem in praise of the

July Revolution The French Revolution of 1830, also known as the July Revolution (), Second French Revolution, or ("Three Glorious ays), was a second French Revolution after French Revolution, the first of 1789–99. It led to the overthrow of King Cha ...

in France. Afterwards he became a lecturer at the University of Bonn, where in 1850 he was made a professor of

Old German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

literature and where he died.

Work

Simrock established his reputation by his excellent modern rendering of ''Das

'' (1827), and of the poems of

Walther von der Vogelweide Walther von der Vogelweide (; ) was a Minnesänger who composed and performed love-songs and political songs ('' Sprüche'') in Middle High German. Walther has been described as the greatest German lyrical poet before Goethe; his hundred or s ...

(1833). Among other works translated by him into modern German were the '' Arme Heinrich'' of

Hartmann von Aue Hartmann von Aue, also known as Hartmann von Ouwe, (born ''c.'' 1160–70, died ''c.'' 1210–20) was a German knight and poet. With his works including '' Erec'', '' Iwein'', '' Gregorius'', and '' Der arme Heinrich'', he introduced the Arthu ...

(1830), the ''Parzival'' and ''Titurel'' of

Wolfram von Eschenbach Wolfram von Eschenbach (; – ) was a German knight, poet and composer, regarded as one of the greatest epic poets of medieval German literature. As a Minnesinger, he also wrote lyric poetry. Life Little is known of Wolfram's life. Ther ...

(1842), the ''Tristan'' of

Gottfried von Strassburg Gottfried von Strassburg (died c. 1210) is the author of the Middle High German courtly romance ''Tristan'', an adaptation of the 12th-century ''Tristan and Iseult'' legend. Gottfried's work is regarded, alongside the '' Nibelungenlied'' and Wol ...

(1855) and the ''Heldenbuch'' (1843–1849), which he supplemented with independent poems. Before the publication of this work he had shown an original poetical faculty in ''Wieland der Schmied'' (1835); and in 1844 he issued a volume of ''Gedichte'' in which there are many good lyrics, romances and ballads. In 1850 appeared ''Lauda Sion'', and in 1857 the ''Deutsche Sionsharfe'', collections of Old German sacred poetry. Of his publications the most popular and the most valuable were the ''Deutsche Volksbücher'', of which fifty-five were printed between 1839 and 1867. His best contribution to scholarship was his ''Handbuch der deutschen Mythologie'' (1853–1855). At an early stage of his career Simrock gained high standing among students of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

for his ''Quellen des Shakespeare in Novellen, Märchen und Sagen'' (1831); afterwards he translated Shakespeare's poems and a considerable number of his dramas. The large number of editions through which Simrock's translations from the

Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...

have passed (more than 53 of ''Das Nibelungenlied'') bear witness to their popularity. An edition of his ''Ausgewählte Werke'' in 12 vols. was published by G. Klee (1907).

Notes

References

* * * This work in turn cites: ** N. Hocker, ''Karl Simrock, sein Leben und seine Werke'' (1877) ** H. Düntzer, "Erinnerungen an Karl Simrock," in ''Monatsschrift für Westdeutschland'' (1877) **

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simrock, Karl Joseph 1802 births 1876 deaths University of Bonn alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Academic staff of the University of Bonn Writers on Germanic paganism 19th-century German translators 19th-century German writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers Translators of the Poetic Edda