Literature · Technology · Philosophy · 1772–1801
Born: 2 May 1772 · Died: 25 March 1801 · Age: 28
German Romantic poet of Hymns to the Night and the novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen, whose blue flower became a Romantic symbol
Did you know?He was a trained mining engineer who spent much of his professional life working in salt mine management.
Novalis was the brightest young poet of early German Romanticism. His real name was Friedrich von Hardenberg, and he worked as a mining engineer and salt-works official. In 1797 his young fiancée, Sophie von Kühn, died at 15. His grief transformed his writing. His Hymns to the Night turn darkness and death into a gateway to love and the infinite. His unfinished novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen features a mysterious blue flower, which became a symbol of Romantic longing. He died of tuberculosis at 28.
Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg (2 May 1772 – 25 March 1801), better known by his pen name Novalis (German:), was a German aristocrat and polymath, who was a poet, novelist, philosopher and mystic. He is regarded as an influential figure in Jena Romanticism.
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Profile
German poet, 1772–1801
Novalis was born in Wiederstedt on 2 May 1772.
He studied at Freiberg Mining Academy.
Hymns to the Night appeared in 1800.
He died on 25 March 1801.
Career highlights
Did you know?The "blue flower" became a symbol of Romantic longing.
Questions people ask
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