Friedrich Hölderlin

by Delphin Hlungwane

Germany has produced, and still does produce a great number of literary geniuses- Goethe and Schiller for example. However, a German poet that, I must admit, I had never heard of before, had strong ties with the city of Tübingen. Our seminar on Friedrich Hölderlin (1770- 1843) was fascinating. The lives of artists usually are weird and interesting, but I think Hölderlin's life was by far the most riveting. His love affair with the wife of a banker where he worked as a private tutor, the husband finding out and Hölderlin's losing his job, his subsequent depression; as well as his unique way of ridding himself of this depression, namely by walking from Tübingen to Bordeaux, France which took approximately 2 months - why do we need TV with people like Hölderlin around?

I think Hölderlin will be most remembered for having being diagnosed with several mental disorders, and moving from the mental institution to a little yellow house on the Neckar river where he was looked after by the Zimmer family until he died. That little yellow house is now the Hölderlin museum which we also visited. What really amazed me was seeing his poems written out in his own hand, and the letters to his mother.
For a poet that I had never heard of before, I find Hölderlin to be an intriguing person and artist, and look forward to reading of his works in depth.