Hultenreich:Hölderlin - Half a Life

Jürgen K. Hultenreich Hölderlin The Half Life Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843) is one of those poets who did not receive recognition during his lifetime, yet rose to glory in a different era. Undoubtedly, he is counted among the great German poets, even though Goethe did not appreciate his abstract work and Schiller regarded him merely as a lesser compatriot. During his theology studies in Tübingen, he shared a room with Hegel and Schelling. Hölderlin had nothing to do with the all-consuming Romantics, least of all in his work, which stands unique and solitary in the literary landscape. Early on, this poet, often described as gentle by many, exhibited a contentious and furious demeanor, and later unceremoniously abandoned beloved women when they obstructed his ambitions. Hölderlin found no successors, and if he did, they were only in madness. For some, this madness was feigned, while for others, it was genuine. Experts still debate this today. What is certain is that Hölderlin was shattered by his great, deified love "Diotima" in Hyperion. He spent half of his life—over 36 years—cared for by a warm-hearted master carpenter as a sickly exemplary poet in his Tübingen tower.