{"id":7015,"date":"2023-12-06T16:06:09","date_gmt":"2023-12-06T15:06:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deutschlandmuseum.de\/2023\/12\/06\/the-german-nations-book-of-heroes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T11:55:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T10:55:00","slug":"the-german-nations-book-of-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.deutschlandmuseum.de\/en\/collection\/the-german-nations-book-of-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"The German Nation\u2019s Book of Heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\"DM_Teutscher_Nation_Heldenbuch_HD_4543\"<\/figure><\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The German Nation\u2019s Book of Heroes<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Deutschlandmuseum introduces visitors to the Reformation by recreating an early modern printer\u2019s workshop. Seeking to underline the importance of the printed word in implementing religious reform and reinforcing German identity, the museum shows a rare German book from the 16th century: The German Nation\u2019s Book of Heroes by the historian Heinrich Pantaleon.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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A German polymath: Heinrich Pantaleon<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As with many scholars of his time, Heinrich Pantaleon\u2019s (1522-1595) work is difficult to categorize. After studying both theology and medicine, he worked as a physician, a theologian, a university lecturer in dialectics and physics and as an historian. Spending most of his life in Basel, then part of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, his output included both translations and original publications. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Author of Teutscher Nation Heldenbuch: the polymath Heinrich Pantaleon<\/strong> Engraving, Anonymous, Germany, c. 1595 (Source: The British Museum \/ CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The German Nation\u2019s Book<\/em> of Heroes was a revised and extended translation of the Latin-language work Prosopographia heroum atque illustrium virorum totius Germaniae<\/em> from 1565. Considered as Pantaleon\u2019s most important work, the book was produced between 1567 and 1570 and written \u201cin praise of the <\/em>German nation\u201d<\/em>. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The German Book of Heroes in the Deutschlandmuseum<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The book on display in the Deutschlandmuseum is the first edition of the German translation. Originally published in three volumes, this copy of the Book of Heroes combines the three parts bound into a single book. Starting in antiquity, it takes the story up to the 16th century, and includes 1700 biographies. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Also impressive from the outside: ornate leather binding with gold embossing<\/strong> Teutscher Nation Heldenbuch, Heinrich Pantaleon, 1567-70, Germany (source: Sammlung Deutschlandmuseum)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Measuring 34 x 22.5 cm and weighing just under five kilogrammes, the book is bound between wooden covers wrapped in pigskin with ornate brass corner fittings and brass clasps. The leather is decorated with numerous embossed patterns. The title and the name of the original owner, Sebalt Kiner<\/em>, are embossed in gold on the front. <\/p>\n

The book was printed in Basel by the printing company N. Brylinger Erben<\/em>, owned and run by the descendants of the book printer Nicolaus Brylinger. Following the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the middle of the 15th century, the art of printing spread rapidly throughout the Holy Roman Empire, thereby triggering a media revolution. The high quality of the Basel printing press is evident both in the typeface, which is still easy to read today, and in the more than 1500 woodcuts that complement the texts. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Legend and fact in the German Book of Heroes<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As was common practice in the 16th century, the author does not restrict himself to the presentation of verifiable facts in his depiction of historical figures. Pantaleon pursued a clear goal in his narrative, seeking to present individuals who have \u201cadorned and made great the fatherland of the German nation\u201d<\/em>. In depicting his subjects as models of virtue and patriotism to be emulated, he sought to form and spread a German national consciousness. <\/p>

Addressing not the common man, but the \u201cprinces, high knights and noblemen of the German nation<\/em>\u201d Pantaleon sought both to inform and entertain. The range of personalities that he describes is diverse and reflects a religious understanding of history. The list begins with Adam and includes Charlemagne, Martin Luther and Maximilian I. The book also includes a biography of the author himself, Heinrich Pantaleon. <\/p>

Seeking to praise rather than provide reliable facts about its subjects, the first two volumes of the book are of little direct historical value. Changing tack in the last volume however, Pantaleon focusses primarily on contemporary personalities and provides details \u2013 including material from interviews \u2013 that are useful to historians today. As such, this magnificent copy of the German Book of Heroes acts both as a witness to the development of German book printing and as an important source of information. <\/p>

As such, this magnificent copy of the German Book of Heroes acts both as a witness to the development of German book printing and as an important source of information.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Property information<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe German Nation\u2019s Book of Heroes<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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