The Brief, Radiant Life of Wilhelm Morgner In the fleeting dawn of the twentieth century, few voices resonated with as much raw, spiritual intensity as that of Wilhelm Morgner. Born on January 27, 1891, in the Westphalian town of Soest, Morgner’s life was a short but brilliant arc of creative evolution, cut tragically short by the ravages of war. His early years were marked by a profound tension between duty and desire; while his mother, an artistically inclined woman, envisioned a future for him in the pulpit as a Protestant minister, the young Morgner felt the irresistible pull of the canv…