Johann Friedrich Reichardt

When Reichardt was ten years old, his father took the choir in which he sang, the "Wunderknaben", on a concert tour in East Prussia.

Of their progeny was one daughter, Louise Reichardt (11 April 1779, Berlin – 17 November 1826, Hamburg), who became a noted composer and singer, and a son, Wilhelm (1777–1782).

On the return from his first trip to Italy in 1783, Reichardt stopped in Vienna, where he met Kaiser Joseph II, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Christoph Willibald Gluck.

After the appearance of his Vertrauten Briefe (Intimate Letters) in 1792, he was released in 1794 without pay from his position as Court Kapellmeister for being sympathetic to the French Revolution.

Four years later, when his manor was plundered by French troops, he fled to Danzig where he was active as a patriot and freedom fighter.

Napoleon's brother Jérôme, located in Kassel, allowed Reichardt to return and named him to Theater Director in 1807.

His stage works were quickly forgotten after his death but his strophic Lieder and Ballads im Volkston (in folk style) enjoyed considerable popularity beyond the 19th century, aided by the Wandervogel movement.