Heinrich von Kleist (18, October 1777 – 21, November 1811) was a poet, novelist, writer and journalist from Germany.
- Born as Bernd Heinrich Wilhelm von Kleist was born in Frankfurt into a Pomeranian Prussian noble family.
- In a 1789 letter von Kleist tells his half-sister that he finds it “incomprehensible how a human being can live without a life plan”.
He was 11 years old at the time. - Von Kleist entered the Prussian Army in 1792, retiring as a lieutenant in 1799.
- In 1807 he was arrested by the French as a spy, he was in jail for less than a year. Von Kleist was actually going to Dresden, where he was transferred to do his work for the department for the administration of crown lands.
- Besides plays and novels, von Kleist also write philosophical essays.
- Die Hermannsschlacht (1808), a drama in five parts, based on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 CE) was an anti-Napoleonic propaganda. The work was written as Austria and France were warring and has been described as the “greatest partisan work of all time”.
- The novellaMichael Kohlhaas, based on a 16thcentury story, is considered one of the best German stories of its time.
- Von Kleist’s short stories influenced Friedrich Halm and Franz Kafka.
- In 1809 von Kleist met Henriette Vogel and two fell in love. Henriette was terminally ill however. The couple travel to Potsdam where von Kleist shot Henriette and then himself.
- The farewell letter Heinrich von Kleist and Henriette Vogel wrote to one another are now considered part of world literature.
Zohar — Man of la Book
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Fun Facts Friday: Heinrich von Kleist
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Heinrich von Kleist (18, October 1777 – 21, November 1811) was a poet, novelist, writer and journalist from Germany.
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Man of la Book
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Man of la Book - A Bookish Blog
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