Balladenjahr (ballad year) refers to the year 1797 in the history of German literature, ^[1] in which many of the best-known ballads of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller originated within a few months, such as Goethe's "Der Zauberlehrling" (" The Sorcerer's Apprentice") and Schiller's " Der Ring des Polykrates" ("Polycrates' Ring"), " Der Taucher" ("The Diver"), " Der Handschuh" ("The Glove"), " Der Gang nach dem Eisenhammer" ("The Walk to the Hammer Mill"), " Ritter Toggenburg" ("Knight Toggenburg"), and " Die Kraniche des Ibykus" ("The Cranes of Ibycus").

The ballads were first published in Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1798, the so-called Balladenalmanach issued by Schiller. ^[2]

•  German Wikisource has original text related to this article: Musen-Almanach für das Jahr 1798

• Media related to Schiller Musenalmanach 1798 at Wikimedia Commons
• Tennenbaum, Rosa (Spring 1998). "1797, The 'Year of the Ballad' – In the Poets' Workshop". Fidelio. VII (1).