Freiherr von Joseph Eichendorff

Born in 1788 at Lubowitz Castle in Upper Silesia, Joseph von Eichendorff grew up in an aristocratic Catholic family and later studied law at Halle, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He lived through the upheavals of the Napoleonic era, served in the wars against Napoleon, and went on to work in the Prussian civil service.

He became one of the best-known writers of German Romanticism, writing poetry, novellas, novels, plays, criticism, and translations. His work often returns to nature, travel, faith, memory, and the tension between ordinary life and a longing for freedom or wonder. Among his most famous works is the novella Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, and many of his poems were later set to music by major composers.

What keeps his writing fresh is its lightness. Even when he touches on homesickness or loss, the language often moves with the ease of a song, which helps explain why he remained such a central figure in German literary culture long after his death in 1857.