Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (1788–1857) was a German poet and writer of the Romantic period. Born at Lubowitz Castle near Ratibor in Upper Silesia into a Catholic aristocratic family, he studied law and philosophy in Halle, Heidelberg, and Vienna. From 1813 to 1815 he took part in the wars of liberation against Napoleon. He subsequently worked in the Prussian civil service, including in Danzig, Königsberg, and Berlin, and was appointed Privy Government Councillor in 1841. He left the civil service in 1844. Eichendorff is best known for his poetry and for the novella *Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts*, first published in 1826. Many of his poems were set to music.