Robert Gilbert

Robert Gilbert was born on September 29, 1899, in Berlin, Germany. The son of composer and conductor Max Winterfeld—known by the stage name Jean Gilbert—he grew up in a musical household and developed a deep affinity for songwriting from an early age. His brother Henry Winterfeld went on to become a celebrated author of children’s literature, reflecting a creative family legacy.

During and after World War I, Gilbert studied philosophy and art history in Berlin and Freiburg. He became politically active amid Germany’s revolutionary climate and began writing politically charged songs with composer Hanns Eisler—works like “Stempellied” voiced the struggles of working-class life during the Depression era. At the same time, he was composing and writing lyrics for operettas, revues, and films—producing both lighthearted entertainment and socially conscious art.

Gilbert’s songwriting talents flourished in the late 1920s and early 1930s as he penned enduring German-language hits such as “Am Sonntag will mein Süßer mit mir segeln gehen” and “Das gibt’s nur einmal”. He collaborated with major contemporaries like Werner Richard Heymann on celebrated projects including The White Horse Inn and Die Drei von der Tankstelle, delivering songs that would become cultural touchstones in pre‑war Europe.

When the Nazi regime banned Jewish artists in 1933, Gilbert fled Germany. He spent time in Vienna and France before emigrating to the United States in 1939. In New York, he published poetry and cabaret lyrics in English, though he never achieved Broadway-level commercial success. In 1949 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland, where he resumed writing lyrics and became a sought-after translator of American musicals—rendering classics like My Fair Lady, Hello, Dolly!, and Annie Get Your Gun into German, greatly influencing postwar musical theatre in German-speaking countries.

Robert Gilbert died on March 20, 1978, in Minusio, Switzerland. In his lifetime he authored nearly 400 songs, translated scores for the stage, and published volumes of politically engaged and personal poetry. His work bridged entertainment and social commentary, and his versions of Broadway musicals helped shape their reception in Europe. Gilbert remains recognized as one of the most versatile and resilient figures in 20th-century German musical culture