Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin, a German poet, novelist, philosophical essayist, and dramatist, was born in Lauffen, Germany. His father died when he was two, leaving Hölderlin an inheritance administered by his mother, who demanded strict obedience to her plans for his future. His mother married Johann Christoph Gok, subsequently the mayor of Nürtingen, in 1774; and a half brother, Karl Gok, with whom Hölderlin maintained a significant correspondence, was born in 1776. His stepfather, whom Hölderlin admired, died in 1779, leaving Hölderlin in his mother's sole charge.

Hölderlin was educated first at the local school in Nürtingen, where he studied Latin, Greek, and rhetoric. He became friends there with Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph von Schelling. He then studied further in Lutheran monastery schools, first at Denkendorf (1784–1786) and then at Maulbronn...