Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

19th-century German male writers

The concept of Germany as a distinct region in Central Europe can be traced to Julius Caesar, who referred to the unconquered area east of the Rhine as Germania, thus distinguishing it from Gaul (France). The victory of the Germanic tribes in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9) prevented annexation by the Roman Empire, although the Roman provinces of Germania Superior and Germania Inferior were established along the Rhine.

9 episodes

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CultureHistoryPhilosophyScienceOntologistsPhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changeMetaphysiciansEnlightenment philosophersAphoristsCritics of the Catholic ChurchWriters about religion and scienceAge of EnlightenmentAtheist philosophersGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of lawPhilosophers of social science18th-century philosophers19th-century German philosophersMetaphilosophersPantheistsPhilosophers of economicsExistentialistsGerman LutheransGerman male essayistsGerman philosophers of historyGerman political philosophersLogiciansNatural law ethicistsNatural philosophersPhilosophers of logicPhilosophers of lovePhilosophers of psychologyPhilosophers of sexuality19th-century atheistsCritics of work and the work ethicGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureLiteracy and society theorists19th-century German essayistsAnti-consumeristsCritics of religionsEpic poetsGerman philosophers of education, German ethicistsLiterary theoristsSimple living advocatesTheoretical historians18th-century German male writers20th-century German philosophersAnti-nationalistsGerman philosophers of languageGerman philosophers of scienceHumboldt University of Berlin alumniIrony theoristsLeipzig University alumniMembers of the Bavarian Academy of SciencesMembers of the Prussian Academy of SciencesPhilosophers of warPolitical realistsRationalistsRomantic poetsUniversity of Göttingen alumni18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayists19th-century German male musicians19th-century German non-fiction writers19th-century German writersCritical theoristsCritics of JudaismFabulistsFreethought writersGerman critics of ChristianityGerman philosophers of mind, German philosophers of religionHeidelberg University alumniMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesPhenomenologistsPhilosophers of pessimism18th-century German writers19th-century German historians19th-century German novelists19th-century historians, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 18th-century German educators19th-century mystics19th-century travel writersAcademic staff of the Humboldt University of BerlinColor scientistsDeterministsEpigrammatistsGerman FreemasonsGerman agnosticsGerman autobiographersGerman epistemologistsGerman idealistsGerman librariansGerman male poets, German male dramatists and playwrightsGerman nationalistsGerman travel writersGerman untitled nobilityHumor researchersIdealistsLecturersMilitary theoristsPeople associated with the University of BaselPeople from the Province of SaxonyPeople of the Age of EnlightenmentPhilosophers of linguisticsPhilosophers of timeStateless peopleSturm und Drang, Johann Wolfgang von GoetheUniversity of Strasbourg alumni19th-century German journalists19th-century Prussian peopleAnti-natalistsBurials at the Dorotheenstadt CemeteryContinental philosophersDeaths from choleraDeaths from pneumonia in GermanyEconomic historians, German sociologistsEconomic sociologistsGerman bibliophiles, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century travel writers, Writers from Weimar, 19th-century German diplomats, 18th-century German novelists, German diplomats, 18th-century German historians, German male novelists, 19th-century German poets, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German civil servants, Writers from Frankfurt, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century German civil servantsGerman eugenicistsGerman logicians, Kantian philosophersGerman military writersGerman monarchistsGerman music criticsGerman philologistsGerman philosophers of technologyGerman writers on atheismKantianismMax WeberMilitary personnel from Saxony-AnhaltPhilosophers of nihilismUniversity of Bonn alumniUniversity of Marburg alumniUniversity of Tübingen alumni
  1. Clausewitz and On War

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss On War, the 19th-century treatise on the theory of warfare by the Prussian soldier Carl von Clausewitz.

    17 May 2012

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    Featuring: Saul David, Hew Strachan, Beatrice Heuser

     
  2. Goethe

    Melvyn Bragg discusses the great German polymath Johann Wolfgang Goethe - novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist and philosopher.

    6 April 2006

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    Featuring: Tim Blanning, Sarah Colvin, W. Daniel Wilson

     
    CulturePhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changeEnlightenment philosophersGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of social sciencePantheists19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersGerman male essayistsGerman political philosophersGerman philosophers of historyNatural philosophersPhilosophers of sexualityLiteracy and society theoristsGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureEpic poetsLiterary theorists19th-century German essayistsRomantic poetsLeipzig University alumni18th-century German male writersGerman philosophers of languageGerman philosophers of scienceMembers of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences19th-century German non-fiction writersMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesFabulistsFreethought writersEpigrammatists19th-century German novelistsGerman FreemasonsUniversity of Strasbourg alumniPhilosophers of linguisticsGerman untitled nobilityGerman librariansGerman travel writers19th-century travel writersColor scientistsGerman autobiographers19th-century German historiansGerman philosophers of education, German ethicists18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayistsGerman male poets, German male dramatists and playwrights19th-century historians, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 18th-century German educatorsSturm und Drang, Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGerman bibliophiles, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century travel writers, Writers from Weimar, 19th-century German diplomats, 18th-century German novelists, German diplomats, 18th-century German historians, German male novelists, 19th-century German poets, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German civil servants, Writers from Frankfurt, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century German civil servants
  3. Goethe and the Science of the Enlightenment

    Melvyn Bragg assesses the scientific legacy of the 18th century German poet and thinker Goethe, who gave us the term morphology and is sometimes even credited with inventing biology itself.

    10 February 2000

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    Featuring: Nicholas Boyle, Simon Schaffer

     
    SciencePhilosophy writersPhilosophers of literatureTheorists on Western civilizationWriters about activism and social changeEnlightenment philosophersGerman male non-fiction writersPhilosophers of social sciencePantheists19th-century German male writers19th-century German philosophersGerman male essayistsGerman political philosophersGerman philosophers of historyNatural philosophersPhilosophers of sexualityLiteracy and society theoristsGerman philosophers of artGerman philosophers of cultureEpic poetsLiterary theorists19th-century German essayistsRomantic poetsLeipzig University alumni18th-century German male writersGerman philosophers of languageGerman philosophers of scienceMembers of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences19th-century German non-fiction writersMembers of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and HumanitiesFabulistsFreethought writersEpigrammatists19th-century German novelistsGerman FreemasonsUniversity of Strasbourg alumniPhilosophers of linguisticsGerman untitled nobilityGerman librariansGerman travel writers19th-century travel writersColor scientistsGerman autobiographers19th-century German historiansGerman philosophers of education, German ethicists18th-century German philosophers, 18th-century essayistsGerman male poets, German male dramatists and playwrights19th-century historians, 18th-century historians, 19th-century German educators, 18th-century German educatorsSturm und Drang, Johann Wolfgang von GoetheGerman bibliophiles, 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 18th-century travel writers, Writers from Weimar, 19th-century German diplomats, 18th-century German novelists, German diplomats, 18th-century German historians, German male novelists, 19th-century German poets, People from Weimar, Scientists from Weimar, 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights, 19th-century German civil servants, Writers from Frankfurt, 18th-century German poets, 18th-century German civil servants
  4. Hegel's Philosophy of History

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hegel's ideas on history as the progress of the consciousness of freedom, and whether we enjoy more freedom now than those in past centuries.

    26 May 2022

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    Featuring: Sally Sedgwick, Robert Stern, Stephen Houlgate

     
  5. Kant's Copernican Revolution

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Kant's ideas on how the world depends on us, on the limits of human knowledge and why we are bound to ask questions we cannot answer.

    3 June 2021

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    Featuring: Fiona Hughes, Anil Gomes, John Callanan

     
  6. Nietzsche's Genealogy of Morality

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Nietzsche's influential ideas about what it means to be moral.

    12 January 2017

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    Featuring: Stephen Mulhall, Fiona Hughes, Keith Ansell-Pearson

     
  7. Schopenhauer

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the pessimistic philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and his extraordinary influence.

    29 October 2009

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    Featuring: A. C. Grayling, Beatrice Han-Pile, Christopher Janaway

     
  8. The Brothers Grimm

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm and what they can tell us about the German imagination and 19th-century romantic nationalism.

    5 February 2009

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    Featuring: Juliette Wood, Marina Warner, Tony Phelan

     
  9. Weber's The Protestant Ethic

    Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Max Weber's book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.

    27 March 2014

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    Featuring: Peter Ghosh, Sam Whimster, Linda Woodhead