Pen name Asmus Role Poet Name Matthias Claudius | Nationality German Language German Education University of Jena | |
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Born August 15, 1740
Reinfeld, Duchy of Holstein ( 1740-08-15 ) Died January 21, 1815, Hamburg, Germany Books Der Wandsbecker Bote, An meinen Sohn Johannes Similar People Franz Schubert, Friedrich Leopold zu Stolberg‑Stolberg, Carl Loewe, Gerhard Wehr, Gerhard Henschel | ||
Winter matthias claudius www germanforspalding org
Matthias Claudius (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of “Asmus”.
Contents
- Winter matthias claudius www germanforspalding org
- Abendlied matthias claudius www germanforspalding org
- Life
- Work
- Poems
- Honours
- References
Abendlied matthias claudius www germanforspalding org
Life
Claudius was born at Reinfeld, near Lübeck, and studied at Jena. He spent the greater part of his life in the town of Wandsbeck, where he earned his first literary reputation by editing from 1771 to 1775, a newspaper called Der Wandsbecker Bote (The Wandsbeck Messenger) (Wandsbeck until the year 1879 still written with "ck". Today only with "k".), in which he published a large number of prose essays and poems. They were written in pure and simple German, and appealed to the popular taste; in many there was a vein of extravagant humour or even burlesque, while others were full of quiet meditation and solemn sentiment. In his later days, perhaps through the influence of Klopstock, with whom he had formed an intimate acquaintance, Claudius became strongly pietistic, and the graver side of his nature showed itself. In 1814 he moved to Hamburg, to the house of his son-in-law, the publisher Friedrich Christoph Perthes, where he died on 21 January 1815.
Work
Claudius's poem Death and the Maiden was used by composer Franz Schubert in 1817 for one of his most celebrated songs, which in turn became the basis for the 1824 string quartet of the same name.
Claudius's collected works were published under the title of Asmus omnia sua secum portans, oder Sämtliche Werke des Wandsbecker Boten (8 vols., 1775–1812; 13th edition, by C. Redich, 2 vols., 1902). His biography has been written by Wilhelm Herbst (4th ed., 1878). See also M. Schneidereit, M. Claudius, seine Weltanschauung und Lebensweisheit (1898).