Georg Philipp Friedrich von Hardenberg was born in 1772 at Oberwiederstedt manor (now part of Arnstein, Saxony-Anhalt), in the

Harz mountains. The family seat w as a manorial estate, not simply a stately home. Novalis descended from ancient, Low German nobility. Different lines of the family include such important, infl uential magistrates and ministry officials as the Prussian chancellor Karl Augus t von Hardenberg (1750 1822). An oil painting and a christening cap commonly assig ned to Novalis are his only possessions now extant. In the church in Wiederstedt , he was christened Georg Philipp Friedrich. He spent his childhood on the famil y estate and used it as the starting point for his travels into the Harz mountai ns. Novalis' father, the estate owner and salt-mine manager Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr von Hardenberg (1738 1814), was a strictly pietistic man who had become a member of the Moravian (Herrnhuter) Church. His second marriage was to Auguste Bernhardine von Bltzig (1749 1818), who gave birth to eleven children: their second child was Georg Philipp Friedrich, who later named himself Novalis. At first, Novalis was taught by private tutors. He attended the Lutheran grammar school in Eisleben, where he acquired skills in rhetoric and ancient literature , common parts of the education of this time. From his twelfth year, he was in t he charge of his uncle Friedrich Wilhelm Freiherr von Hardenberg at his stately home in Lucklum. Novalis studied Law from 1790 to 1794 at Jena, Leipzig and Wittenberg. He passed his exams with distinction. During his studies, he attended Schiller's lectures on history and befriended Schiller during his illness. Novalis also met Goethe, Herder and Jean Paul, and befriended Ludwig Tieck, Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Sch elling, and the brothers Friedrich and August Wilhelm Schlegel. In October 1794, Novalis worked as actuary for August Coelestin Just, who was no t only his superior, but also his friend and, later, his biographer. During this time, Novalis met the 12-year-old Sophie von Khn (1782 1797). On March 15, 1795, w hen Sophie was 13 years old, the two became engaged to marry. The following Janu ary, Novalis was appointed auditor to the salt works at Weienfels. In the period 1795 1796, Novalis concerned himself with the scientific doctrine of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, which greatly influenced his world view. He not only re ad Fichte's philosophies but also developed Fichte's concepts further, transform ing Fichte's Nicht-Ich (German "not I") to a Du ("you"), an equal subject to the Ich ("I"). This was the starting point for Novalis' Liebesreligion ("religion o f love"). The cruelly early death of Sophie in March 1797 affected Novalis deeply. She was only 15 years old, and the two had not married yet. Novalis was in a state of m ourning and suffering for a period of time after her death. That same year, Novalis entered the Mining Academy of Freiberg in Saxony, a lead ing academy of science, to study geology under Professor Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750 1817), who befriended him. During Novalis' studies in Freiberg, he immersed himself in a wide range of studies, including mining, mathematics, chemistry, bi ology, history and, not least, philosophy. It was here that he collected materia ls for his famous encyclopaedia project. Novalis' first fragments were published in 1798 in the Athenum, a magazine edited by the brothers Schlegel, who were also part of the early Romantic movement. No valis' first publication was entitled Blthenstaub (Pollen) and saw the first appe arance of his pseudonym, "Novalis". In July 1799, he became acquainted with Ludw ig Tieck, and that autumn he met other authors of so-called "Jena Romanticism". Novalis became engaged for the second time in December 1798. His fiance was Julie

von Charpentier (1776 1811), a daughter of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier, a professor in Freiberg. From Pentecost 1799, Novalis again worked in the management of salt mines. That December, he became an assessor of the salt mines and a director. On the Decembe r 6, 1800, the twenty-eight-year-old Hardenberg was appointed "Supernumerar-Amts hauptmann" for the district of Thuringia, a position comparable to that of a pre sent-day magistrate. But from August onward, Hardenberg suffered from tuberculos is, and on March 25, 1801, he died in Weienfels. His body was buried in the old c emetery there. Novalis lived long enough to see the publication only of Pollen, Faith and Love or the King and the Queen and Hymns to the Night. His unfinished novels Heinrich von Ofterdingen and The Novices at Sais, his political speech Christendom or Eu ropa, and numerous other notes and fragments were published posthumously by his friends Ludwig Tieck and Friedrich Schlegel.