German Arts & Music
A look at the traditional arts, music, and literature of Germany.
Traditional Arts of Germany
Germany's culture is closely tied to its arts, particularly through its accomplishments in literature and music. The two oldest known figurative sculptures produced by humans, the Venus of Hohle Fels and the Löwenmensch figurine, both date to German sites about 40,000 years old. By the Late Bronze Age, around 2,700 years ago, Celtic groups like the Hallstatt culture were burying their dead with sophisticated metal jewelry, weapons, and tools. As Germanic peoples moved into the region, they brought their own artistic customs and adopted those of their neighbors. The Roman Empire would later prove influential along its Germanic frontier as well.
During the medieval period, German-speaking peoples produced artwork as part of a larger network of Christian monasteries and noble courts. German architects constructed notable churches, palaces, and cathedrals in the Romanesque and Gothic styles. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, Johannes Gutenberg invented the European movable-type printing press. This encouraged a flourishing environment of printing and literature.
Because the Holy Roman Empire consisted of hundreds member states, its arts varied considerably. There is no singular artistic tradition of any genre in German history; its people tend to recognize the best representatives from across the German-speaking world. The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, for example, was born in Salzburg, an Archbishopric of the Holy Roman Empire. He has since been described as either German or Austrian, though neither state existed as such at the time. German cultural identity, however, has existed for centuries and influenced the development of both Germany and Austria.
German Illustration, Printing, and Painting
Medieval German artists primarily focused on Christian subjects through sculpture, painting, architecture, and illuminated manuscripts. The Carolingian dynasty, founded by Charlemagne, sponsored a wide expansion of the arts through monasteries. These monastic communities hosted artists, scholars, and priests from across the Christian world, each bringing with them their own tastes and customs. They began producing manuscripts using a calligraphic style known as Carolingian miniscule, which became the standard form of Latin script in medieval Europe.
German painters are somewhat less known than their French counterparts, but the nation possesses a legacy of painting just as old as its neighbor. As mentioned earlier, these artists existed in a complex political and social environment. Prominent painters tended to travel between courts and schools and were more likely to identify with their city of residence than any larger state. Hans Holbein the Younger, for example, is best known for serving at the court of English King Henry VIII, but he was born in modern Bavaria and spent much of his career in Switzerland.
The invention of the European printing press occurred about a half-century before Holbein's lifetime. In addition to portraits and religious paintings, he also produced woodcuts and engravings. This branch of art became especially popular in Germany, perhaps best exemplified by the works of Albrecht Dürer. Prints could be reproduced at a mass scale, allowing for the widespread publication of illustrated books.
Later German painters of note include Franz Marc, Otto Dix, Max Ernst, Caspar David Friedrich, Paul Klee, and Gerhard Richter.
German Craftsmanship and Woodworking
In addition to its formal visual arts, Germany is home to a long-standing industry of folk crafts. The Black Forest region of Bavaria continues to produce traditional wares like glass and, most famously, decorative cuckoo clocks. Similar customs existed across what is now Germany throughout its history. The extent to which they are practiced today varies by region.
German Literature
German literature grew alongside the printing press, reaching its height in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most well known of these classical authors is Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, who wrote the drama Faust among other novels, poems, philosophical works, and academic texts. His contemporary, Friedrich Schiller, penned dramas and tragedies like Don Carlos and William Tell. They were part of a larger literary movement that intersected with philosophy, theater, and the gradual formation of a German national identity. The 19th and 20th centuries saw further influential authors like Herman Hesse, Bertolt Brecht, and Erich Maria Remarque.
German Classical Music
The late Renaissance and early modern eras also marked the pinnacle of German classical music. Composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Johannes Brahms, Robert Schumann, and Wilhelm Richard Wagner all found acclaim across the Western world. They typically composed pieces for orchestras, operas, choirs, and solo instruments like the organ or piano. The German opera, founded in part by Mozart, became especially popular through the influence of Richard Wagner.
The contributions of these composers and their contemporaries to classical European music is difficult to overstate. Over time, Vienna emerged as the premier center of musical growth and expression in the declining Holy Roman Empire. Austrian and German musical schools diverged as the regions coalesced into separate nation-states. Nonetheless, their shared musical heritage remains a point of pride in both countries.
Modern Arts of Germany
The turmoil of the 20th century prompted a rapid diversification and evolution of the arts in Germany. The National Socialist Party called back to German artists as cultural touchstones and national symbols. It censored other artists it found objectionable, forcing many to leave the country. In the wake of World War II and the atrocities committed by that government, German artists reinterpreted older works and built off their own experiences to branch into countless schools, movements, and philosophies. Modern artists work across all media, including painting, sculpture, photography, film, and folk crafts. German musicians have also made notable contributions to music in genres like pop, techno, metal, jazz, and punk rock, among others.
References
Bernstein, Eckhard. Culture and Customs of Germany. Greenwood Press. 2004.
Fullbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. Cambridge University Press. 2004.
Music and German National Identity. Celia Applegate and Pamela Potter, eds. University of Chicago Press. 2002.
Shailor, Barbara A. The Medieval Book: Illustrated from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. University of Toronto Press. 1991.
Sidgwick, Cecily Ullman. Home Life in Germany. MacMillan Company. 1912.
Simons, Gary F., and Charles D. Fennig. “Summary by Language Size.” Ethnologue, SIL International, www.ethnologue.com/statistics/size.
The Cambridge Companion to Modern German Culture. Eva Kolinsky and Wilfried van der Will, eds. Cambridge University Press. 2004.
“The World Factbook: Germany.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 15 May 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html.
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