Novalis
Novalis [Real name: Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg] (May 2, 1772 – March 25, 1801) was one of the earliest of the German Romantics. Although Novalis' life would be tragically cut short, his poetic and philosophical works would go on to inspire many of the principal figures of Romanticism, among them Schiller, Goethe and Friedrich von Schlegel. In particular, Novalis is notable for contributing to the notion of "Romantic love" through his moving and lyrical love poetry, as well as for his far-reaching ambitions to unify the arts, sciences, and religion. Novalis' impassioned and ambitious temperament would make him a role-model for European artists of the 19th-century, and his considerable literary talents have cemented his reputation as one of the pre-eminent German poets of his times. Novalis also contributed to the development of poetic form, in particular pioneering the use of poetic fragments as an art-form. His radical ideas and boundless enthusiasm left deep impressions on his friends, many of whom would go onto shape the literary tastes of 19th-century Germany.
Biography
Novalis was born in 1772 on the château Oberwiederstedt located in the Harz mountains near modern-day Saxony-Anhalt. Novalis descended from ancient, Low German nobility. In the different lines of his family, many important, influential magistrates and ministry officials can be found, including the Prussian chancellor Karl August von Hardenberg (1750-1822).
In a church in Wiederstedt he was christened Georg Philipp Friedrich. Novalis spent his childhood on the family estate and used it as starting point for his travels into the Harz mountains. Novalis’ father, Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr (1738-1814), was devoted to Pietism, a German Christian sect somewhat analogous to the English Quakers.
At first Novalis was taught by private tutors, including Christian Daniel Erhard Schmid (1762-1812), whom he met again at the beginning of his university education. Novalis attended the Luther grammar school in Eisleben, where he acquired training in rhetoric and ancient literature. Family troubles disrupted Novalis' childhood years, and from his twelfth year on, Novalis was cared for by his uncle Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Hardenberg at the château Lucklum.
Novalis studied law from 1790 to 1794 at the Universities of Jena, Leipzig, and Wittenberg. He passed his exams with distinction. During his studies he attended Friedrich Schiller’s lecture courses on history. During a period where Schiller was convalescing from a bout of illness, Novalis visited often to continue conversations begun in the classroom, and the two men became fast friends. During this time Novalis also met Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Gottfried Herder, and he became friends with Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling and the brothers Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel.
In October 1794 Novalis did not become a civil servant — contrary to his plans — but instead worked as actuary for August Coelestin Just, who was not only his boss, but also his friend and later on his biographer. During this time Novalis met the young Sophie von Kühn (1783-1797). On the 15th March 1795 he became engaged to her. The following January, Novalis was appointed auditor to the directorate of the saline in Weißenfels. The early and cruel death of his fiancée in March 1797 had a deep impact upon him. During this period he produced his earliest and most hauting volume of love poems, Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night), published in 1800. In the hymns, Novalis laments the loss of Sophie as if were a mortal wound—he expresses his heartfelt belief that, without her, he will never be what he could have been; yet he also expresses hope that, with his own death, he will not only be reunited with her but with the whole world in a paradise of joy. Hymnen an die Nacht, in addition to setting a standard for what would become a long tradition of Romantic love poetry, also introduced a number of stylistic innovations that were to become characteristic of the radical era of Romanticism. Most notably, the volume included six prose poems, a form of poetry which at the time was still very new to European literature.
During his years immediately after college Novalis concerned himself with studying the scientific doctrine of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Fichte would have a large impact on Novalis' worldview. He not only read Fichte’s philosophies, but also developed Fichte's concepts further. Novalis transformed Fichte’s Nicht-Ich ("not I") to a Du ("you"), an equal subject to the Ich ("I"). This was the starting point for his Liebesreligion ("religion of love"), in which Novalis argued that the "I" and "not I"—in other words, the Self and the Universe—form a bond precisely analogous to the bond between two lovers and that the ultimate state of the human soul was one of endless love for the world.
After finishing his personal studies of Fichte, Novalis entered the Mining Academy of Freiberg in Saxony, a leading academy concerning science at the time, to study geology under professor Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750-1817). He soon befriended him. During his studies in Freiberg Novalis learned about mining, mathematics, chemistry and other subjects. Furthermore he underwent a great degree of hands-on schooling in the mines.
In 1798 Novalis' first fragments were published in the Athenäum, a magazine edited by the brothers Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel, who were also part of the movement of early Romanticism. This would be the first time Novalis would publish under his pseudonym, which he would retain for the rest of his life.
In December 1798 Novalis became engaged for the second time. His fiancée was Julie von Charpentier (1788-1811), a daughter of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier, a professor in Freiberg. On December 6th, 1800, the 28-year-old Novalis was appointed as a provincial magistrate for the Thuringian District.
Novalis had suffered from incurable tuberculosis since mid-1800, and he had to resign from his position as the Thuringian magistrate almost as soon as he had received it. On March 25th 1801 he died and was buried in Weißenfels.
Novalis lived to see only the publication of the Blüthenstaub-Fragmente, Glaube und Liebe oder der König und die Königin, and Hymnen an die Nacht. His unfinished novels Heinrich von Ofterdingen and Die Lehrlinge zu Sais, as well as his political speech Europa were published posthumously by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel.
Poetry
In August 1800, eight months after completion, the revised edition of the Hymnen an die Nacht was published in the Athenaeum. They are often considered to be the climax of Novalis’ lyrical works and the most important poetry of early German Romanticism.
The six hymns contain many elements which can be understood as autobiographical. Even though a lyrical "I", rather than Novalis himself, is the speaker, there are many relationships between the hymns and Hardenberg’s experiences from 1797-1800.
The topic is the romantic interpretation of life and death, the threshold of which is symbolized by the night. Life and death are — according to Novalis — developed into intertwined concepts. So, in the end, death is the romantic principle of life.
Novalis was clearly influenced by contemporary literature. The metaphors of the hymns are closely connected to the books Novalis had read at about the time the hymns were written. These are prominently Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet (in the translation by A.W.Schlegel, 1797) and Jean Paul’s Unsichtbare Loge (1793).
The Hymnen an die Nacht display a universal religion with an intermediary. This concept is based on the idea that there is always a third party between a human and God. This intermediary can either be Jesus — as in Christian Mythology — or the dead beloved as in the hymns.
These works consist of three times two hymns. These three components can be structured according to the following principle: in each case the first hymn shows, with the help of the Romantic triad, the development from an assumed happy life on earth through a painful era of alienation to salvation in the eternal night. The following hymn tells of the awakening from this vision and the longing for a return to it.
Continually the pairs of hymns increase and with each step show a higher level of experience and knowledge.
Prose
The novel fragments Heinrich von Ofterdingen and Die Lehrlinge zu Sais clearly reflect the idea of describing a universal world harmony with the help of poetry. The novel Heinrich von Ofterdingen is the most notable of Novalis' prose works. It is set in a idyllic version of the European medieval ages, and focuses on the life of its eponymous hero Heinrich von Ofterdingen, a struggling poet. The novel, a traditional bildungsroman, describes Heinrich's development into a Romantic poet through a series of highly allegorical adventures. In particular, Heinrich experiences a series of continuous visions focusing on a blue flower. Following Novalis' death, "the blue flower" would become a universal symbol among the Romantics, symbolizing the ultimate, unattainable goal of all artistic strivings. Originally the novel was meant to be a response to Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister, a work that Novalis had read with enthusiasm but later judged to be highly unpoetical. In particular, Novalis disliked the fact that in Goethe's novel the practical and economic needs of the characters ultimately win out over their impractical, artistic yearnings. He wrote Heinrich on Ofterdingen primarily to support his point of view.
Novalis in print
Novalis' works were originally issued in two volumes by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel (2 vols. 1802; a third volume was added in 1846).
Editions of Novalis' collected works have since been compiled by C. Meisner and Bruno Wille (1898), by E. Heilborn (3 vols., 1901), and by J. Minor (3 vols., 1907). Heinrich von Ofterdingen was published separately by J. Schmidt in 1876.
Novalis's Correspondence was edited by J. M. Raich in 1880. See R. Haym Die romantische Schule (Berlin, 1870); A. Schubart, Novalis' Leben, Dichten und Denken (1887); C. Busse, Novalis' Lyrik (1898); J. Bing, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Hamburg, 1899), E. Heilborn, Friedrich von Hardenberg (Berlin, 1901).
Novalis in English
Several of Novalis' philosophical works have been recently translated into English.
- Novalis: Philosophical Writings, trans. and ed. Margaret Mahoney Stoljar, State University of New York Press, 1997. This volume contains several of Novalis' works, including Pollen or Miscellaneous Observations, one of the few complete works published in his lifetime (though it was altered for publication by Friedrich Schlegel); Logological Fragments I and II; Monologue, a long fragment on language; Faith and Love or The King and Queen, a collection of political fragments also published during his lifetime; On Goethe; selections from his unfinished encyclopedia, Allgemeine Broullion or General Draft; and his essay Christendom or Europe. '
- Fichte Studies, trans. Jane Kneller, Cambridge University Press: 2003. This translation is part of the Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy Series.
- Classic and Romantic German Aesthetics, ed. Jay Bernstein, Cambridge University Press, 2003. This book is in the same series, the Fichte-Studies and contains a very good selection of fragments, plus it includes Novalis' Dialogues. Also in this collection are fragments by Schlegel and Hölderlin.
- Henry von Ofterdingen, trans. Palmer Hilty, Waveland Press: 1990.
- The Novices of Sais, trans. by Ralph Manheim, Archipelago Books: 2005. This translation was originally published in 1949. This edition includes illustrations by Paul Klee. The Novices of Sais contains the fairy tale "Hyacinth and Rose Petal."
External Links
- Novalis: Hymns to The Night - a translation of the work by George MacDonald
- Novalis Online - including a few English translations and essays on and by Novalis
- Oberwiederstedt Manor, birthplace of Novalis - formerly the Internation Novalis Society.Tthe rest of the site is in German, but more pages are due to be translated soon
- Aquarium: Friedrich von Hardenberg im Internet - another German site
Secondary literature
- The Cambridge Companion to German Idealism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
- Behler, Ernst. German Romantic Literary Theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
- Beiser, Frederick. German Idealism. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2002
- Krell, David Farrell. Contagion. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998.
- Kuzniar, Alice. Delayed Endings. Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1987
- Lacoue-Labarthe, Phillipe and Jean-Luc Nancy. The Literary Absolute. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988. (Note: This book does not discuss Novalis exclusively, but discusses the Early Romantic movement as a whole.)
- Molnár, Geza von. Novalis' "Fichte Studies"
- O’Brien, Wm. Arctander, Novalis: Signs of Revolution. Durham: Duke University Press, 1997.
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