Brentano, Klemens (1778–1842)

German Romantic writer. He published a seminal collection of folk tales and songs with Ludwig von Arnim (Des Knaben Wunderhorn/The Boy's Magic Horn) (1805–08), and popularized the legend of the Lorelei (a rock in the River Rhine). He also wrote mystic religious verse, as in Romanzen von Rosenkranz/Romances of the Rosary (1852), and short novels.

Brentano was born in Ehrenbreistein, the brother of Bettina von Arnim, Goethe's friend. He studied at Jena, but subsequently went to Heidelberg and afterwards to Berlin. In 1818 he became a zealous Catholic and for six years (1818–24) lived in seclusion in the monastery of Dülmen. Towards the end of his life his melancholia developed to a critical pitch.

Brentano's poems are extravagant, with symbolism and occult expression carried to excess. He published his Satiren und poetische Spiele/Satires and Poetical Plays (1800) and Godwi, a romance, 1800. His dramatic works show considerable power; they include Victoria (1817) and Die Gründung Prags/The Founding of Prague (1813). His short novels were popular; Geschichte vom braven Kasperl und dem schönen Annerl/The Story of Upright Casper and Lovely Annie (1817) is one of his finest works.