Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803) was a German poet,
critic, and philosopher. Herder's critical writings indicated
his intuitive rather than reasoning trend of thought. He
collected folk songs and poetry of all nations, published as
Summen der Volker in Liedern / Voices of the People in Song
(1778), and in the Ideen zur Philosophic der Geschichte der
Menschheit / Outlines of a Philosophy of the History of Man
(1784-1791) he outlined the stages of human cultural
development. He gave considerable impulse to the Romantic Sturm
und Drang / Storm and Stress movement in German literature. Why
is Johann Gottfried Herder famous? Johann Gottfried Herder was a
German philosopher, poet and literary critic.