Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, see Deutsches Reich, Altes. Its designation became the subject of satire which is crisply contained in the song in Goethe's Faust (Pt. 1, Auerbachs Keller): ‘Das liebe heil'ge Röm'sche Reich, /Wie hält's nur noch zusammen?’.
The Oxford Companion to German Literature. Copyright © 1976, 1986, 1997, 2005 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.