as she tried to destroy
pettiness in all hearts, as she awakened great things in the hearts of
men without abandoning the delicacy of womanliness, thus she stood with
full practical knowledge in the midst of practical life, helping,
counselling, comforting, careless of thanks or ingratitude, the genuine,
pure, German woman."

Such was the origin of the modern German salon, and its origin explains
its complex character. The German salon became a permanency; and even
though it never attained the brilliancy of the French salon, yet it was
more intellectual and had greater literary effect. The house of Amalie
von Hellwig was a centre for courtiers, scholars, and artists, one of
whom, A. B. Marx, wrote an interesting account of social life in Berlin.
Other distinguished circles are reported, in which music, a never
failing charm in Berlin, was the principal attraction. The opera passed
through a period of bloom. Spontini's and Weber's masterpieces were
performed by excellent singers, like Anna Milder-Hauptmann, who, in
Berlin, created the role Of _Fidelio_. The theatre brought into popular
prominence the works of the great German dramatists; great actresses
arose, like Sophie Muller, who played in a masterful way Emilia Galotti
and roles from the works of Calderon and Shakespeare; Amalie Wolff,
trained in Goethe's school, a masterly exponent of Iphigenie; Louise
Rogee, later Holtei's wife, the incomparable performer of Kleist's
Katchen von Heilbronn; Charlotte von Hagen (1809-1891), a beautiful
woman and true artist, who celebrated immense triumphs, and was adored
by the great and beloved by the women. The greatest of all, however, was
Auguste During (1795-1865), who for fifty years ruled the German stage,
"in the world of boards that signify life." Henriette Sonntag
(1803-1854) was considered the most beautiful and most gifted singer. By
the charm of her voice and the perfection of her acting she conquered
all hearts. In no other fields has Germany produced so many and so great
women as she has in those of the stage, of music, and of song.

To appreciate, however, the ethical character of German woman we must
return once more to the years of Germany's greatest political
degradation.

At no time did the character of German womanhood shine in a more
glorious light than in the sorrowful years of political upheaval and the
trials of the years of humiliation at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. When Germany lay prostra