Portal:Baden-Württemberg/Selected biography/12

Friedrich Hölderlin (20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a German lyric poet. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans," Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticism. Particularly due to his early association with and philosophical influence on Hegel and Schelling, he was also an important thinker in the development of German Idealism. Born in Lauffen am Neckar, Hölderlin's childhood was marked by bereavement. His mother intended for him to enter the Lutheran ministry, and he attended the Tübinger Stift, where he was friends with Hegel and Schelling. He graduated in 1793 but could not devote himself to the Christian faith, instead becoming a tutor. Two years later, he briefly attended the University of Jena, where he interacted with Fichte and Novalis, before resuming his career as a tutor. He struggled to establish himself as a poet, and was plagued by mental illness. He was sent to a clinic in 1805 but deemed incurable and instead given lodging by a carpenter, Ernst Zimmer. He spent the final 36 years of his life in Zimmer's residence, and died in 1843 at the age of seventy-three.