Educated in law at the Universities of Leipzig and Wittenberg, Hardenburg became close friends with Fichte and Schlegel, both of whom would have a strong influence on him. He worked as an actuary from 1794 to 1796 and thereafter as an auditor at the Weisenfels salt works. In 1797, after the sad death of his fiance and much-loved Sophie, Hardenburg began studying geology at the Mining Academy of Freiberg, but broadened his studies while there to include mathematics, chemistry, biology, history and philosophy. In 1798, he published his first paper, Pollen, in the Athenaum under the pseudonym of Novalis. In 1799, he met and became friends with Ludwig Tieck, who, together with Schlegel, would be instrumental in getting much of the works of Nolvalis published after his death. Novalis succumbed to tuberculosis in 1801. He was a prolific note taker and left behind a huge quantity on all types of subjects from law to science. His main works include Faith and Love, or the King and the Queen (1798), Christendom or Europa (1799), Hymns to the Night (1800), Novices of Sais, Heinrich von Ofterdingen and Notes for a Romantic Encyclopedia (All 1802 Posthumous). |
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