Hebel, Johann Peter

Hebel, Johann Peter yōˈhän pāˈtər hāˈbəl [key], 1760–1826, German short-story writer and dialect poet. Editor of Der rheinländische Hausfreund [Rhineland home companion] from 1801 to 1811, Hebel gained popularity as author of realistic, often humorous folk anecdotes with overtones of Christian ethic. A collection of these, Schatzkästlein [treasure box], appeared in 1811. In his Alemannische Gedichte [Alemannic poems] (1803), dialect is employed for fine poetic expression in verses that extol youth, mother love, and the beauties of nature.

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