Education
Born into a middle-class family in Frankfurt am Main, Leybold was raised in Hamburg where he completed his schooling in 1911 and joined the German Army.
Born into a middle-class family in Frankfurt am Main, Leybold was raised in Hamburg where he completed his schooling in 1911 and joined the German Army.
Although Leybold died two years before the emergence of Dada, his absurdist writings and poems represent an important stage in the development of expressionist movement in Germany. In his compulsory year of conscription he impressed his superior officers so much he was offered a commission and embarked on a military career. Taking a leave of absence to attend university, Leybold traveled to Munich to study German literature and whilst there he fell in with the crowd of German poets and authors who would head the Dada movement post-war.
lieutenant was Ball who interested Leybold in the expressionist movement and soon the two of them were soon producing poetry together under the pseudonym Ha Hu Baley.
In the company of these authors, Leybold experimented wildly with technique and imagery in his poetry, seeking both to develop his skills and in the process deconstruct poetry itself, heavily influenced by Alfred Kerr and Friedrich Nietzsche. In August 1914 the First World War erupted and Leybold was immediately called up as an active reservist.
Less than a month later, Leybold was seriously wounded during operations near Namur and was evacuated to a casualty clearing hospital. He recovered rapidly from his wound but on 8 September, the night he returned to his regiment, he committed suicide by gunshot to the head
His death was never fully explained, although a rumour persisted that he had syphilis and had given up on survival following his wound.