Editing Matthias Claudius

{{Short description|German poet and journalist (1740–1815)}}
{{redirect|Asmus|the Polish village|Asmus, Poland|other uses|Asmus (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. --> 
| name          = Matthias Claudius
| image         = Portrait claudius.jpg
| image_size    = 220
| alt           = 
| caption       = 
| pseudonym     = Asmus
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1740|8|15|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Reinfeld, Holstein|Reinfeld]], [[Duchy of Holstein]]
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1815|1|21|1740|8|15|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg]]
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = 
| language      = [[German language|German]]
| nationality   = German
| ethnicity     = 
| citizenship   = 
| education     = 
| alma_mater    = 
| period        = 
| genre         = 
| subject       = 
| movement      = 
| notableworks  = 
| spouse        = 
| relatives     = [[Friedrich Christoph Perthes]] (son-in-law)<br/>[[Carl Wigand Maximilian Jacobi]] (son-in-law)
| awards        = 
| signature     = 
}}
'''Matthias Claudius''' (15 August 1740 – 21 January 1815) was a German poet and journalist, otherwise known by the pen name of "Asmus".

==Life==
Claudius was born at [[Reinfeld, Holstein|Reinfeld]], near [[Lübeck]], and studied at [[Jena]]. He spent the greater part of his life in the town of [[Wandsbek (quarter)|Wandsbeck]], where he earned his first literary reputation by editing from 1771 to 1775, a newspaper called ''{{ill|Der Wandsbecker Bothe|de}}'' (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 [[Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock|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 [[Death and the Maiden (song)|songs]], which in turn became the basis for the 1824 [[Death and the Maiden Quartet (Schubert)|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).

===Poems===
*''Abendlied'' ("Evening Song"), aka "[[Der Mond ist aufgegangen]]" ("The moon has risen")
*"Der Mensch lebt und bestehet", [[Der Mensch lebt und bestehet|set to music by Max Reger]]
*"Christiane"
*"Die Sternseherin Lise" (Lise the astrologer)
*"Die Liebe" (Love)
*"Der Tod (Death)
*"Ein Wiegenlied bei Mondschein zu singen" (A lullaby to sing in moonlight)
*"Täglich zu singen" (To be sung every day)
*"{{Interlanguage link|Kriegslied|de|3=Kriegslied (Matthias Claudius)}}" (Song of war)
*"Der Frühling. Am ersten Maimorgen" (The Spring. On the first morning in May)
*"Der Säemann säet den Samen" (The sower sows the seeds), set to music by [[Ernst Krenek]] (''Drei gemischte a cappella-Chöre'', Opus 22 )
*{{ill|Der Tod und das Mädchen (Poem)|lt="Der Tod und das Mädchen"|de|Der Tod und das Mädchen (Gedicht)}} (The Death and the maiden), [[Der Tod und das Mädchen|set to music by Schubert]]
*"[[Wir pflügen und wir streuen]]" ("[[We plough the fields and scatter]]" – sung in Germany and England as a harvest festival hymn)

== Honours ==
* Asteroid [[7117 Claudius]] was named after him.

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Claudius, Matthias}}
* Reinhard Görisch: ''Matthias Claudius oder Leben als Hauptberuf''. Marburg: Francke ²2014.
* ''Jahresschriften der Claudius-Gesellschaft'', Kiel: Stamp media 1992ff.

==External links==
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Matthias Claudius}}
* {{Librivox author |id=106}}
* [http://www3.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Matthias_Claudius Settings of Matthias Claudius' poetry in the Choral Public Domain Library]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claudius, Matthias}}
[[Category:People from the Duchy of Holstein]]
[[Category:German Lutherans]]
[[Category:German poets]]
[[Category:University of Jena alumni]]
[[Category:1740 births]]
[[Category:1815 deaths]]
[[Category:German male poets]]
[[Category:French–German translators]]
[[Category:Writers from Denmark–Norway]]