Schleiermacher's Die Weihnachtsfeier. Ein Gespräch is one of the most interesting examples from the Romantic period of how literary form, vital and autobiographical context, and philosophical theses, constitute a unitary complex which is often difficult to interpret. In the Schleiermacherian dialogue on Christmas Eve, two levels of historiographical reading can be distinguished: a first level deals mainly with the context, and enables the identification of biographical references and the actual environment alluded to by the author; a second level, closely related to the first but not necessarily reducible to it, has a "self-interpretative" value. On this second level of reading, Schleiermacher's short work proves to be more than just a casual text for Christmas 1806. It simultaneously hides and reveals a willingness to break with the Romantic circle to whom the dialogue is dedicated, and marks the beginning of a new and autonomous kind of reflection for the author.
Friedrich Schleiermacher; Music; Art; Religion; Romanticism