Johann Friedrich Morgenstern was a German architectural and landscape painter, etcher and painting restorer.

Morgenstern was born as the son of the successful church painter Johann Ludwig Ernst Morgenstern, who worked mainly in Frankfurt am Main. He thus belonged to the third generation of the family from Rudolstadt in Thuringia, whose main occupation was painting. After receiving painting and drawing lessons from his father during his youth and creating his first city views as early as 1793, he continued his education at the Dresden Academy of Art in 1797 and 1798 under the renowned landscape painter Johann Christian Klengel.

In 1799, after a short stay in Darmstadt, he returned to Frankfurt, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1806, he obtained citizenship by marrying a Frankfurt woman from the Bansa family, and in 1811 his only son Carl Morgenstern was born. He followed in his father's footsteps and later became the most important representative of the artist family.

Morgenstern died at the age of 66 on January 21, 1844 in his home town. His grave is located in Frankfurt's main cemetery in Gewann A 101. It is a listed monument and is designated as an honorary grave.