Schönheiten

Schönheiten is the plural noun from Schönheit, meaning beauty or attractiveness in German. It can refer to the quality of being beautiful in general, the appealing features of a person or object, or the elegant and harmonious aspects of nature and art. In everyday language it often appears in phrases such as die Schönheiten der Natur or die Schönheiten der Kunst, to denote the various beautiful aspects of a subject.

Grammatically, Schönheit is feminine; the plural is Schönheiten. The noun is formed from the adjective schön with the abstract-noun suffix -heit. The standard singular and plural forms are used in a wide range of contexts: eine Schönheit, viele Schönheiten. The term can function descriptively or evaluatively, depending on the speaker.

In literature and philosophy, Schönheiten is used to discuss beauty as a phenomenon of perception or value. German aesthetics from the 18th century onward treated beauty as a central category, with debates about its universality, relativity, and relation to form, harmony, and Zweckmäßigkeit. The plural form often appears when a text highlights multiple beauties within a scene or work.

In contemporary usage, Schönheiten can refer to attractive people in a neutral or admiring sense, as well as aesthetically pleasing features of design, nature, or art. The term remains common in cultural commentary, travel writing, and everyday speech, without being tied to a single genre or domain.

See also: Schönheit, Ästhetik, Schönheitsideal, Natur, Kunst.