Enlightenment 18th-century history of Germany

weimar’s courtyard of muses, tribute enlightenment , weimar classicism depicting german poets schiller, wieland, herder , goethe.

before 1750 german upper classes looked france (or, previously, italy) intellectual, cultural , architectural leadership; french language of high society. mid-18th century aufklärung (the enlightenment) had transformed german high culture in music, philosophy, science , literature. christian wolff (1679–1754) pioneer writer expounded enlightenment german readers; legitimized german philosophic language.

johann gottfried von herder (1744–1803) broke new ground in philosophy , poetry, leader of sturm und drang movement of proto-romanticism. weimar classicism ( weimarer klassik ) cultural , literary movement based in weimar sought establish new humanism synthesizing romantic, classical, , enlightenment ideas. movement, 1772 until 1805, involved herder polymath johann wolfgang von goethe (1749–1832) , friedrich schiller (1759–1805), poet , historian. herder argued every folk had own particular identity, expressed in language , culture. legitimized promotion of german language , culture , helped shape development of german nationalism. schiller s plays expressed restless spirit of generation, depicting hero s struggle against social pressures , force of destiny.

german music, sponsored upper classes, came of age under composers johann sebastian bach (1685–1750), joseph haydn(1732–1809), , wolfgang amadeus mozart (1756–1791).

in remote königsberg philosopher immanuel kant (1724–1804) tried reconcile rationalism , religious belief, individual freedom, , political authority. kant s work contained basic tensions continue shape german thought – , indeed of european philosophy – 20th century.

the german enlightenment won support of princes, aristocrats, , middle classes, , permanently reshaped culture.