Johann Sebastian Bach, born at Eisenach, March 21, 1685, died at Leipzig, July 28, 1750 / From the painting by Johann Jakob Ihle / Reprint from the Corpus Imaginum of the Photographischen Gesellschaft, Charlottenburg

The contest of the Minnesingers at the Wartburg / Part of the fresco in the Castle of the Wartburg in Eisenach, Thuringia, painted in 1855 by Moritz von Schwind / The Landgravine Elizabeth, before whom is kneeling Heinrich von Ofterdingen, is painted in the likeness of the Grand Duchess Amalie of Weimar (1739–1807) the patroness and protector of German poesy in Weimar

Portion of the Choir stalls in the Cathedral Church at Ulm / One of the most perfect and beautiful of the old Gothic Choir stalls in Germany / Carved in oak. Masterpiece of the elder Jörg Syrlin, 1469–1474 / Photograph by the Münsterbauamt in Ulm

Ludwig van Beethoven, born at Bonn on the Rhine, December 16, 1770, died in Vienna, March 26, 1827 / The Beethoven Statue by Max Klinger in the Municipal Museum at Leipzig / With the permission of E. A. Seemann Co, Leipzig

The library in the former residence of the Electors at Mannheim, built in 1720–1759 by Nikolaus de Pigage / Splendid specimen of a masterpiece of the Baroque period / From a photograph by Josef Kuld, Mannheim