Written between October and early November 1799, Die Christenheit oder Europa [Christendom or Europe] is Friedrich von Hardenberg’s only prose essay. With a glorifying description of the European Middle Ages as a time of unity and the practice of Christian ideals, Hardenberg calls for the restoration of a strong and cohesive Christendom that will invigorate the present inhabitants of Europe after a period of political (French Revolution) and religious (the disintegration of papal authority) turmoil and decline. Hardenberg first recited the essay to fellow Romantics – Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel, Dorothea Veit, Caroline Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schelling – on 13 o

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Published 12 March 2007

Citation: Grimm, Catherine. "Die Christenheit oder Europa [Christianity or Europe]". The Literary Encyclopedia. 12 March 2007.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=14308, accessed 20 November 2009.]