Alfred Lichtenstein was born on the 23rd August 1889, in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, the son of a Jewish manufacturer. He grew up in Berlin before studying law at Erlangen in Bavaria. A writer in the Expressionist style his poems and short stories are short but beautifully honed works. His tragically short life allowed only a small part of his talents to rest with us. Undoubtedly a full life would have given the world a very gifted literary force. Alfred Lichenstein volunteered for duty in the German Army for World War I. He died on the front at the Somme in the early months of the war on 25th September 1914. He was 25.