GRIMMELSHAUSEN

grimmelshausen, hans jakob christoffel von (c. 1625-1676), german author, was born at gelnhausen in or about 1625. at the age of ten he was kidnapped by hessian soldiery, and in their midst tasted the adventures of military life in the thirty years' war. at its close, grimmelshausen entered the service of franz egon von furstenberg, bishop of strassburg and in 1665 was made _schultheiss_ (magistrate) at renchen in baden. on obtaining this appointment, he devoted himself to literary pursuits, and in 1669 published _der abenteuerliche simplicissimus, teutsch, d.h. die beschreibung des lebens eines seltsamen vaganten, genannt melchior sternfels von fuchsheim_, the greatest german novel of the 17th century. for this work he took as his model the picaresque romances of spain, already to some extent known in germany. _simplicissimus_ is in great measure its author's autobiography; he begins with the childhood of his hero, and describes the latter's adventures amid the stirring scenes of the thirty years' war. the realistic detail with which these pictures are presented makes the book one of the most valuable documents of its time. in the later parts grimmelshausen, however, over-indulges in allegory, and finally loses himself in a robinson crusoe story. among his other works the most important are the so-called _simplicianische schriften: die erzbetrugerin und landstortzerin courasche_ (c. 1669); _der seltsame springinsfeld_ (1670) and _das wunderbarliche vogelnest_ (1672). his satires, such as _der teutsche michel_ (1670), and "gallant" novels, like _dietwald und amelinde_ (1670) are of inferior interest. he died at renchen on the 17th of august 1676, where a monument was erected to him in 1879. editions of _simplicissimus_ and the _simplicianische schriften_ have been published by a. von keller (1854), h. kurz (1863-1864), j. tittmann (1877) and f. bobertag (1882). a reprint of the first edition of the novel was edited by r. kogel for the series of _neudrucke des 16. und 17. jahrhunderts_ (1880). see the introductions to these editions; also f. antoine, _etude sur le simplicissimus de grimmelshausen_ (1882) and e. schmidt in his _charakteristiken_, vol. i. (1886).