Karl Wilhelm

Karl Wilhelm, also Carl Wilhelm (September 5 1815 – August 26 1873 was a German choral director. He is best known as the composer of the song "Die Wacht am Rhein."

Wilhelm was born in Schmalkalden. He was a student of Aloys Schmitt and A. André. From 1841 to 1864 he was the director of the Krefeld Liedertafel. In Krefeld in 1854 he set to words "Die Wacht am Rhein," the poem Max Schneckenburger wrote in 1840. In recognition of the success and the national importance of this song, he received numerous honors and on June 24 1871 he received a personal acknowledgment from Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck.

In the same year he received an annual gift from the government of 3,000 marks, which was then more than four times a typical salary.

From 1865 on Wilhelm worked as the director of the music society in Schmalkalden, where he died eight years later.

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