About
Lyric poet and novelist associated with the Romanticism and German Idealism movements. He is perhaps best known for a 1799 novel entitled Hyperion.
Before Fame
He was born in Wurttemberg and studied at the Tubinger Stift before deciding against a career in theology.
Trivia
He suffered from a severe form of the psychiatric disorder hypochondria.
Family Life
He fell in love with Susette Gontard, a married woman. Though it could never result in marriage, the relationship was so important to Holderlin that he referenced Gontard (as "Diotima") in many of his poems.
Associated With
He was the theology school roommate of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, and he influenced Hegel's philosophical ideas.
