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Gestalt

(Encyclopedia)Gestalt gəshtältˈ [key] [Ger.,=form], school of psychology that interprets phenomena as organized wholes rather than as aggregates of distinct parts, maintaining that the whole is greater than the ...

Charles Augustus

(Encyclopedia)Charles Augustus, 1757–1828, duke and, after 1815, grand duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach; friend and patron of Goethe, Schiller, and Herder. Though his duchy was small, he was important in German polit...

Feith, Rhijnvis

(Encyclopedia)Feith, Rhijnvis rīnˈvĭs fīt [key], 1753–1824, Dutch romantic poet, novelist, and dramatist. His principal works are the long poem on eternity Het Graf (1792) and the sentimental novel Julia (178...

Bernoulli

(Encyclopedia)Bernoulli or Bernouilli both: bĕrno͞oyēˈ [key], name of a family distinguished in scientific and mathematical history. The family, after leaving Antwerp, finally settled in Basel, Switzerland, whe...

Pied Piper of Hamelin

(Encyclopedia)Pied Piper of Hamelin, legendary figure of Hameln, Germany. He rid the town of its rats and mice by charming them away with his flute playing. When the citizens refused to pay him the price they had a...

Brocken

(Encyclopedia)Brocken brôkˈən [key], granite peak, 3,747 ft (1,142 m) high, central Germany; highest peak of the Harz Mts. Popular legend makes it the meeting place of the Walpurgis Night or Witches' Sabbath. Th...

Strauss

(Encyclopedia)Strauss strous, Ger. shtrous [key], family of Viennese musicians. Johann Strauss, 1804–49, learned to play the violin against his parents' wishes. In 1819 he joined the dance orchestra of Josef Lann...

Old Catholics

(Encyclopedia)Old Catholics, Christian denomination established by German Catholics who separated themselves from the Roman Catholic Church when they rejected (1870) the decrees of the First Vatican Council, especi...

West, Benjamin

(Encyclopedia)West, Benjamin, 1738–1820, American historical painter who worked in England. He was born in Springfield, Pa., in a house that is now a memorial museum at Swarthmore College. After some instruction ...

Robinson, Henry Crabb

(Encyclopedia)Robinson, Henry Crabb, 1775–1867, English diarist, journalist, and lawyer. He practiced law occasionally and served (1808–9) as war correspondent for the London Times. His voluminous correspondenc...