
(born May 2, 1772, Oberwiederstedt, Prussian Saxonydied March 25, 1801, Weissenfels, Saxony) German Romantic poet and theorist. Born into a noble family, he took his pseudonym from a former family name. He studied law and then mining and in 1799 became a mine inspector. His beautiful
Hymns to the Night (1800) expresses his grief on the death of his young fiancée. In his last years before his own death from tuberculosis at age 28, he drafted a philosophical system based on idealism and produced his most significant poetic work. His mythical romance
Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802) describes a young poet's mystical and romantic searchings.
Source: Encyclopedia Britannica