The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Müller, Wilhelm

MÜLLER, Wilhelm, German poet: b. Dessau, 7 Oct 1794; d. there, 30 Sept. 1827. He studied at Berlin, but the war of 1813 called him from his books, and he was present as a volunteer in the Prussian army at the battles of Lützen, Bautzen, Hanau and Kulm. In 1814 he returned to his studies at Berlin. His journey to Italy (1819) produced his ingenious work ‘Rom, Römer und Römerinnen’ (1820), and on his return to Germany he became teacher of Latin and Greek in the newly-established school at Dessau, where he was also appointed ducal librarian. In 1824 appeared his ‘Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten.’ His ‘Lieder der Griechen’ (1821-24) celebrate the awakening of an oppressed nation, its struggle and its victory. His ‘Lyrische Spaziergänge’ (Leipzig 1827) displays the same truth to nature, freshness and fire and the same harmony of language which characterizes his other poems. Many of his poems imitate with utmost perfection the true German Volkslied. Several of the ‘Müllerlieder’ are familiar through Franz Schubert's remarkable musical settings. His ‘Bibliothek deutscher Dichter des 17. Jahrhunderts’ (1822-27) is a valuable collection of the best lyric poems of that period. His works were collected in five volumes (1830). He was the father of Prof. Max Müller, the well-known philologist. A critical edition of his works appeared at Berlin in 1906. Consult Hako, B., ‘W. Müller, Leben und Dichten’ (Berlin 1908).