19 German romantic painters

German Romanticism was the dominant intellectual movement of German-speaking countries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, influencing philosophy, aesthetics, literature and criticism. Compared to English Romanticism, the German variety developed relatively early, and, in the opening years, coincided with Weimar Classicism (1772–1805). In contrast to the seriousness of English Romanticism, the German variety of Romanticism notably valued wit, humour, and beauty.

Andreas Achenbach was a German landscape and seascape painter in the Romantic style. He is considered to be one of the founders of the Düsseldorf School. His brother, Oswald, was also a well known landscape painter. Together, based on their initials, they were known as the "Alpha and Omega" of landscape painters.

Carl Joseph Begas, or Karl Begas,, was a German historical painter born at Heinsberg near Aachen. His father, a retired judge, destined him for the legal profession, but the boy's tastes pointed definitely in another direction. Even at school he was remarked for his wonderful skill in drawing and painting, and in 1812 he was permitted to visit Paris in order to perfect his art.

Eduard Julius Friedrich Bendemann was a German painter.

Lambert Clemens Jakob Bewer was a German history and portrait painter, in the Romantic style.

Konrad Eberhard, a German historical painter, better known as a sculptor, was one of the foremost artists of the so-called Nazarene School, which at one time gathered round Friedrich Overbeck in Rome.

Caspar David Friedrich was a 19th-century German Romantic landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation. He is best known for his mid-period allegorical landscapes which typically feature contemplative figures silhouetted against night skies, morning mists, barren trees or Gothic ruins. His primary interest was the contemplation of nature, and his often symbolic and anti-classical work seeks to convey a subjective, emotional response to the natural world. Friedrich's paintings characteristically set a human presence in diminished perspective amid expansive landscapes, reducing the figures to a scale that, according to the art historian Christopher John Murray, directs "the viewer's gaze towards their metaphysical dimension".

Franz Ittenbach was a German religious painter from Königswinter, at the foot of the Drachenfels.

Alexander Friedrich Wilhelm Franz von Kotzebue was a German Romantic painter of historical scenes and battle scenes.

Franz Gerhard von Kügelgen was a German painter, noted for his portraits and history paintings. He was a professor at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and a member of both the Prussian and Russian Imperial Academies of Arts. His twin brother, Karl von Kügelgen, was also a painter of note.

Johann Friedrich Overbeck was a German painter and member of the Nazarene movement. He also made four etchings.

Franz Pforr was a painter of the German Nazarene movement.

Bernhard Plockhorst was a German painter and graphic artist. In Germany, Plockhorst is mainly known to experts today, whereas his pictures are still very popular in the United States and their reproductions can be found in many American homes and churches.

Johann Heinrich Carl Reinhold was a German painter and engraver.

Philipp Otto Runge was a Romantic German painter and draughtsman. Although he made a late start to his career and died young, he is considered among the best German Romantic painters.

Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow was a German Romantic painter.

Carl Spitzweg was a German romanticist painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era.

Eberhard Wächter was a German painter. Wächter was born in Balingen and died in Stuttgart.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865).