Franz Schubert

About Franz Schubert

Franz Schubert (1797–1828) was a prolific Austrian composer whose profound influence on the Romantic period of music is recognized by his #211 ranking in MIT's Historical Popularity Index. Though he lived a tragically short life, Schubert composed over 1,500 works, including famous pieces like the *Unfinished Symphony* and his vast song cycles, which elevated the German *Lied* to an art form.

In the contemporary digital landscape of 2025, Schubert receives an Attention Gap score of approximately 1x, suggesting his internet attention is commensurate with his high historical importance. His 506K annualized Wikipedia views are modest compared to figures like Mark Twain (#543 importance) who garner 2.4M views, yet he vastly outperforms significantly more historically crucial figures, such as Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (#92 importance), who only registers 67K views online. This indicates that while Schubert is not currently trending, he holds a stable, relatively appropriate level of attention when compared to peers of similar cultural weight or even those ranked much higher historically.

Despite his established historical stature, Schubert's attention is showing signs of erosion, with his Wikipedia views declining by 6.9% year-over-year, and a substantial 16% drop in momentum between Q1 and Q3 of 2025.