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 &lsquo;Amerikanische Gedichte&rsquo; (1856; 3d ed., 1871), and after publishing two sketches that attracted little attention, became well known through his &lsquo;Problematische Naturen&rsquo; (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 .