Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621 - 1676)

Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen (1621 – August 17, 1676) was a German author. Grimmelshausen was born at Gelnhausen. At the age of ten he was kidnapped by Hessian soldiery, and in their midst tasted the adventures of military life in the Thirty Years' War. At the close of the war, Grimmelshausen entered the service of Franz Egon von Fürstenberg, bishop in Strasbourg. In 1665, he was made Schultheiss (magistrate) at Renchen in Baden. On obtaining this appointment, he devoted himself to literary pursuits. He died at Renchen, where a monument was erected to him in 1779.