Georg Philipp Harsdörffer was among the most prolific writers of the German Baroque (q.v.). In the wake of Martin Opitz' (q.v.) reforms which laid the foundation of early modern German literature, Harsdörffer flourished in Nuremberg by taking up and broadening Opitz' cause, and even going his own separate way: he co-founded (with Johann Klaj, 1616-56) the “Hirten- und Blumenorden an der Pegnitz” (The Pastoral Order of Shepherds and Flowers on the River Pegnitz, 1644), a language society whose goal it was to purify the German language along virtuous lines, to use dactyls instead of alternating iambics and to imitate the sounds of divine nature (

Klangmalerei

or onomatopoeia) in poetry. Although Harsdörffer established his reputation as a translator and adaptor of Romance prose works…

1506 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Georg Philipp Harsdörffer". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 July 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11808, accessed 06 October 2024.]

11808 Georg Philipp Harsdörffer 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.