Robert Gilbert

Robert Gilbert (born Robert David Winterfeld) (29 September 1899 – 20 March 1978) was a German composer of light music, lyricist, singer, and actor. His father was Max Winterfeld, a composer and conductor who went by the pen name of Jean Gilbert. His brother was Henry Winterfeld, an author of children's books. Sometimes described as a "divided author", his early depression-era poem "Stempellied" about living on the dole was set to music by Hanns Eisler. But "Am Sonntag will mein Süsser mit mir segeln gehen" ("On Sunday I'll go sailing with my Sweetheart") and "Das gibt's nur einmal" ("It Happens Only Once"), became his better known work. Life Gilbert was born in Berlin, and was a soldier during the last year of World War I, where he came in contact with socialist and communist ideas that the political awareness of the 1900s had aroused. After his service in the war he studied philosophy and art history in Berlin and in Freiburg and was engaged in political campaigns and demonstrations during this time. Gilbert's father, Jean Gilbert, born Max Winterfeld, was the son of a Hamburg businessman. Winterfeld struggled to enter the world of the theater, beginning as a conductor and composing various pieces. French vaudeville was in fashion and in 1901, when Robert was one year old, he adopted the penname of Jean Gilbert. The family was poor for years and lived in seedy hotels, his father had to work nights playing piano wherever he could find work. Sometimes it was so cold that Robert's mother, Rosa, had to keep warm in bed while sewing hats to earn a little extra money. For a time, Robert's father was conductor of a 40-man orchestra in a circus, an adventurous playground with circus elephants for Robert and his younger brother Henry. But this life did not last much longer. Jean Gilbert's operettas, (1909) and Die keusche Susanne (1910) were hugely successful and his song, "Pupchen, du bist mein Augenstern" became a hit. By 1911, Jean Gilbert was world-famous and rich. He had houses, women, an unusual family and wealth. But Robert rebelled.