The Biedermeier and Beyond : Selected Papers from the Symposium Held at St.Peter's College, Oxford, 19-21 September 1997

This collection of essays examines aspects of cultural and social life in Austria in the first half of the 19th century. It also explores the perpetuating of myths and stereotypes derived from those years and the ways in which the Beidermeier period continued to influence later generations, not least in their repeated attempts to create an image of "the good old days" based on the age of Schubert before the chaos of the 1848 revolution and the construction of the Ringstrabe. Major figures from literature and culture are represented such as Grillparzer, Nestroy, Stifter and Bauernfeld, but an important focus of the volume is on lesser-known writers who were responsible for the Beidermeier myth such as Frankl, Bartsch and Lux. Other essays deal with topics such as Austrian identity, the existence of a specifically Austrian strand of philosophy and changing attitudes towards nature.