EICHENDORFF, JOSEPH, FREIHERR VON (1788 1857), German poet and romance-writer, was born at Lubowitz, near Ratibor, in Silesia, on March io, 1788. He studied law at Halle and Heidelberg from 1805 to 1808. After a visit to Paris he went to Vienna, where he resided until 1813, when he joined the Prussian army as a volunteer in the famous Liitzow corps. In 1816 he was appointed to a judicial office at Breslau. He subsequently held similar offices at Danzig, Konigsberg and Berlin. Retiring from the public service in 1844, he lived successively in Danzig, Vienna, Dresden and Berlin. He died at Neisse on Nov. 26, Eichendorff was one of the most distinguished of the later mem bers of the German romantic school. His genius was essentially lyrical. Thus he is most successful in his shorter romances and dramas, where constructive power is in least demand. His first work, written in 1811, was a romance, Ahnung and Gegenwart (I 8 I 5) . This was followed at short intervals by others, the most famous of which is the delightful Aus dem Leben eines Tauge nicJits (1826), which has often been reprinted. Of his dramas may be mentioned Ezzelin von Romano (1828), and Der letzte Held von Marienburg (1830), both tragedies, and a comedy, Die Freier (1833) . He also translated several of Calderon's religious dramas (Geistliche Schauspiele, 2 vols. 1846-52). It is, however, through his lyrics (Gedichte, first collected 1837) that Eichendorff is best known. He is perhaps the greatest lyric poet of the second phase of the Romantic movement. No one has given more beauti ful expression than he to the poetry of a wandering life ; often, again, his lyrics are exquisite word pictures interpreting the mystic meaning of the moods of nature, as in Nachts, or the mystery which haunts the twilight forests and feudal castles of Germany, as in the dramatic lyric Waldesgesprdch or Auf einer Burg. Many of his verses were set to music by Schubert and Schumann.
In his later years Eichendorff published several works on lit erary history and criticism.
Eichendorff's Samtliche Werke appeared in 6 vols. (1864) ; a critical edition is that by W. Kosch and A. Sauer (1911 etc.) . C. H. von Eichendorff's biographical introduction to the Samtliche Werke; also H. Keiter, Joseph von Eichendorff (Cologne, 1887) ; H. Brandenburg (Joseph von Eichendorff, sein Leben and sein Schaffen [Munich 1922]).