SOURCE: Salter, Von Günter E. “Friedrich Hebbel's Conception of God.” Hebbel-Jahrbuch 1969 (1969): 122-43.

In the following essay, Salter elucidates Hebbel's conception of God as evinced in his work.

The main difficulty in developing an understanding of Friedrich Hebbel's conception of God is not a lack of pertinent remarks by the poet, but it rather lies in the apparent inconsistency and contradiction of the many aphorisms and thoughts relative to the subject matter which abound in his diary and letters. A rather cursory examination of these writings would tend to lend credence to the verdict of some critics who in searching for a philosophical system expounded in the diary find the aphorisms to be without coherence, indicative of a thought process whose momentary effusions coexist in desultory isolation. Peter Michelsen who embraces this for the poet somewhat less than flattering view attempts to substantiate his judgement with the following...