Background
Liliencron was the son of Louis (Ludwig) Freiherr von Liliencron and Adeline von Harten.
Liliencron was the son of Louis (Ludwig) Freiherr von Liliencron and Adeline von Harten.
He entered the Prussian army and took part in the campaigns of 1866 and 1870-1871, in both of which he was wounded. In 1875, he retired with the rank of captain and spent some time in America (1875 to 1877), afterwards settling at Kellinghusen in Holstein, where he remained until 1887. After some time at Munich, he settled in Altona and later at Alternate-Rahlstedt, now a part of Hamburg.
Liliencron was one of the most eminent of German lyric poets of his time.
His Adjutantenritte, with its fresh original style, broke with the well-worn literary conventions then prevalent which had been handed down from the middle of the century. Rainer Maria Rilke, among others, was heavily influenced by Liliencron"s poems.
Liliencron"s work is, however, somewhat uneven, since he lacked the sustained power which makes a prose writer successful. H. Fiedler (transport): Book of German Verse.
Luther to Liliencron.
Oxford 1916.