Joseph Karl Benedikt Freiherr von Eichendorff (; 10 March 178826 November 1857) was a German poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, translator, and anthologist. Eichendorff was one of the major writers and critics of Romanticism.Cf. J. A. Cuddon: The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, revised by C. E. Preston. London 1999, p. 770. Ever since their publication and up to the present day, some of his works have been very popular in German-speaking Europe.Cf. Peter Horst Neumann: Eichendorff im technischen Zeitalter. Zu seinem 200. Geburtstag. In: Die Zeit/Zeitmagazin 11. März 1988 http://www.zeit.de/1988/11/eichendorff-im-technischen-zeitalter
Eichendorff first became famous for his 1826 novella Aus dem Leben eines Taugenichts (freely translated: Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing)Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff: Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing. Ungar, New York 1955. and his poems.Cf. Jürgen Thym: 100 Years Of Eichendorff Songs. Recent Researches in the Music of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries, vol. V; A-R Editions, Inc. Madison 1983, p. viii. The Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing is a typical Romantic novella whose main themes are wanderlust and love. The protagonist, the son of a miller, rejects his father's trade and becomes a gardener at a Viennese palace where he subsequently falls in love with the local duke's daughter. As, with his lowly status, she is unattainable for him, he escapes to Italy – only to return and learn that she is the duke's adopted daughter, and thus within his social reach. With its combination of dream world and realism, Memoirs of a Good-for-Nothing is considered to be a high point of Romantic fiction. One critic stated that Eichendorff's Good-for-Nothing is the "personification of love of nature and an obsession with hiking."Cf. Ernst Alker: Die deutsche Literatur im 19. Jahrhundert (1832–1914), 2nd ed., Kröners Taschenbuch vol. 339, Stuttgart 1962, p. 27. Thomas Mann called Eichendorff's Good-for-Nothing a combination of "the purity of the folk song and the fairy tale."Hanjo Kesting: Eichendorff und seine Gesellen. Die Wiederkehr der Romantik. http://www.frankfurter-hefte.de/upload/Archiv/2008/Heft_01-02/PDF/080102_86_89.pdf
Many of Eichendorff's poems were first published as integral parts of his novellas and stories, where they are often performed in song by one of the protagonists.Cf. Katja Löhr: Sehnsucht als poetologisches Prinzip bei Joseph von Eichendorff. Epistemata, Würzburger Wissenschaftliche Schriften, Reihe Literaturwissenschaft vol.248, Würzburg 2003, pp. 12–13. The novella Good-for-Nothing alone contains 54 poems.Cf. Wolfdietrich Rasch (Ed.): Joseph von Eichendorff. Sämtliche Gedichte. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag München, Munich, 1975, pp. 502–503.
Biography
Origin and early youth
Eichendorff, a descendant of an old noble family, was born in 1788 at Lubowitz Castle in Lubowitz near Ratibor in Upper Silesia, at that time part of the Kingdom of Prussia (now Łubowice near Racibórz, Poland). His parents were the Prussian officer Adolf Freiherr von Eichendorff (1756–1818) and his wife, Karoline née Freiin von Kloche (1766–1822), who came from an aristocratic Roman Catholic family.Joseph von Eichendorff http://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Freiherr-von-Eichendorff Eichendorff sold the family estates in Deutsch-Krawarn, Kauthen, and Wrbkau and acquired Lubowitz Castle from his mother-in-law. The castle's Rococo reconstruction, which was begun by her, was very expensive and almost bankrupted the family.Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Eine Biographie. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, p. 30 f. Young Joseph was close to his older brother Wilhelm (1786–1849). From 1793 to 1801, they were home-schooled by tutor Bernhard Heinke. Joseph began writing diaries as early as 1798, witnesses to his budding literary career.Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1974, pp. 47, 163. The diaries present many insights into the development of the young writer, ranging from simple statements about the weather to notes about finances to early poems. At a young age, Eichendorff was already well aware of his parents' financial straits. On 19 June 1801, the thirteen-year old noted in his diary: "Father travelled to Breslau, on the run from his creditors," adding on 24 June, "mom become terribly faint."Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Eine Biographie. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 32–33, 97. With his brother Wilhelm, Joseph attended the Catholic Matthias Gymnasium in Breslau (1801–1804). While previously preferring chapbooks, he was now introduced to the poetry of Matthias Claudius and Voltaire's La Henriade, an epic poem about the last part of the wars of religion and Henry IV of France in ten songs. In 1804 his sister Luise Antonie Nepomucene Johanna was born (died 1883), who was to become a friend of Austrian writer Adalbert Stifter. After their final exams, both brothers attended lectures at the University of Breslau and the Protestant Maria-Magdalena-Gymnasium. Eichendorff's diary from this time shows that he valued formal education much less than the theatre, recording 126 plays and concerts visited. His love for Mozart also goes back to these days.Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Eine Biographie. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 96–97. Joseph himself seems to have been a talented actor and his brother Wilhelm a good singer and guitar player.Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg, Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1974, pp. 33, 47, 49, 163.
College days Together with his brother Wilhelm, Joseph studied law and the humanities in Halle an der Saale (1805–1806), a city near Jena, which was a focal point of the Frühromantik (Early Romantics). The brothers frequently attended the theatre of Lauchstädt, 13 km where the Weimar court theatrical company performed plays by Goethe.Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg, Reinbek 1974, p. 62. Further reading: F. Maak: Das Goethetheater in Lauchstädt. D. Häcker, Lauchstädt 1905. In October 1806 Napoleon's troops took Halle and teaching at the university ceased. To complete their studies, Wilhelm and Joseph went to the University of Heidelberg in 1807, another important centre of Romanticism. Here Eichendorff befriended romantic poet Otto Heinrich von Loeben (1786–1825), met Achim von Arnim (1781–1831) and possibly Clemens Brentano (1778–1842).Cf. Wolfdietrich Rasch (Ed.): "Joseph von Eichendorff". Sämtliche Gedichte. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag München, Munich, 1975, p. 502-503. Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg, Reinbek 1974, pp. 163–164. In Heidelberg, Eichendorff heard lectures by Joseph Görres, a leading member of the Heidelberg Romantic group, a "hermitic magician" and "formative impression",Deeper insights cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Eine Biographie. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 214–221. as Eichendorff later explained.Cf. Hans Jürg Lüthi: Dichtung und Dichter bei Joseph von Eichendorff. Francke Verlag, Bern 1966, pp. 68–71, 155 f. In 1808 the brothers finished their degrees, after which they undertook an educational journey to Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. In Berlin they came into closer contact with Romantic writers such as Clemens Brentano, Adam Müller, and Heinrich von Kleist. To further their professional prospects, they travelled to Vienna in 1810, where they concluded their studies with a state examination diploma. Wilhelm procured employment in the Austrian civil service, while Joseph went back home to help his father with managing the estate.Cf. Wolfdietrich Rasch(Ed.): Joseph von Eichendorff. Sämtliche Gedichte. Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag München, Munich, 1975, p. 502. Cf. Biographical data. http://www.koethen-anhalt.de/de/eichendorff-lebensdaten.html
Love affairs From Eichendorff's diaries we know about his love for a girl, Amalie Schaffner,Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, p. 97. and another love affair in 1807–08 during his student days in Heidelberg with one Käthchen Förster.Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 240–247. His deep sorrow about the unrequitted love for the nineteen-year-old daughter of a cellarman inspired Eichendorff to one of his most famous poems, Das zerbrochene Ringlein (The Broken Ring).
Military service In his deep desperation over this unhappy infatuation, Eichendorff craved death in military exploits as mentioned in his poem Das zerbrochene Ringlein:
Although Chase's translation weakens the second line from blut’ge Schlacht (bloody battle) to "in fight" this, actually, happens to be much closer to the historical truth, since Eichendorff's participation in the Lützow Free Corps seems to be a myth – in spite of some authorities asserting the contrary.Cf. Fritz Martini: Deutsche Literaturgeschichte. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Alfred Kröner Verlag, Stuttgart 1984, p. 346.
In 1813, when conflict flared up again, Eichendorff tried to join the struggle against Napoleon,Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg. Rowohlt Verlag, Reinbek 1974, p. 164. however he lacked the funds to purchase a uniform, gun, or horse, and, when he finally managed to get the money necessary, the war was all but over.Cf. Wolf Lepenies: Eichendorff, der ewig späte Taugenichts. In: Die Welt, 26 November 2007 https://www.welt.de/kultur/article1400183/Eichendorff-der-ewig-spaete-Taugenichts.html
Betrothal, marriage and family life
His parents, to save the indebted family estate, hoped that Eichendorff would marry a wealthy heiress, however he fell in love with Aloysia von Larisch (1792–1855),:de:Aloysia von Eichendorff called 'Luise', the seventeen-year-old daughter of a prominent, yet impoverished Catholic family of nobles. The betrothal took place in 1809, the same year Eichendorff went to Berlin to take up a profession there. In 1815, the couple was married in Breslau's St. Vinzenz church and that same year Eichendorff's son Hermann was born, followed in 1819 by their daughter Therese. In 1818, Eichendorff's father died and in 1822 his mother. The death of his mother resulted in the final loss of all the family's estates in Silesia.Cf. Paul Stöcklein: Joseph von Eichendorff. In Selbstzeugnissen und Bilddokumenten. Rowohlts Monographien. Ed. by Kurt Kusenberg., Reinbek 1974, pp. 164–165. Biographical data: http://www.koethen-anhalt.de/de/eichendorff-lebensdaten.html
Child mortality During the period, infant mortality was very high.Cf. Arthur E. Imhof: Lebenserwartungen in Deutschland vom 17. bis 19. Jahrhundert.. VCH Acta Humaniora. Weinheim 1990. Both Eichendorff's brother Gustav (born 1800) and his sister Louise Antonie (born 1799) died in 1803 at a very young age, as did two of Eichendorff's daughters between 1822 and 1832.Cf. Günther Schiwy: Eichendorf. Der Dichter in seiner Zeit. Eine Biographie. Verlag C.H. Beck, Munich 2000, pp. 670–680. The poet expressed the parental sorrow after this loss in the famous cycle "Auf meines Kindes Tod". One of the poems in this series conveys an especially powerful sense of loss in this era:
Travels of a transferee