Translation of: Richard-Wagner-Handbuch. Includes bibliographical references and index. The operas as literary works / Peter Wapnewski -- Wagner's place in the history of music / Carl Dahlhaus -- Wagner in the history of psychology / Isolde Vetter -- The revolutionary of 1848-49 / Rèudiger Krohn -- The question of anti-Semitism / Dieter Borchmeyer -- The political influence and appropriation of Wagner / Ernst Hanisch -- A brief history of Wagner research / John Deathridge -- Wagner and antiquity / Ulrich Mèuller -- Wagner's Middle Ages / Volker Mertens -- The dramatic texts / Peter Branscombe -- Wagner and Schopenhauer / Hartmut Reinhardt -- The music / Carl Dahlhaus -- The patronage of King Ludwig II / Manfred Eger -- Wagner and Nietzsche / Dieter Borchmeyer -- Wagnerism as concept and phenomenon / Erwin Koppen -- Wagner and the visual arts / Gèunter Metken -- Wagner in literature and film / Ulrich Mèuller. The musical works / Werner Breig -- The Bayreuth Festival and the Wagner family / Manfred Eger -- Performance history : a brief survey / Oswald Bauer -- Sprechgesang or bel canto : toward a history of singing Wagner / Jens Malte Fischer -- Wagner's musical influence / Carl Dahlhaus -- The prose writings / Jèurgen Kèuhnel.