His poetry was subversive, his translations are still praised today, and his "Gallows Songs" are among the most popular German poems. Christian Morgenstern was one of the most interesting authors of his time. Born in 1871, he experienced an era of radical intellectual, technical, and cultural upheaval: the entry into modernity. His contemporaries include Rilke, Hofmannsthal, and Robert Walser. Morgenstern's work responded in its diversity and fragmentation to an era that was undergoing rapid change. Jochen Schimmang sheds new light on the life and work of this significant poet in his biography.