NOVALIS, pseudonym of Friedrich Leopold, Freiherr von Hardenberg (1772-1801), German poet and novelist, one of the pioneers of the Romantic movement, was born on May 2, 1772, on his father's estate at Oberwiederstedt in Prussian Saxony. He studied philosophy at Jena, and law at Leipzig and Wittenberg. At Tennstedt, near Langensalza, he was betrothed to Sophie von Kuhn. He became auditor to the salt works at Weissenfels where he heard (1797) of Sophie's death. He expressed his grief in the beautiful Hymnen an die Nacht, in which the religious poetry of the Romantics reaches its greatest height. He then entered the Mining Academy at Freiberg, in Saxony, to study under A. G. Werner, whom he immortalized as the "Master" in Die Lehrlinge in Sais. In the autumn of 1799 he read to the circle of young Romantic poets at Jena his Geistliche Lieder. In 1800 he was appointed local magistrate in Thuringia, and after a short illness he died at Weissenfels on March 25, 1801.
His all too short life did not permit him to blend his mystic and philosophical conceptions into a harmonious whole, but his work, fragmentary as it was, and his lovable personality left a strong mark on the Romantic school. Novalis had dreamed of an all
embracing formula which would bring life and poetry, science and religion, in tune with one another. His longest work was the unfinished romance, Heinrich von Ofterdingen; its hero's search for the mysterious blue flower is an allegory of the poet's life. More popular, however, are his shorter lyrics, ranging from Auf griinen Bergen wird geboren der Gott der uns den Himmel bringt, to the hymn, So bleib' ich dir doch tree, wenn alle untreu bleiben.
There are modern editions of the collected works of Novalis by E. Heilborn (3 vols., 1901), and by J. Minor (3 vols., 2907; rep., 1923). His Briefwechsel with the Schlegels was edited by J. M. Raich in 1880. See also E. Heilborn, Friedrich von Hardenberg (i9oi) ; T. Carlyle's essay on "Novalis"; Obenauer, Novalis Gesammelte Studien (1925) ; H. Hesse and Isenburg, Novalis. Documente seines Lebens and Sterbens (1925) .