January 21

January 21

January 21, 1521

Martin Luther excommunicated by Roman Catholic Church.

January 21, 1794

Birth of Adolf Ludwig Follen in Giessen, Germany. Follen was a romantic poet. Involved politically during his student years, he was expelled from the University of Giessen in 1815. In Heidelberg he became one of the founders of the fraternity, Teutonia. Banished from Germany for his political activities, he moved to Switzerland. His works include Harfen-Grüss aus Deutschland und der Schweiz (1823), Siegfrieds-Tod (1840) and Tristans Eltern (1857).

January 21, 1804

Birth of Moritz von Schwind in Vienna, Austria. Schwind was a very popular painter of romantic-idealized themes. For a time he was a close friend of Franz Schubert. In 1847 he became a teacher at the Munich Academy.

January 21, 1815

Death of Matthias Claudius in Hamburg, Germany. Claudius was a significant poet noted for his simplicity and religiosity.

January 21, 1831

Death of Achim von Arnim in Wiepersdorf, Germany. Von Arnim was one of the outstanding writers of the Romantic period of German literature. He studied at the University of Heidelberg. His best known work is a collection of folk poetry, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1808).

January 21, 1867

Ludwig Thoma born in Oberammergau, Germany. Thoma wrote novellas, novels and plays. He is noted for his social criticism and humor. Among Thoma's works are, Lausbubengeschichten (1905), Andreas Vöst (1905), Moral (1909) and Magdalena (1912).

January 21, 1872

Death of Franz Grillparzer in Vienna, Austria. Grillparzer is one of the leading dramatists of Austrian literary history. Important works by Grillparzer include, Die Ahnfrau (1817), Sappho (1818), Das Goldene Vlies (1821), König Ottokars Glück und Ende (1823), Des Meeres und der Liebe Wellen (1831), and Der Traum ein Leben (1834).

January 21, 1912

Birth of Ernst Bloch in Neisse, Germany. Bloch came to America in 1934. He taught at Columbia University, the University of Chicago and Harvard University. He won the 1964 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine based on his work on the natural synthesis of cholesterol and fatty acids.

January 21, 1964

Death of Joseph Schildkraut in New York City (born in Vienna, Austria). Schildkraut started his acting career in Berlin in 1913 with Max Reinhardt. He then acted in Vienna until he moved to New York in 1920. In the United States he became a very popular movie star. He acted in King of Kings (1927), The Life of Emile Zola (1937). The Man in the Iron Mask (1939), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) and The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). He won the Academy Award for his role in The Life of Emile Zola.

January 21, 1990

The East German party, the SED, changes its name to the PDS. The SED (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) was the name of the communist party of East Germany until 1990. In preparation for unification, the party, wishing to continue as a political party in the unified state, but realizing the negative implications of its identity with East Germany, changed its name to the PDS (Party of Democratic Socialism). The PDS has had seats in parliament after each election since the unification.