Joseph Victor von Scheffel

His father, a retired major in the Baden army, was a civil engineer and member of the commission for regulating the course of the Rhine; his mother, née Josephine Krederer, the daughter of a prosperous tradesman at Oberndorf am Neckar, was a woman of great intellectual powers and of a romantic disposition.

[1] After passing the state examination for admission to the judicial service, he graduated Doctor juris and for four years (1848–1852) held an official position at the town of Säckingen.

Here he wrote his epic poem Der Trompeter von Säkkingen [de] (The Trumpeter of Säckingen) (1853), a romantic and humorous tale which immediately gained extraordinary popularity.

But in 1854, defective eyesight incapacitated him; he quit the government service and took up his residence at Heidelberg, with the intention of preparing himself for a post on the teaching staff of the university.

His studies were, however, interrupted by eye disease, and in search of health he travelled to Switzerland and took up residence at Lake Constance, and elaborated the plan of his famous historical romance Ekkehard (1855); (Eng.

[1] One example is "Im schwarzen Walfisch zu Askalon" where the lyrics reflect an endorsement of the bacchanalian mayhem of student life.

The song describes an 'old assyrian' drinking binge with some references to the Classics and the large invoice presented in cuneiform on six brick stones.