Clemens Brentano

Clemens Brentano (1778-1842), German writer, born in Ehrenbreitstein (now part of Koblenz), and educated at the universities of Halle and Jena. A Romantic, he wrote poetry, fiction, and plays that abound in fantastic images and unusual expressions. With his brother-in-law, Achim von Arnim, he edited a compilation of German folk poems, Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy's Magic Horn, 3 vols., 1805-1808), which provided the texts for a song cycle by Gustav Mahler. Brentano wrote many short stories, including the notable Geschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem schönen Annerl (1817; Story of the Just Caspar and Fair Annie, 1927). In 1817 he became a devout Roman Catholic. In later life, especially in his collection of Romantic tales, Romanzen vom Rosenkranz (Romances of the Rosary, published posthumously, 1852), Brentano devoted his literary talents to propagating the Roman Catholic faith.