Internationaler Nationalismus. Überlegungen zur deutsch-italienischen Biographik im 19. Jahrhundert

Case Study: International Nationalism. Notes on German-Italian Biography in the nineteenth century

This book chapter considers the special relationship between German-language and Italian culture in the mid- to late nineteenth century through the lens of biography and thinking about biography – in particular German-language biographies of Italian figures. Focal points are the artist biographies of the Prussian historian Alfred Reumont, who saw himself as an ‘agent’ of Italian culture not only in his native land, but also among Italians; Jacob Burckhardt and his reflections on biography in the perennially influential Die Cultur der Renaissance in Italien; and finally, German-language biographies of heroes of the Italian Risorgimento, in particular of Giuseppe Garibaldi. I conclude that the texts in question do not only mark a shift in the cultural relations between Germany and Italy, but also in the development of biography itself, away from archival, documentary forms towards empathetic, at times melodramatic narrative.