Otfried Krzyzanowski

Born on June 25, 1886, Otfried Krzyzanowski was an Austrian writer associated with Expressionism. He wrote poetry and drama, and his surviving work suggests a strong interest in spiritual tension, inner conflict, and the unsettled mood of his time.

Although he died young on November 30, 1918, he was part of the wider Viennese cultural scene at a moment of major artistic change. Some of his work appeared after his death, including Unser täglich Gift (1919), which helped preserve his name even though his output was small.

Krzyzanowski remains a lesser-known figure today, but that brevity is part of what makes his work interesting: it feels like a glimpse of a voice cut short. Readers curious about overlooked writers from the Expressionist period may find his work especially compelling.