First use of the German words "Vegetarier" and "vegetarisch"

Updated 30 August 2022

I am not entirely sure when the German version of the word "vegetarian" was first used. The English word "vegetarian" appears to have been coined in 1841 or maybe slightly earlier (John Davis writes "around 1840") by some people at Alcott House Academy (in what is today Greater London, United Kingdom).

Prologue:

In German, the adjective and noun "vegetarian" are not the same. The adjective for "vegetarian" is "vegetarisch", which is also declined (depending on the gender, the case, and singular vs. plural):

Declension of the German adjective “vegetarian” (vegetarisch) The endings below are added to the adjective vegetarisch, as in vegetarische, vegetarischen, etc.
	Case	Masculine		Feminine		Neuter
		definite article	indefinite article	definite article	indefinite article	definite article	indefinite article
Sing.	Nominative	-e	-er	-e	-e	-e	-es
	Genitive	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en
	Accusative	-en	-en	-e	-e	-e	-es
	Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en
Plur.	Nominative	-en	-e	-en	-e	-en	-e
	Genitive	-en	-er	-en	-er	-en	-er
	Accusative	-en	-e	-en	-e	-en	-e
	Dative	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en	-en

Similarly, the noun is declined (again, depending on the gender, the case, and singular vs. plural):

Declension of the German noun “vegetarian” (Vegetarier, Vegetarierin) The endings below are added to the nouns Vegetarier (male) and Vegetarierin (female).
	Case	Masculine		Feminine
		definite article	indefinite article	definite article	indefinite article
Singular	Nominative	-	-	-	-
	Genitive	-s	-s	-	-
	Accusative	-	-	-	-
	Dative	-	-	-	-
Plural	Nominative	-	-	-nen	-nen
	Genitive	-	[doesn’t exist]	-nen	[doesn’t exist]
	Accusative	-	-	-nen	-nen
	Dative	-n	-n	-nen	-nen

As you can see, there are quite many. So, with modern search tools it may be best to search for "vegetar*".

It should also be noted that the German noun for a vegetarian person was "Vegetarianer" first and then changed to "Vegetarier" (don't know when exactly). And this apparently (see below) was also the case for the adjective, which changed from "vegetarianisch" to "vegetarisch". However, this appears to be contradicted by the mention of (the more modern) "Vegetarier" in the 1852 publication "Der Humorist" (see below).

1851

The first mention of the English "vegetarian" in a German-language publication ...

The first mention of the English word "vegetarian" in a publication in German, that I know of, is in volume 69 (number 1, page 115) of the "Jahrbücher der in- und ausländischen gesammten Medizin" from 1851. Although technically a book, this publication is a collection of different issues of, as far as I understand, a medical journal of the year 1851. This medical journal was published in Leipzig, Germany. The text mentions a publication by the British (I'm assuming) Vegetarian Society from 1850, and this is the mention of "vegetarian". The title of the publication by the Vegetarian Society is in German, so it appears to have been published in German. The text advises against a vegetarian diet but also mentions Gustav von Struve (later Gustav Struve), a German political activist and well-known vegetarian.

 

1852

The first mention of the German word "Vegetarier" ...

The first printed publication with the German word for "vegetarian" is the "magazine" (it has four pages) "Der Humorist", from Vienna (Austria), of 22 May 1852. The word "Vegetarier" is mentioned on page 3 of this issue (the page is given as 495). In a section titled something like "Miscellaneous", with random news snippets, the death of a well-known vegetarian in the United States is mentioned. I'm guessing that the text is referring to the physician Horace A. Barrows (who died in 1852).

See below:

The next mention of "Vegetarier" (rather than "Vegetarianer") I have seen is from 1870, in the magazine "Die Gartenlaube: illustrirtes Familienblatt" (issue 29).

1853

The first mention of the German word "Vegetarianer" ...

In the magazine "Didaskalia oder Blätter für Geist, Gemüth und Publizität", of 4 November 1853, in a section titled "Miscellaneous", there is a short text about vegetarian organizations in Britain. It does not say where this magazine was published. This text uses "Vegetarianer" and not (the currently used) "Vegetarier". The text also mentions James Simpson delivering a speech at a vegetarian banquet in Glasgow. James Simpson apparently was a wealthy member of the Bible Christian Church and the (British) Vegetarian Society's first president (see this article by John Davis). Interestingly, this text states that the vegetarian association in Scotland has already existed for 15 years, i.e. since around 1838. The Vegetarian Society in Britain was founded in 1847, and apparently Alcott House was founded in 1838 (again, see this article by John Davis).

1854

The first book with the German word for "vegetarian" ("vegetarianisch") ...

The first book that I know of that mentions the German word "vegetarianisch" (the adjective meaning "vegetarian") is a translation of a book by Charles Lane, the English original of which appears to be lost (?):

Title:

Charles Lane: Nur Pflanzenkost! oder, Die vegetarianische Diät. Ein naturgemäßes Mittel, die Gesundheit des menschlichen Körpers und Geistes zu erhalten. (Nach dem Englischen des Charles Lane. Mit sieben Holzschnitten.); Breslau: Verlag von Joh. Urban Kern (1854)

English literal translation of the title: Charles Lane: Only plant-diet! oder, The vegetarian diet. A natural aid to preserve the health of the human body and mind. (From the English of Charles Lane. With seven woodcarvings.); Wrocław: Publishing company by Joh. [I'm pretty sure "Joh." here stands for the first name "Johann"] Urban Kern [These are the family names - I find it unusual here that there are two family names.] (1854)

This is the cover of the book:

I have the PDF.

This is the entry on World Cat.

1854

The first mention of the German word "Vegetarianismus" ...

The first mention of the word "Vegetarianismus" that I have found so far is in the periodical "Illustrirte Zeitung", of 19 August 1854 (issue 581; apparently published in several cities: Leipzig, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, and New York [!], 16 pages). (Note that the current spelling would be "illustrierte" rather than "illustrirte" - so, this is not a typo. The spelling was just differnt back then.)

The mention of "Vegetarianismus is on page 122 (page 10 of this issue), and this short text is in reference to Charles Lane's book "Nur Pflanzenkost!" (see above):

1855

The first mention of the German word "Vegetarianismus" in a book ...

The first use of the word "Vegetarianismus" in a book appears to be in the book "Was is Vegetarianismus?" (with no author given). However, it seems possible that the publisher, whose name is given as Emil Weilshäuser, was also the author (i.e. that this is a self-published book). 

Title:

[Anon. No author is mentioned.]: Was ist Vegetarianismus? Eine Beleuchtung dieses Universal-Princips; Neustadt O./S.: E. Weilshäuser (1855)

E. Weilshäuser was the person (or company named after a person such as the owner) who printed and published the book. "O./S." stands for "Oberschlesien", i.e. Upper Silesia, which is now in Poland English literal translation of the title: What is vegetarianism? An elucidation/discussion of this universal principle.

This is the cover of the book:

This is the entry on World Cat.

The PDF can be found online. (Note that the Google books document scan appears to have some scans of other books at the end.)

While the magazine "Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung", of 31 March 1855, printed in Leipzig, Germany, also mentions the word "Vegetarianer" (i.e. vegetarian person; page 621) ...

... a magazine from Austria, the "Innsbrucker Nachrichten", of 11 December 1855, mentions the words "Vegetarianer" as well as "Vegetarianismus" (i.e. vegetarianism; pages 1837-1838).

1868

The first mention of the German word "vegetarisch" ...

The first mention of the modern adjective "vegetarisch" may be in an anthropology book by Paul Kummer, titled "Die Karl Vogt'sche Theorie von der Abstammung des Menschen". The book is asking if early humans were vegetarian - which the book (rightfully) negates. However, this edition of the book is a second edition (from 1868), and I could not find out from when the first edition is and whether the first edition also contains the word "vegetarisch".

This is on page 11 of the book:

Paul Kummer: Die Karl Vogt'sche Theorie von der Abstammung des Menschen sachlich beleuchtet. Sachlich beleuchtet von Paul Kummer. Zweite mehrfach erweiterte Auflage; Zerbst: Hermann Zeidler (1868)

Entry on World Cat

1871

A later mention of the German word "vegetarisch" ...

The first mention of the modern adjective "vegetarisch" I have seen listed (I have not seen the original) is from 1871, in the title of the vegetarian cookbook by Emil Weilshäuser titled "Vegetarisches Kochbuch : ein Hilfsbuch für Alle, welche sich der blutlosen Diät zugewendet haben oder zu derselben übergehen wollen". However, this might be a mistake, and it's possible that the original title included the word "vegetarianisch" rather than "vegetarisch". 

1877

A later mention of the German word "vegetarisch" ...

A book by Meta Wellmer from 1877 includes the word "vegetarisch" in its title: "Die vegetarische Lebensweise und die Vegetarier".