Christian Morgenstern

Born in Munich in 1871, Christian Morgenstern was a German poet, writer, and translator. He became especially well known for his comic and nonsense verse, though his work was much broader than that and also included lyrical and more inward-looking writing.

He worked for a time as a journalist in Berlin and spent many years traveling in search of better health. Sources also note that he came from a family of artists, which helps explain the strong imaginative streak in his writing.

Morgenstern died in 1914 in Meran, then in Austria-Hungary. Today he is remembered above all for the originality, musicality, and humor of poems such as those collected in Galgenlieder, which continue to attract readers far beyond the German-speaking world.