Johannes Daniel Falk
Johannes Daniel Falk (28 October 1768 – 14 February 1826) was a German publisher and poet born in Danzig (Gdańsk), in the Polish province of Royal Prussia. Despite his father's wishes for him to join the family wig-making business, Falk pursued education and was granted a theology stipendium by the Danzig city council to study in Halle. However, he did not become a preacher, choosing instead to engage with literary circles that included prominent figures such as Schiller and Goethe. Falk is best known for writing the German text "O du fröhliche," a popular Christmas carol set to the melody of the Catholic hymn "O Sanctissima," around 1815 or 1816. He was also the founder of the Falk'sche Institute, a public education institution for orphans in Weimar, where he spent the latter part of his life and died in 1826.
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