Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim

[2] Influenced by the aesthetic writings of Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten and Georg Friedrich Meier, both lecturers at the Halle university, Gleim attempted to cultivate the Anacreontic tradition of short lyrical pieces of an easy kind.

He wrote a large number of imitations of Anacreon, Horace and the minnesingers, a didactic poem inspired from his reading in the Quran entitled Halladat oder das rote Buch (1774), and collections of fables and romances.

Significant contributions of Gleim include the establishment of German as literary language and his promotion of young talents such as Heinse, Johann Heinrich Voss, Seume, and Jean Paul.

In 1862, Gleim's library of 12,000 books (including 50 incunabula) and the huge collection of letters, manuscripts and documents in his estate were used as the kernel of a museums of 18th century literary life in Halberstadt and beyond.

Augmented by the collection of the local poet Christian Friedrich Bernhard Augustin (1771–1856) and still in operation, the Gleimhaus is one of the oldest literary museums in Germany.

At his house near Halberstadt Cathedral, Gleim created a Temple of Friendship (Freundschaftstempel), regular meetings of poets and intellectuals including Johann Georg Jacobi, Heinse, Christoph August Tiedge, Leopold Friedrich Günther von Goeckingk and many others.