Adalbert Stifter

Adalbert Stifter
Adalbert Stifter
Born	23 October 1805 Oberplan, Bohemia (now Horní Planá, the Czech Republic)
Died	28 January 1868 (aged 62) Linz, Austria-Hungary
Resting place	St. Barbara-Friedhof in Linz, Austria
Occupation	Novelist, poet, painter, pedagogue
Language	German
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	University of Vienna
Period	1830–1868
Genre	Poetic realism
Notable works	Bergkristall, Der Nachsommer, Witiko
Spouse	Amelia Mohaupt (1837–1868)
Signature

Adalbert Stifter (German: [ˈʃtɪftɐ]; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was especially notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while remaining almost entirely unknown to English readers.

Born in Oberplan in Bohemia (now Horní Planá in the Czech Republic), he was the eldest son of Johann Stifter, a wealthy linen weaver, and his wife, Magdalena. Johann died in 1817 after being crushed by an overturned wagon. Stifter was educated at the Benedictine Gymnasium at Kremsmünster, and went to the University of Vienna in 1826 to study law. In 1828 he fell in love with Fanny Greipl, but after a relationship lasting five years, her parents forbade further correspondence, a loss from which he never recovered. In 1835 he became engaged to Amalia Mohaupt, and they married in 1837, but the marriage was not a happy one. Stifter and his wife, unable to conceive, tried adopting three of Amalia's nieces at different times. One of them, Juliana, ran away several times and finally disappeared, only to be found drowned in the Danube four weeks later.

Instead of becoming a state official, he became a tutor to the aristocrats of Vienna, and was highly regarded as such. His students included Princess Maria Anna von Schwarzenberg and Richard Metternich, son of Klemens Wenzel von Metternich. He also made some money from selling paintings, and published his first story, "Der Condor", in 1840. An immediate success, it inaugurated a steady writing career.