Johannes Scherr - Work

Work

Scherr was a voluminous writer in the field of historical investigation into the civilization, literature, and manners and customs of his country. His works, characterized by their caustic wit and many peculiarities in point of diction, have largely a political bias, but are characterized by clearness of exposition and careful research. Noteworthy among his books are the following:

• Deutsche Kultur-und Sitten-Geschichte (“History of German culture and customs,” 1852-1853, new ed. 1897)
• Schiller und seine Zeit (“Shiller and his times,” 1859, new ed. 1876)
• Geschichte der deutschen Frauenwelt (“History of German women,” 1860, 4th ed. 1879)
• Allgemeine Geschichte der Literatur (“A history of literature,” 1851, 9th ed. 1895-1896)
• Geschichte der englischen Literatur (“History of English literature,” 1854, 2nd ed. 1883)
• Blücher, seine Zeit und sein Leben (“Life and times of Blücher,” 1862, 4th ed. 1887)
• Germania. Zwei Jahrtausende deutschen Lebens (“Germania. Two centuries of German life,” 1879, 6th ed. by Hans Prutz 1905)

Scherr also wrote the humorous Sommertagebuch des weiland Dr Gastrosophiae, Jeremia Sauerampfer (1873); as a novelist he published the historical novels, Schiller (1856), and Michel, Geschichte eines Deutschen unserer Zeit (1858) which have passed through several editions.

With the exception of some of his stories (Novellenbuch, 10 vols 1873-1877) Scherr's works have not appeared in a collected edition.