Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːhan ˈkrɪsti.aːn ˈfriːdrɪç ˈhœldərliːn]; 20 March 1770 – 6 June 1843) was one of the greatest German poets.
Developing a poetic idiom truly his own, Hölderlin kept his distance from both Weimar Classicism and Romanticism. Next to Heinrich von Kleist, he represents the second truly original voice in German letters around 1800.
Of an overly sensitive nature, Hölderlin's mental state de...
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Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (German pronunciation: [ˈjoːhan ˈkrɪsti.aːn ˈfriːdrɪç ˈhœldərliːn]; 20 March 1770 – 6 June 1843) was one of the greatest German poets.
Developing a poetic idiom truly his own, Hölderlin kept his distance from both Weimar Classicism and Romanticism. Next to Heinrich von Kleist, he represents the second truly original voice in German letters around 1800.
Of an overly sensitive nature, Hölderlin's mental state deteriorated after 1802, partly due to his mother's incessant demands that he become a minister. He was interned briefly in 1806 and spent the rest of his life in the care of Ernst Zimmer, a carpenter living in Tübingen.
Hölderlin was born in Lauffen am Neckar in the Duchy of Württemberg. His father, the manager of a church estate, died when the boy was two years old. He was brought up by his mother, who in 1774 married the Burgomaster of Nürtingen and moved there. He had a full sister, born after their father's death, and a half-brother. His...
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