Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff
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Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (March 10, 1788 – November 26, 1857) was a German poet and novelist.
Eichendorff was born at Schloß Lubowitz near Ratibor. His parents were the Prussian officer Adolf Freiherr von Eichendorf and his wife, Karoline Freiin von Kloche, who came from an aristocratic Roman Catholic family. He studied law in Halle (1805-1806) and Heidelberg (1807-1808). In 1808 he travelled through Europe, visiting Paris and Vienna. In 1810, he returned home to help his father run the family estate. The same year he met Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano, and Heinrich von Kleist in Berlin. He finished his studies in Vienna in 1812. From 1813 to 1815 he fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
In 1821, he became school inspector in Danzig, in 1824 Oberpräsidialrat in Königsberg. He moved with his family to Berlin in 1831, where he worked for several ministries, until he retired in 1844.
Eichendorff died 1857 in Neiße (Upper Silesia).
Contents |
[edit] Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts – Eichendorff's masterpiece
English title: Life of a Good-For-Nothing.
A typical romantic novella, voyage and love are the main topics. The protagonist leaves his father's mill and becomes gardener on a Viennese castle and falls in love with the supposed daughter of the duke. Because she is unreacheable for him he travels to Italy but then returns and gets to know that she is just adopted by the duke and nothing stands in the way of a marriage between them.
[edit] Notes
Note regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.
[edit] Important works
- 1808 – Die Zauberei im Herbst
- 1808–1810 – Oberschlesische Märchen und Sagen (Upper Silesian fairytales and sagas)
- 1815 – Ahnung und Gegenwart
- 1819 – Das Marmorbild (The Marble Statue)
- 1826 – Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (Life of a Good-For-Nothing)
- 1833 – Dichter und ihre Gesellen
- 1833 – Viel Lärmen um nichts
- 1834 (or 1838) – Auch ich war in Arkadien
- 1835 – Die Meerfahrt
- 1837 – Das Schloß Dürande
- 1839 – Die Entführung
- 1841 – Die Glücksritter
- Libertas und ihre Freier
