View source for Ludwig Uhland

{{Short description|German poet and politician (1787–1862)}}
{{no footnotes|date=July 2014}}
{{Distinguish|Ludwig Joseph Uhland}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Ludwig Uhland
| image         = Uhland.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = Portrait of Uhland by Gottlob Wilhelm Morff, {{circa}} 1818
| birth_name    = Johann Ludwig Uhland 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1787|04|26}}
| birth_place   = [[Tübingen]], [[Duchy of Württemberg]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1862|11|13|1787|04|26}}
| death_place   = Tübingen, [[Kingdom of Württemberg]] 
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = [[Philology|Philologist]]
| party         = [[Old Liberals]]
| movement      = [[German Romanticism|Romanticism]]
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = 
| spouse        = Emilie Auguste Uhland {{nee}} Vischer
| mother        = Elisabeth {{nee}} Hoser
| father        = Johann Friedrich Uhland
| relatives     = [[Ludwig Joseph Uhland]]
| signature     = Signatur Ludwig Uhland.PNG
}}

'''Johann Ludwig Uhland''' (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a [[Germans|German]] [[poet]], [[philologist]], [[literary historian]], [[lawyer]] and [[politician]].

==Biography==
[[File:Ludwig Uhland - Gemälde von Christoph Friedrich Dörr (1810 KfS066).jpg|thumb|Ludwig Uhland in 1810. Oil on canvas by Christoph Friedrich Dörr]]
[[File:Bilderrevolution0391.jpg|thumb|Uhland in 1848]]
He was born in [[Tübingen]], [[Duchy of Württemberg|Württemberg]], and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in medieval literature, especially old German and French poetry. Having graduated as a doctor of laws in 1810, he went to [[Paris]] for eight months to continue his studies of poetry; and from 1812 to 1814 he worked as a lawyer in [[Stuttgart]], in the bureau of the minister of justice.

===Poetry===
He began his career as a poet in 1807 and 1808 by contributing ballads and lyrics to Seckendorff's ''Musenalmanach''; and in 1812 and 1813 he wrote poems for [[Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner|Kerner]]'s ''Poetischer Almanach'' and ''Deutscher Dichterwald''. In 1815 he collected his poems in a volume entitled ''Vaterländische Gedichte'', which almost immediately secured a wide circle of readers. To almost every new edition he added some fresh poems. His two dramatic works ''Ernst, Herzog von Schwaben'' (1818) and ''Ludwig der Baier'' (1819) are unimportant in comparison with his ''Gedichte''.

As a lyric poet, Uhland must be classed with the writers of the [[German romanticism|German romantic]] movement. Like them, he found the [[Middle Ages]] appealed most strongly to his imagination. Yet his style has a precision, suppleness and grace which distinguish his most characteristic writings from those of the other German romantics. Like them, Uhland wrote poems in defense of human liberty, and in the states assembly of the [[Kingdom of Württemberg]], he played a distinguished part as one of the most vigorous and consistent of the [[Old Liberals]] among its members.

===Politics===
[[German Confederation|In 1815]], [[Kingdom of Württemberg|Württemberg]] was to be granted a new constitution, replacing the old constitution of the [[Estates of Württemberg]] (''Landstände'') which had been abolished in 1806. Uhland became a prominent proponent of the old rights of the estates during the controversy of the following years, which ended in a compromise in 1819 under [[William I of Württemberg]]. Uhland went on to serve in the newly created parliament (''Landtag'') from 1819 until 1826.

In 1829 he was made honorary professor of [[German literature]] at the [[University of Tübingen]], but he resigned in 1833, when the post was found to be incompatible with his political views. In 1848 he became a member of the [[Frankfurt Parliament]] that convened in the course of the [[The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|1848 revolution]].

===Philology and literary history===
As a Germanic and Romance [[philologist]], Uhland must be counted among the founders of that science. Besides the treatise ''Ueber das altfranzösische Epos'' (1812) and an essay ''Zur Geschichte der Freischiessen'' (1828), there are to be especially mentioned ''Walther von der Vogelweide, ein altdeutscher Dichter'' (1822); ''Der Mythus von Thôr'' (1836), the result of the most painstaking original investigation; and the masterly collection ''Alte hoch- und niederdeutsche Volkslieder'' (1844–45; 3d ed. 1892). His poetical works were repeatedly published as ''Gedichte und Dramen'', while his scientific work is embodied in ''Schriften zur Geschichte der Dichtung und Sage'', edited by Holland, Keller, and Pfeiffer (1865–72).

He died on 13 November 1862 in [[Tübingen]].

==Translations==
[[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow]] translated some of his pieces into English. Alexander Platt translated his ''Poems'' (Leipzig, 1848), [[W. W. Skeat]] his ''Songs and Ballads'' (London, 1864), and W. C. Sandars his ''Poems'' (1869).

==Legacy==
* One of his best-known poems is "[[Ich hatt' einen Kameraden]]", which is an integral part of [[military funeral]]s. 
* [[Uhland, Texas|A town]] located south of [[Austin, Texas]], is named in his honor.
* German composer [[Wilhelmine Schwertzell]] (1787-1863) used Uland's text in her songs "Abschied" and "Einkehr".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wilhelmine Schwertzell von Willingshausen Song Texts {{!}} LiederNet |url=https://www.lieder.net/lieder/get_settings.html?ComposerId=7769 |access-date=2022-11-10 |website=www.lieder.net}}</ref>
* Lieder composer [[Pauline Volkstein]] 1849-1925) also set Uhland's text to music.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Pauline Volkstein und ihre Volkslieder. Von Dr. Armin Knab. - Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek |url=http://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/JEGD5MP5XTMAYAUFH5XFWRCUWH7FWZIL |access-date=2023-03-05 |website=www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de |language=de}}</ref>
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Uhland, Johann Ludwig}}
*{{Cite NIE|wstitle=Uhland, Johann|year=1905}}
*{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Uhland, Johann Ludwig}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Ludwig Uhland}}
* {{wikiquote-inline}}
* {{wikisource author-inline|Ludwig Uhland}}
* {{Commons-inline}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Ludwig Uhland}}
* {{Librivox author |id=161}}
* {{Gutenberg author|44612}}
* {{OL author|151961A}}

{{Romanticism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uhland, Ludwig}}
[[Category:1787 births]]
[[Category:1862 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Tübingen]]
[[Category:19th-century German poets]]
[[Category:Members of the Frankfurt Parliament]]
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Württemberg]]
[[Category:University of Tübingen alumni]]
[[Category:Members of the Württembergian Chamber of Deputies]]
[[Category:German philologists]]
[[Category:German literary historians]]
[[Category:Germanic studies scholars]]
[[Category:Writers on Germanic paganism]]
[[Category:19th-century philologists]]
[[Category:19th-century German historians]]
[[Category:German male poets]]
[[Category:19th-century German male writers]]
[[Category:German male non-fiction writers]]