Joseph Karl Bernard (forenames also spelled Joseph Carl, Josef Karl and Josef Carl; 26 January 1780 – 31 March 1850)[1] was an Austrian journalist and librettist, and friend of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Bernard was born in Horatitz (present-day Hořetice, part of Žiželice in the Czech Republic), and studied in Žatec, Prague and Heidelberg.
For 30 years until 1847 (initially for foreign affairs) he was editor of Wiener Zeitung.
[2] In 1815 Bernard rewrote the text, originally written by Aloys Weissenbach, of Beethoven's cantata Der glorreiche Augenblick, Op.
[2] He later wrote the text for a projected oratorio by Beethoven, Der Sieg des Kreuzes (The Victory of the Cross), commissioned in 1818 by the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde.