Ludwig B. Braunfels was born in Frankfurt on April 22, 1810, attended secondary school there and then went on to study philology and philosophy in Heidelberg. Having also studied law, Braunfels settled in Frankfurt as a lawyer in 1840. Alongside his legal work, Braunfels also became publicly known as a poet, translator (he translated the 'Nibelungenlied' and various Spanish dramas) and author of various political articles for the Frankfurt newspaper. His life's work was to become a critical edition of 'Don Quixote', but he only managed to finish an annotated re-translation, before he died on September 25, 1885, leaving his large main project unfinished.