7.11.1811 Karel Jaromír Erben is born

Erben was born in northern Bohemia, his father was a shoemaker. His parents had a total of nine children, only Karel and his sister Josefka lived to a very old age.

His mother wanted Karel to become a teacher. Erben studied first at the grammar school in Hradec Králové and then law in Prague. After his studies he worked at the court, and in 1850 he was appointed secretary of the Czech Museum. In 1851 he became the archivist of the city of Prague. He was interested in Czech and Slavic history and collected Czech folk tales and songs.

The breadth of his interests, which spanned ethnography, linguistics, archival history to the judiciary, is evidenced by the fact that he was one of the co-authors of Czech legal terminology, and he also participated in the translation of the Civil Code.

Among the most important works of Karel Jaromír Erben are: The Collection of Verse Ballads, The Collection of National Fairy Tales, TheNational Songs, Bouquets, Czech Fairy Tales and National Songs in Bohemia. The most valued part of Erben's work is his collecting, ethnographic work and research. Interest in folk poetry was not only a prerogative of the Czech national revival, although it was of fundamental importance for the self-confidence of the newly formed nation.

By the mid-18th century, Erben's work was already being used to create a new and more important folk poetry. The revival of folk singing in France, England, and Scotland, as well as in Germany, where the old Germanic sagas and fairy tales were coming to the fore at that time, was also evident. Erben became friends with their main collectors, the Brothers Grimm. He was also greatly influenced by the works of Polish Romanticism.

It was his friendship with the Brothers Grimm that influenced him towards the poetics of folk tales and fables. An important field of Erben's activity was also his interest in old historical writings - he edited and published the works of Jan Hus, Tomáš Štítný, Kosmas and others.

Around 1820, he became interested in folklore and balladry. Erben first focused on folk songs. He worked on their editions, compared variants, wrote down the tunes. One of the results of this activity are the collections Prostonárodní české písně a říkadla and Písně v Čechách.

Erben was married twice. He met his first wife, Barbora Mečířová, while studying in Prague. After her death, he married Žofija Mastná. He had to cope with the death of several of his children. He died on 21 November 1870 in Prague.

Sources:
Lenka Nerlich: Tschechische Prosa: Ein Lesebuch für Fortgeschrittene
Klicperovo divadlo, Kytice: program for the production
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