Georg Philipp Harsdörffer was among the most prolific writers of the German Baroque (q.v.). In the wake of Martin Opitz' (q.v.) reforms which laid the foundation of early modern German literature, Harsdörffer flourished in Nuremberg by taking up and broadening Opitz' cause, and even going his own separate way: he co-founded (with Johann Klaj, 1616-56) the “Hirten- und Blumenorden an der Pegnitz” (The Pastoral Order of Shepherds and Flowers on the River Pegnitz, 1644), a language society whose goal it was to purify the German language along virtuous lines, to use dactyls instead of alternating iambics and to imitate the sounds of divine nature (
Klangmalereior onomatopoeia) in poetry. Although Harsdörffer established his reputation as a translator and adaptor of Romance prose works…
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Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Georg Philipp Harsdörffer". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 July 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11808, accessed 23 November 2024.]
