Groth, Klaus (1819 - 1899)

Klaus Groth (1819 - 1899) at the age of 40
Steel engraving by Weger, Leipzig, around 1860
StadtMuseum Bonn

Klaus Groth and Johannes Brahms first met in late April or early May 1856 at the 34th Niederrhein Music Festival in Düsseldorf. This encounter resulted in a forty-year long friendship. A journey that began in the spring of 1856, led Klaus Groth to Bonn, where he received an honorary doctorate from the university in the same year. During his stay in Bonn, Robert Schumann died. Groth described his funeral with touching words: "But behold, the crowds gathered in the streets, as if it was a procession of a prince. Who from the magistrate, mayor, city council, associations, etc. joined, I cannot say; but the people, the high-spirited, the Rhenish, appeared to take a last look at the coffin, which [...] held the earthly remains of the of great man, whose name at least, whose sounds and singing entered a lot of people’s hearts, whose terrible fate and singing touched all minds. The whole population of Bonn seemed to have gathered completely [...]"
Groth is one of the real founders of Low German literature; his poetry collection "Quickborn" dates back from 1853.
(I.B.)


Translation: Katharina Ma