(Encyclopedia) Wolfram von EschenbachWolfram von Eschenbachvôlˈfräm fən ĕshˈənbäkh [key], c.1170–c.1220, German poet. Perhaps the greatest of the German minnesingers, and one of the finest poets of…
(Encyclopedia) Bismarck, Otto vonBismarck, Otto vonbĭzˈmärk, Ger. ôˈtō fən bĭsˈmärk [key], 1815–98, German statesman, known as the Iron Chancellor.
The Bismarckian era closed with the death of…
(Encyclopedia) Bergmann, Ernst vonBergmann, Ernst vonĕrnst fən bĕrgˈmän [key], 1836–1907, German surgeon, b. Riga. He became a professor at the Univ. of Berlin in 1882. He contributed to the modern…
(Encyclopedia) Berlichingen, Götz vonBerlichingen, Götz vongötsˈ fən bĕrˈlĭkhĭng-ən [key], 1480–1562, German knight and adventurer. The head of a band of free soldiers, he lost (1504) his right hand…
(Encyclopedia) Bernhardi, Friedrich vonBernhardi, Friedrich vonfrēˈdrĭkh fən bĕrnhärˈdē [key], 1849–1930, German general and military writer. His book Germany and the Next War (1912, tr. 1912) was…
(Encyclopedia) Zesen, Philipp vonZesen, Philipp vonfēˈlĭp fən tsāˈzən [key], 1619–89, German poet and novelist. Zesen was a major champion of the purification of the German language. His works…
(Encyclopedia) Ranke, Leopold vonRanke, Leopold vonlāˈōpôlt fən rängˈkə [key], 1795–1886, German historian, generally recognized as the father of the modern objective historical school. He applied…
(Encyclopedia) Schiller, Friedrich von, 1759–1805, German dramatist, poet, and historian, one of the greatest of German literary figures, b. Marbach, Württemberg. The poets of German romanticism were…
(Encyclopedia) Schlegel, Friedrich vonSchlegel, Friedrich vonfrēˈdrĭkh [key]Schlegel, Friedrich von fən shlāˈgəl [key], 1772–1829, German philosopher, critic, and writer, most prominent of the…
(Encyclopedia) Schleicher, Kurt von, 1882–1934, German general. A leading Reichswehr (army) figure after World War I, Schleicher wielded great power in the years before Adolf Hitler came to power (…