Pictures of German Life in the XVIIIth and XIXth Centuries, Vol. I.

Transcriber's Note: 1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/picturesgermanl04freygoog
Introduction.--The nation and the individual--Aim of the book--Peculiarities in the development of the German people since the Thirty Years' War
Life of the German Peasant (1240-1790).--The duration of modern nations--German agriculture in the time of the Romans, the Carlovingians, and the Hohenstauffen--Description of the peasants by Neidhart von Reuenthal--Narrative of young Helmbrecht, by Wernher the Gardener--The fifteenth century--The Peasant War--Eberlin von Günzburg--Condition of the peasants after the war; their service and burdens; their different condition according to districts, and deterioration by oppression--First signs of improvement--Description of the German peasant by Christian Garve--Insurrection of the peasantry in 1790, and their present position
The Life of the Lower Nobility (1500-1800).--The country nobles in the sixteenth century--The court nobles--The detrimental effects of the Great War--Description of a wealthy nobleman from 1650-1700--Patents of nobility--Description of the life of the newly-ennobled merchants from 1650-1700--The country nobles and Krippenreiters from 1660-1700--Description of the same from The Nobleman, by Paul Winckler--Better condition after 1700--Privileges of the nobles--Introduction of a new culture--Gellert--Union of the nobles with the citizens
The German Citizen and his Shooting Festivals (1300-1800).-Gradual development of the citizen class--Decline after the Thirty Years' War--The prize shooting as an example of their former wealth and importance--May feasts of the old citizens--Prize shooting before 1400--Preparations for the festival--The Pritschmeister and procession--Prizes and fortune's urn--Hospitality, and conclusion of the festival--Zurich and Strasbourg--Differences of the festivals according to districts--Their decline--Description of the Breslau Königschiessens of 1738, by Kundmann