Robert Gilbert (musician)

Robert Gilbert (born Robert David Winterfeld) (29 September 1899, Hamburg, Germany – 20 March 1978, Minusio, Switzerland) was a German composer of light music, lyricist, singer, and actor. His father was Max Winterfeld, a composer and conductor who went by the pen name of Jean Gilbert. His brother was Henry Winterfeld, an author of children's books.

Gilbert was a soldier during the last year of World War I, where he came in contact with socialist and communist ideas that the political awareness of the 1900s had aroused. After his service in the war he studied philosophy and art history in Berlin and in Freiburg and was engaged in political campaigns and demonstrations during this time.

Sometimes described as a "divided author", Gilbert was born in Hamburg on 29 September 1899. Few Germans now remember his early depression-era poem "Stempellied" about living on the dole, which was set to music by Hanns Eisler. But many know "Am Sonntag will mein Süsser mit mir segeln gehen" (On Sunday I'll go sailing with my Sweetheart,) and every Berliner can sing "Das gibt's nur einmal", (It Happens Only Once), all written by the same man.

Gilbert's father, Jean Gilbert, born Max Winterfeld, was the son of a Hamburg businessman. But Max was musical and struggled to enter the world of the theater, beginning as a conductor and composing various pieces. French vaudeville was in fashion and in 1901, when his son Robert was one year old, he adopted the penname of Jean Gilbert. The family was poor for years. They lived in seedy hotels, and the father had to work nights playing piano wherever he could find work in various dives. Sometimes it was so cold that Robert's mother, Rosa, had to keep warm in bed while sewing hats to earn a little extra money.

For a time, Robert's father was conductor of a 40-man orchestra in a circus, an adventurous playground with circus elephants for Robert and his younger brother Henry. But this life did not last much longer. Jean Gilbert's operettas, Die Polnische Wirtschaft (1909) and Die keusche Susanne (1910) were hugely successful and his song, "Pupchen, du bist mein Augenstern" became an international hit. By 1911, Jean Gilbert was world-famous and rich. He had houses, women, an unusual family and wealth; he had everything he wanted. But his son, Robert, rebelled. He didn't want the clothes, the huge parties, the famous guests. He wanted a different life.

...
Wikipedia