ABSTRACT
One of the largest countries in Europe at 356,735 square kilometers, Germany was for much of its history a geographical term for an area of smaller states and principalities. Given the complexity and richness of the documentation of Germany's history, the urbanization and literacy of its society, and the role of its intellectuals in defining concepts of "folk" and applying them to song, dance, and instrumental music, German ethnomusicologists have recently rethought their object of study. Anonymity has been a defining feature of folk song since Herder's time, but it was vigorously disputed in Germany early in the twentieth century. Regionally differentiated, Germany's population and location engendered a diverse musical culture, long influenced by neighboring musical communities, and never achieved or aspired to countrywide or uniform musical identity. Christian music in Middle Ages included pilgrims' songs and crusaders' songs, and the songs and religious dances of the fourteenth-century flagellants, which flared up intermittently in Germany, especially in times of plague.
