The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Spielhagen, Friedrich
SPIELHAGEN, spēl'hä''gĕn, Friedrich,
German author: b. Magdeburg, 24 Feb. 1829;
d. 1911. He studied at Berlin, Bonn and
Greifswald, turned from an academic career to
literature, made some translations from French
and English, including one of ‘Amerikanische
Gedichte’ (1856; 3d ed., 1871), and after
publishing two sketches that attracted little attention,
became well known through his
‘Problematische Naturen’ (1860), in which he
advocated the advanced liberal politics of his time.
His 'Sturmflut' (1876), based on the financial
crises in Berlin following the Franco-Prussian
War, is worthy of comparison with this. He
wrote a great number of optimistic and
sometimes extravagant novels, having a preference
for social problems. His books are often truly
voluminous and frequently somewhat grandiose,
but display a certain energy of treatment in
dealing with what the author believed important
questions of the time. See
.