Musenalmanach
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A ''Musen-Almanach'' ("Muses' Almanac") was a kind of literary annual, popular in Germany from 1770 into the mid-19th century. They were modelled on the ''
Almanach des Muses ''L'Almanach des Muses'' was a French-language poetry magazine published in Paris, France. History and profile ''Almanach des Muses'' was founded in 1765 by Sautreau de Marsy. The magazine was much in vogue during the second half of the 18th cen ...
'' published in Paris from 1765.


Development in the 1770s

The first example was
Johann Christian Dieterich Johann Christian Dieterich (1722The '' Allgemeinen Deutschen Biographie'' gives 1712, but this contradicts church records.–1800) was the founder of the Dieterich'schen Verlagsbuchhandlung publishing house and a close friend of Georg Christoph ...
's '' Göttinger Musenalmanach'' (GMA) of 1770. It was promoted by the mathematician Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, and published by
Heinrich Christian Boie Heinrich Christian Boie (19 July 1744 – 3 March 1806) was a German author. He was born at Meldorf in Holstein (at the time a part of the Danish monarchy). After studying law at Jena, he went in 1769 to Göttingen, where he became one of th ...
(in partnership with Friedrich Wilhelm Gotter). As a literary outlet for students at the
University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded i ...
, it received contributions from Johann Heinrich Voss, Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty, Johann Martin Miller and his relative
Gottlob Dietrich Miller Gottlob is a family name, which may refer to: * Georg Gottlob, Austrian computer scientist Gottlob is a given name, which may refer to: * Gottlob Berger (1896–1975), senior German Nazi official * Gottlob Burmann (1737–1805), German Romantic ...
,
Johann Friedrich Hahn Johann Friedrich Hahn (28 December 1753 in Gießen – 30 May 1779 in Zweibrücken) was a German lyric poet. Hahn, an evangelical Lutheran, began his studies on 22 April 1771 at the University of Göttingen, first law, then theology. On 12 Sep ...
,
Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs Johann Thomas Ludwig Wehrs (18 July 1751, in Göttingen – 26 January 1811, in Isernhagen) was a German theologian and a founder of the Göttinger Hainbund literary group. Wehrs, the son of an official, studied theology from 1769 to 1775. His know ...
, Johann Anton Leisewitz, and others. In 1774 Boie made Voss editor, but Voss soon left for
Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
and started a competing almanac; in spring 1775, he was replaced by
Leopold Friedrich Günther Goeckingk Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist ...
; he was joined the next year by Gottfried August Bürger, who became sole editor in 1779. After Bürger's death in 1795 he was replaced by Karl Reinhard. A semi-pirated imitation by
Engelhard Benjamin Schwickert Engelhard Corporation was an American ''Fortune'' 500 company headquartered in Iselin, New Jersey, United States. It is credited with developing the first production catalytic converter. In 2006, the German chemical manufacturer BASF bough ...
, ''Leipziger Almanach der deutschen Musen'', simultaneously appeared in
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
. Despite including nineteen stolen items, it was on sale ''before'' the GMA. The editor was
Christian Heinrich Schmid Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
, and in subsequent years it would include the work of
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock (; 2 July 1724 – 14 March 1803) was a German poet. His best known work is the epic poem ''Der Messias'' ("The Messiah"). One of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside ...
, Christian Fürchtegott Gellert,
Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim (2 April 1719 – 18 February 1803) was a German poet, commonly associated with the Enlightenment movement. Life Gleim was born at the small town of Ermsleben in the Principality of Halberstadt, then part of Prussia. ...
and Karl Wilhelm Ramler. From 1776 it was titled ''Leipziger Musen-Almanach'', and from 1782 Benjamin took over as editor. The third almanac to appear was that of the Johann Heinrich Voss previously mentioned, the ''Hamburger Musenalmanach''. The first issue of 1776 lost money, and Voss transferred management to
Carl Ernst Bohn Carl may refer to: *Carl, Georgia, city in USA *Carl, West Virginia, an unincorporated community *Carl (name), includes info about the name, variations of the name, and a list of people with the name *Carl², a TV series * "Carl", an episode of tel ...
, but continued to edit, with the help (from 1779 to 1786) of Goeckingk. In Vienna in 1777, the ''Wienerischer Musenalmanach'' (or ''Wiener Musen-Almanach'' from 1786) appeared. The editor was
Joseph Franz von Ratschky Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
, and he was joined by
Aloys Blumauer Aloys Blumauer, also known as Alois Blumauer or Johannes Aloysius Blumauer, (21 or 22 December 1755 Steyr - 16 March 1798 Vienna) was an Austrian poet. Biography His works, which are chiefly coarse satires on the clergy and on the Jesuits (of wh ...
in 1781, and later by
Gottlieb von Leon Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. History The main office and plant was located at 1140-50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s when a new modern plant and office was lo ...
and Martin Joseph Prandstätter. The last issue appeared in 1796.


Schiller's ''Musenalmanach''

Other similar almanacs were less successful, including
Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
's ''Anthologie'' (1782) which only appeared once. His second attempt was ''Musen-Almanach'' (1796–1800) which is the most famous example in the entire genre, because of the contributors:
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
, Johann Gottfried Herder,
Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck was born in B ...
,
Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Pa ...
and
August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel the leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His tra ...
. Inspired by his example, there followed ''Musenalmanache'' by
August Wilhelm Schlegel August Wilhelm (after 1812: von) Schlegel (; 8 September 176712 May 1845), usually cited as August Schlegel, was a German poet, translator and critic, and with his brother Friedrich Schlegel the leading influence within Jena Romanticism. His tra ...
and
Ludwig Tieck Johann Ludwig Tieck (; ; 31 May 177328 April 1853) was a German poet, fiction writer, translator, and critic. He was one of the founding fathers of the Romantic movement in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Early life Tieck was born in B ...
(Tübingen 1802), by Johann Bernhard Vermehren (Leipzig 1802 and Jena 1803), the ''Musenalmanach'' by Adelbert von Chamisso and Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (1804–1806), the ''Poetische Taschenbuch'' of Friedrich Schlegel (Berlin 1805–1806) and the ''Musenalmanach'' edited by Leo von Seckendorf (Regensburg 1807–1808).


Mass marketing, and ''Taschenbücher''

The heyday of the almanac was perhaps the 1820s, during which decade they gradually began to appear in England in an etiolated form as literary annuals. In 1823, a writer in the '' European Magazine'' of London commented: :In Germany, the most popular species of work is what is called their Almanacs. The booksellers are generally concerned in such speculations, and there is scarce a toilette on which one or several of them are not to be found. Such works contain the ''coups d'essai'' of swarms of maiden authors, and with the ephemeral and lighter pieces of writers whose reputation is established. Some of these Almanacs are of a more serious and useful character, and the whole of them are generally bound with taste and fancy, and are ornamented with elegant engravings.Philological Society (Great Britain). "Literary and Scientific Intelligence, Foreign and Domestic. -- Munich." From ''The European magazine, and London review.'' Volume 84 (1823), page 366. The ''Musen-Almanach'' was gradually superseded by the ''Taschenbuch'' ("pocket book") and by the literary magazine as we know it today — some still bearing the word ''Musenalmanach'' in their titles. However, short-lived annuals of the same kind continued to appear as late as the 1860s.


Notes


Bibliography

* Carl Christian Redlich: ''Versuch eines Chiffernlexikons zu den Göttinger, Voßischen, Schillerschen und Schlegel-Tieckschen Musenalmanachen''. Meißner, Hamburg 1875 * Hans Köhring: ''Bibliographie der Almanache, Kalender und Taschenbücher für die Zeit von ca. 1750 bis 1860''. Self-published, Hamburg 1929. Reprinted Bad Karlshafen 1987. * York-Gothart Mix: ''Kalender? Ey wie viel Kalender!. Literarische Almanache zwischen Rokoko und Klassizismus''. HAB, Wolfenbüttel 1986, . * York-Gothart Mix: ''Die deutschen Musen-Almanache des 18.Jahrhunderts''. Beck, München 1987. * York-Gothart Mix: ''Populäre Almanache im frühmodernen Europa''. De Gruyter, Berlin 2002. . * Maria Gräfin Lanckoronska, Arthur Rümann: ''Geschichte der deutschen Taschenbücher und Almanache aus der klassisch-romantischen Zeit''. H. Th. Wenner, Osnabrück 1985.


External links


Digitalisat des Wienerischen Musenalmanachs auf das Jahr 1777

Inhaltsverzeichnis deutscher Almanache (1770–1850)
1770 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire Annual magazines published in Germany Defunct literary magazines published in Germany German-language magazines Magazines established in 1770 Magazines established in 1796 {{Commons