Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff (March 10, 1788 – November 26, 1857), was a German poet and novelist.

Eichendorff was born at Schloß Lubowitz near Ratibor. His parents were the Prussian officer Adolf Freiherr von Eichendorf and his wife, Karoline Freiin von Kloche, who came from an aristocratic Catholic family. He studied law in Halle (1805-1806) and Heidelberg (1807-1808). In 1808 he travelled through Europe, visiting Paris and Vienna. In 1810, he returned home to help his father running the family estate. The same year he met Johann Gottlieb Fichte, Achim von Arnim, Clemens Brentano, and Heinrich von Kleist in Berlin. He finished his studies in Vienna in 1812. From 1813 to 1815 he fought in the Befreiungskriege.

In 1821, he became school inspector in Danzig, in 1824 Oberpräsidialrat in Königsberg. He moved with his family to Berlin in 1831, where he worked for several ministries, until he retired in 1844.

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