Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock

Born in Quedlinburg on July 2, 1724, Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock became one of the most important German poets of the 18th century. He studied at Schulpforta and later at the University of Leipzig, where he began work on Der Messias (The Messiah), the epic poem that first made his name.

Klopstock admired Milton and aimed to give German poetry a grand new scale. Along with The Messiah, he wrote celebrated odes and several dramas, and he is often remembered for helping free German verse from older formal conventions. His writing gave strong emphasis to feeling, religion, and patriotism, and it had a lasting effect on the literary culture that followed.

He spent parts of his life in Copenhagen and Hamburg, supported for a time by the Danish court, and continued writing into old age. Klopstock died in Hamburg on March 14, 1803, leaving behind a body of work that helped prepare the way for later German poets and thinkers.