(1772-1801)
Early German Romantic poet, who influenced
later Romantic tought, sometimes called 'the prophet of Romanticism'.
Novalis took his pseudonym from "de Novali", a name his family
had formerly used. The central image of Novalis' visions, a blue flower,
became later a symbol of longing among Romantics.
Novalis was born in Oberwiederstedt, Prussian Saxony into a a family
of Protestant Lower Saxon nobility. He studied law at the University of
Jena (1790-91), where he met Friedrich von Schiller and completed his studies at Wittenberg in 1793.
Novalis' only finished collection of poems HYMNEN AN DIE NACHT (1800) was dedicated to his first great love Sophie von Kühn, who died in 1797 and whom Novalis had met in Weissenfels when she was 14-years old. In 1797 Novalis studied mining at the Academy of Feiberg and became friends with Friedrich Schlegel, Ludwig Tieck and other early Romantics. He was assistant in salt works in Weissenfels (1796-97 and 1799-1801) and associated with Bergakademie in 1797-99.
In 1798 Novalis engaged Julie von Charpentier. He died in Weissenfels of
tuberculosis on May 2, 1801 before he could marry. His two philosophical
romances, HEINRICH VON OFTERDINGEN (1802) and DIE LEHRLINGE ZU SAIS,
were left incomplete.
As an essayist Novalist was interested in developing further his theories of history. In Die Christenheit, oder Europe (publ. 1826)
Novalis sees, that humankind's historical and spiritual apotheosis will
be reached when the epoch of science is left behind. The capital of
the universal society, where spiritualunity and peace prevails, will be
Jerusalem. In Glaube und Liebe (1798) Novalis expresses the belief that universal spirituality is destined to supersede all forms of human government.
Novalis ideas have profoundly influnced generations of German writers, among them Joseph von Eichendorff, Rainer Maria Rilke, Herman Hesse and Thomas Mann. His thougtsforeshadowed attempts to provide European humanity with a renewed vision of higher values leading to the possibility of cultural and spiritual rebirth.
For further reading: German Poet, European Thinker, Christian
Mystic by Friedrich Hiebel (1954); Novalis by John Neubauer
1980); Romantic Vision, Ethical Context: Novalis and Artistic
Autonomy by Geza Von Molnár anf Jochen Schulte-Sasee (1987)
Selected works:
- BLÜTENSTAUB, 1798 - Pollen
- GLAUBEN UND LIEBE, 1798 - Faith and Love
- FRAGMENTEN, 1798
- DIE CHRISTENHEIT ODER EUROPA, 1799
- HYMNEN AN DIE NACHT, 1800 - Hymns to the Night
- SCHRIFTEN, 1802 (2 vols., ed. by Friedrich Schlegel)
- HEINRICH VON OFTERDINGEN, 1802 - Henry of Ofterdingen
- FRAGMENTE, 1947?
- Hymns to the Night and Other Selected Writings, 1960
- SCHRIFTEN, 1975 (5 vols. rev, ed. 1977-88)
- Pollen and Fragments: Selected Poetry and Prose, 1989
Compiled by Kuusankoski Public Library, Finland (© 1997) and René Märtin (© 1998-2001).
