![Painting of Gottfried Keller, 1855.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/keller-eichen-titel-300x225.jpg)
Keller’s love for the oak tree
Gottfried Keller’s most ardent desire was to become an artist and paint scenes of nature. In the end he did just that, but mostly in words.
![Portrait of Gottfried Keller, 1890.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/gottfried-keller-245x300.jpg)
![Manuscript of Gottfried Keller’s «Waldlied».](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/manuskript-e1647880082661-221x300.jpg)
![Switzerland’s nascent railway required a lot of resources, such as wood for the sleepers. Countless trees were felled to meet this need.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/eisenbahnbau-e1647691900385-300x199.jpg)
![Keller was captivated by Robert Zünd’s «Eichenwald».](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/eichenwald-zund-300x225.jpg)
![The school of forestry at the Polytechnic, 1866.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/forstschule-eth-300x213.jpg)
Gottfried Keller’s most ardent desire was to become an artist and paint scenes of nature. In the end he did just that, but mostly in words.