Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff

For more information on Joseph Baron von Eichendorff, visit Britannica.com.

(b Lubowitz Castle, 10 March 1788; d St Rochus, 26 Nov 1857). German poet. The melancholy beauty of his poetry attracted such composers as Brahms, Franz, Mendelssohn, Schumann and Wolf, among others.

Eichendorff, Joseph Freiherr von (1788–1857), German poet and author who combined romantic nature mysticism with Christian faith. While studying at Heidelberg, he entered into friendship with Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano, whose German folk‐song collection decisively influenced his subsequent literary production. In his early novel Ahnung und Gegenwart (Presentiment and Actuality, 1815), the mood and emotion of the characters often find expression in a lyric poetry that appropriates the form and metre of folk song, as is also the case in the story that has become a minor classic of world literature, ‘Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts’ (‘The Memoirs of a Good‐for‐Nothing’, 1826). In Eichendorff's contribution to the genre of the artistic fairy tale (Kunstmärchen), ‘Das Marmorbild’ (‘The Marble Statue’, 1819), Florio no sooner falls in love with lovely young Bianca, and she with him, than he finds himself under the spell of a marble statue of Venus that has come alive in the person of a maturely alluring seductress. Florio is saved from succumbing to Venus' blandishments by his older friend Fortunato, and in the end young love triumphs.

Bibliography

• Blackall, Eric A., “‘Images on a Golden Ground: Eichendorff’”, in The Novels of the German Romantics (1983).
• Goebel, Robert O., Eichendorff's Scholarly Reception: A Survey (1993).
• Hoffmeister, Gerhart, “‘Eichendorff's Ahnung und Gegenwart as a Religious Development’”, in James N. Hardin (ed.), Reflection and Action: Essays on the Bildungsroman (1991).
• McGlathery, James M., ‘Magic and Desire in Eichendorff's “Das Marmorbild”’, German Life & Letters, 42 (1989).
• Schwarz, Egon, Joseph von Eichendorff (1972).

— James M. McGlathery

Eichendorff, Joseph, Freiherr von (Schloß Lubowitz nr. Ratibor, Silesia, 1788-1857, Neiße), son of a noble landed family, the fortunes of which were declining, spent his early years on the family estate, where he was educated by private tutors, and in leisure hours ranged freely through the forested Silesian countryside. The family tradition was Roman Catholic, and Eichendorff adhered unswervingly to his faith throughout his life. In 1801 he was sent with his elder brother Wilhelm, to whom he was deeply attached, to the grammar school (Gymnasium) at Breslau, where he remained until 1805. In the spring of that year he and his brother began to study law at Halle University, transferring in 1807 to Heidelberg. A reflection of Eichendorff's early life is to be found in an autobiographical fragment entitled Der Adel und die Revolution, and the impressions of his university years are mirrored in Halle und Heidelberg; both essays were published posthumously in 1866 in Aus dem literarischen Nachlasse.

In Heidelberg Eichendorff was deeply influenced by J. J. von Görres and by the Romantic poet O. H. von Loeben, as well as by the body of folk poetry in Des Knaben Wunderhorn. The university years 1805-8 were followed by visits to Paris and Vienna, after which the two brothers returned home in 1809 to help manage the estate. Eichendorff had by this time written a number of poems, and had recently completed his first prose work, the story Die Zauberei im Herbste. A visit to Berlin in the autumn of 1809 enabled him to meet L. J. (Achim) von Arnim, C. Brentano, H. von Kleist, and Adam Müller. In the following year he left Lubowitz, as it proved, for good, and took up studies in Vienna with the aim of qualifying as a civil servant, in which he succeeded in 1811. In Vienna he was in contact with Friedrich Schlegel and his wife, and with Philipp Veit, the painter, Frau Schlegel's son by her first marriage.

Eichendorff joined the volunteer forces on the outbreak of the War of Liberation (see Napoleonic Wars) and was commissioned in October 1813. He was demobilized at the end of 1814 and immediately took up a minor civil service post in Berlin. He married Luise von Larisch in the early spring of 1815, but the return of Napoleon took him back to the forces and he did not return to civilian life until 1816. His first novel, Ahnung und Gegenwart, appeared in 1815. From 1816 to 1819 he held a minor civil service appointment in Breslau, publishing the story Das Marmorbild in 1819. A posting to Danzig followed in a better-paid post as Regierungsrat (1821). He was transferred to Berlin in 1823 and then, with further promotion, to Königsberg in 1824.

His satire Krieg den Philistern appeared in 1824, and his best-known story, Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts, in 1826. His tragedy Der letzte Held von Marienburg (1830) was linked with the restoration of the castle by the Prussian government. He returned to Berlin in 1831, where he remained until his early retirement through ill-health in 1844. Minor narrative works appeared in these years, including Viel Lärmen um Nichts (1832), Das Schloß Dürande (1837), Die Entführung (1839), and Die Glücksritter (1841), as well as his comedy Die Freier (1833); his most considerable work of this time was his second novel Dichter und ihre Gesellen (1834). In the year of his retirement, his history of the efforts to restore Marienburg (Die Wiederherstellung des Schlosses der deutschen Ordensritter in Marienburg), written at the request of Th. von Schön, had its official publication.

Eichendorff's remaining years were spent in Sedlnitz, Moravia (1845 and 1855-7), in Vienna (1846-7), in Köthen and Dresden (1848), in Berlin (1849-55), and finally (1855-7) in Neiße. His publications in these years were mainly concerned with the history of literature, which he approached from a religious stand-point in Zur Geschichte der neueren romantischen Poesie in Deutschland (1847), Die geistliche Poesie in Deutschland (1847), Der deutsche Roman des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts in seinem Verhältnis zum Christentum (1851), and Geschichte der poetischen Literatur Deutschlands (1857). Libertas und ihre Freier (Ein Märchen) is a satire on contemporary liberal and radical politics. Written in 1849, it was published posth. in 1866. Eichendorff's poems were liberally included in his narrative works, especially Ahnung und Gegenwart, the Taugenichts, and Dichter und ihre Gesellen. They were published in collected form (289 in all) in Gedichte (1837), and with additions in Vol. 1 of Werke (4 vols.) in 1841. The edition of Sämtliche Werke. Historisch-kritische Ausgabe by A. Sauer and W. Kosch was initiated in 1908, planned in 16 vols. (later 25); 6 vols. appeared in 1908-39. In 1950 publication was resumed, ed. H. Kunisch et al. Werke (5 vols.), ed. A. Hillach and K. D. Krabiel, appeared 1970-88, Werke in sechs Bänden, ed. W. Frühwald, B. Schillbach, and H. Schultz, 1985 ff. Werke (6 vols.), a select edition by W. Dimter, appeared 1991 ff.

The two fundamental experiences underlying Eichendorff's work are the intimate association with landscape deriving from his early years and the religious faith which strengthened as his life progressed. His poetry has an apparent simplicity, which is belied by great subtlety of rhythm and mood. Much of it is poetry of joy, confidence, or resolution, but Eichendorff is constantly aware of dark forces, and the victory is not easily won.

The religious basis of his writings is even clearer in the narrative works, notably in Ahnung und Gegenwart, in which he is able to evoke the Romantic atmosphere of his vision of nature, and to assert at the same time religious criteria and stringent moral standards. The writings on the history of literature are original only in their religious emphasis, leaning heavily for their substance on the work of Gervinus and Vilmar (1800-68). The poetry, which is Eichendorff's greatest achievement, has outstanding singable qualities, and has been set in quantity by Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf. Its magical power of evocation is best summed up in his poem ‘Wünschelrute’:

Schläft ein Lied in allen Dingen,
Die da träumen fort und fort,
Und die Welt hebt an zu singen,
Triffst du nur das Zauberwort.

This article may contain wording that promotes the subject subjectively without imparting verifiable information. Please remove or replace such wording, unless you can cite independent sources that support the characterization.

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009)

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff

Grave in Nysa

Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff (March 10, 1788 – November 26, 1857) was a German poet and novelist.

Contents 1 Life 2 Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts – Eichendorff's masterpiece 3 Important and popular works 4 Notes 5 External links

Life

Eichendorff was born at Schloß Lubowitz near Ratibor in Upper Silesia in 1788. His parents were the Prussian officer Adolf Freiherr von Eichendorff 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.

From 1816, Eichendorff worked in various capacities in the administrative service of the Prussian state. In 1821, Eichendorff 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 in Neiße, Upper Silesia, in 1857.

Despite a career of rather mundane officialdom, Eichendorff is considered the greatest of the German Romantic lyric poets. His guiding poetic theme was that Man should find happiness in full absorption of the beauties and changing moods of Nature. He also wrote a history of German literature that was posthumously published. Eichendorff's poetry has been set by many composers, including Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Hugo Wolf, Richard Strauss, Friedrich Nietzsche, Hans Pfitzner, and Alexander Zemlinsky.

Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts – Eichendorff's masterpiece

English title: Of the 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 a gardener at a Viennese castle where he falls in love with the daughter of the duke. Because she is unattainable he travels to Italy but then returns and learns that she had been adopted by the duke, so nothing stands in the way of a marriage between them.

Important and popular works

Stamp of him from the GDR

• 1808 – Die Zauberei im Herbst
• 1808–1810 – Oberschlesische Märchen und Sagen (Upper Silesian fairytales and sagas)
• 1810 - Abschied (translated as Parting/Separation/Farewell/Wrench; also known as O Täler weit, o Höhen from its beginning verse)
• 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
• 1835 - Mondnacht (Night of the Moon, published 1837)
• 1837 – Das Schloß Dürande
• 1839 – Die Entführung
• 1841 – Die Glücksritter
• Geschichte der poetischen Literatur Deutschlands (published 1857)
• Libertas und ihre Freier

Notes

Regarding personal names: Freiherr is a title, translated as Baron, not a first or middle name. The female forms are Freifrau and Freiin.

External links

• Eichendorff texts online at German Project Gutenberg
• Freiherr von Eichendorff Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Joseph von Eichendorff Chronology
• Translations of 'Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts' and 'Das Marmorbild'
• English text of Mondnacht(Night of the Moon)
• Analysis of "Mondnacht" (German)
• Eichendorff: All poems (German)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)