Published : 2025-08-04

August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874) and His Achievements for Middle Dutch Literature

Abstract

The Chair for Dutch Studies in Wrocław is celebrating in 2025 the jubilee of “50 years Dutch Studies in Poland”, but the history of these studies is much longer. In 1823, the young scholar August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), an honorary doctor in Leyden, who in cooperation with Willem Bilderdijk, Matthijs Siegenbeek and Hendrik Willem Tydeman researched the Medieval Dutch literature, came to the Universitas Litterarum Vratislaviensis. In 1824, he introduced here the “Niederländische Philologie” (with works of the Medieval Flemish poet Jacob Van Maerlant). From 1830 on, he published here the monumental series Horae Belgicae, with texts of Medieval literature, including Caerl ende Elegast, Abele spelen and the Antwerps Liedtboeck.

And thus Hoffmann preserved the medieval literature of the Low Countries, which was appreciated in the 19th and 20th centuries. But today he is largely forgotten as a scholar of medieval literature. He is generally known as the author of the words “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles!” (being himself a liberal opponent of the oppressive Prussian state). The goal of this paper is to reinstate this pioneer of the Medieval Dutch Studies in Wrocław in his well-deserved place.

Keywords:

August Hoffmann Heinrich von Fallersleben, Universitas Litterarum Vratislaviensis, Horae Belgicae, Medieval Dutch Literature, Das Lied der Deutschen



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Roczniki Humanistyczne · ISSN 0035-7707 | eISSN 2544-5200 | DOI: 10.18290/rh
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