f Culture, from Three Centuries (1859); German
Work (1861); Tales of the Olden Time (1863); New Story-Book (1868); From
my Nook (1874); At Eventide (1880); Riddles of Life (1888); Religious
Studies of a Worldling (1892-1893); A Whole Man (1897)._

Riehl's position in the literature of Germany cannot be defined solely,
nor even mainly, on the basis of his imaginative writings. As a romancer
he falls far short of Gustav Freytag, whose _Pictures of the German
Past_ served Riehl obviously for a model, and of Jeremias Gotthelf, in
whose manner, though perhaps unconsciously, he likewise strove to write.
It is characteristic of his tales that they invariably play against a
native background, which, however, stretches across more than full ten
centuries, and that, while failing to prove any high poetic vocation for
their author, they demonstrate his singularly acute perception of
cultural tendencies and values. Equally keen is the appreciation shown
in these stories of the dominant national traits, whether commendable or
otherwise: German contentiousness, stubbornness, envy, jealousy and
_Schadenfreude_, i.e., the malicious joy over calamities that befall
others, are impartially balanced against German self-reliance,
sturdiness, love of truth, sense of duty, sincerity, unselfishness,
loyalty, and depth of feeling.

On the whole, the inclusion of Riehl among the most eminent German
writers of the nineteenth century is due far less to his works of
fiction than to a just recognition of his primacy among historians of
culture, on account of the extraordinary reach of his influence. This
influence he certainly owed as much to his rare art of popular
presentation as to his profound scholarship. Nevertheless the intrinsic
scientific worth of these more or less popular writings is vouched for
by the consensus of leading historians and other specially competent
judges who, regarding Riehl's work as epoch-making and in some essential
aspects fundamental, recognize him as one of the organizers of modern
historical science and in particular as the foremost pioneer in the
exploration of the widest area within the territory of human knowledge;
in fine, as the most efficient representative of the History of
Civilization.

_Kulturgeschichte_, as Riehl used the term, connoted a rather ideal
conception, namely, that of an interpretative record of the sum total of
human civilization. It required a high challenge like that to energize
and unify