author
Peter Altenberg
1859–1919
A sharp-eyed Viennese original, he turned brief sketches, aphorisms, and prose miniatures into a distinctive modern style. Writing under the name Peter Altenberg, he became one of the memorable literary voices of fin-de-siècle Vienna.
3 Audiobooks
About the author
Born Richard Engländer in Vienna on March 9, 1859, Peter Altenberg became known as an Austrian writer and poet closely linked with the cultural life of turn-of-the-century Vienna. He is widely remembered for short, impressionistic prose pieces rather than long novels, and for helping shape the mood of early modernism in the city.
Before fully embracing literature, he studied law and medicine and also worked briefly in the book trade. He eventually chose a bohemian life instead, becoming a familiar figure in Vienna’s coffeehouse world and among the writers associated with Young Vienna.
Altenberg’s writing is noted for its concise, sensitive form: observations, aphorisms, prose poems, and miniature scenes that capture everyday feeling with unusual lightness and precision. He died in Vienna on January 8, 1919, but his work still stands out for its intimacy, wit, and modern sense of fragmentary beauty.