Johann Martin Miller

Johann Martin Miller (3 December 1750 in Ulm – 21 June 1814 in Ulm) was a German theologian and writer. He is best known for his novel Siegwart, which became one of the most successful books at the time.

Miller, the son of the Evangelical pastor Johann Michael Miller (1722–1774), was born in Jungingen, nowadays part of the city of Ulm. From 15 October 1770, he studied theology at the University of Göttingen, where he helped to establish the Göttinger Hainbund. Through this literary group, founded in 1772, Miller became acquainted with Matthias Claudius, Gottfried August Bürger, Ludwig Christoph Heinrich Hölty, Johann Heinrich Voss, and . In 1774 he accompanied Klopstock from Göttingen to Hamburg. In 1774 and 1775 he studied in Leipzig.

During his years in Göttingen, Miller mainly wrote folk songs, many of which were set to music during his lifetime and are still found in different songbooks today. "Die Zufriedenheit" ("Contentedness"), his most popular poem, was set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Christian Gottlob Neefe ("Was frag ich viel nach Geld und Gut, / Wenn ich zufrieden bin" ("What need have I of funds and goods / While I am just content"). His particular tone as well as the sound of his plain verses were well known to contemporary writers, such as Friedrich Schiller, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Karl Philipp Moritz, and authors of later generations, such as Eduard Mörike and Friedrich Rückert.

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