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Berthold Auerbach (February 28, 1812 - February 8, 1882) was a German-Jewish poet and author. Auerbach was born Moses (Moyses) Baruch Auerbach in Nordstetten (now Horb am Neckar) in the Kingdom of Württemberg. On the completion of his studies at the universities of Tübingen, Munich and Heidelberg, he immediately devoted himself to literature. His first publication dealt with "Judaism and Recent Literature", and was to be followed by a series of novels taken from Jewish history. Of this intended series he actually published, with considerable success, "Spinoza" and "Poet and Merchant." But real fame and popularity came to him when he began to occupy himself with the life of the general people which forms the subject of his best-known works. In these later books, of which "On the Height" is perhaps the most characteristic and certainly the most famous, he revealed an unrivalled insight into the soul of the Southern German country folk, and especially of the peasants of the Black Forest and the Bavarian Alps. His descriptions are remarkable for their fresh realism, graceful style and humour. In addition to these qualities, his last books are marked by great subtlety of psychological analysis. "On the Height" was first published at Stuttgart in 1861, and has been translated into several languages. Auerbach died at Cannes shortly before his 70th birthday.
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