Achim von Arnim | |
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 Portrait byPeter Edward Stroehling, 1803 | |
| Born | Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim 26 January 1781 |
| Died | 21 January 1831 (1831-01-22) (aged 49) |
| Nationality | German |
| Alma mater | University of Halle University of Göttingen |
| Literary movement | Heidelberg Romanticism |
| Notable works | Des Knaben Wunderhorn |
| Spouse | Bettina von Arnim |
| Children | Gisela von Arnim |
| Relatives | Herman Grimm (son-in-law) |
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Carl Joachim Friedrich Ludwig von Arnim (26 January 1781 – 21 January 1831), better known asAchim von Arnim, was a Germanpoet, novelist, and together withClemens Brentano andJoseph von Eichendorff, a leading figure ofGerman Romanticism.
Arnim was born inBerlin, descending from aBrandenburgianUradel noble family first mentioned in 1204. His father was thePrussian chamberlain (Kammerherr) Joachim Erdmann von Arnim (1741–1804), royal envoy inCopenhagen andDresden, later active as the director of the BerlinCourt Opera. His mother, Amalia Caroline von Labes (1761–1781), died three weeks after Arnim's birth.
Arnim and his elder brother Carl Otto spent their childhood with their maternal grandmother Marie Elisabeth von Labes, the widow ofMichael Gabriel Fredersdorf from her first marriage, inZernikow and in Berlin, where he attended theJoachimsthal Gymnasium. In 1798 he went on to study law, natural science and mathematics at theUniversity of Halle. His early writings included numerous articles for scientific magazines. His first major work,Theorie der elektrischen Erscheinungen (Theory of electrical phenomena) showed a leaning to the supernatural, common among theGerman romanticists. InHalle he associated with the composerJohann Friedrich Reichardt, in whose house he became acquainted with theRomantic poetLudwig Tieck. From 1800 he continued his studies at theUniversity of Göttingen, though, having metJohann Wolfgang von Goethe andClemens Brentano, he inclined from natural sciences towards literature. Arnim received the degree of aDoctor of Medicine in 1801, but never practiced.
He went on to travel through Europe with his brother from 1801 to 1804. He met his later wifeBettina inFrankfurt, travelled down theRhine Valley together with Clemens Brentano, visitedGermaine de Staël inCoppet,Friedrich Schlegel and his wifeDorothea inParis, and continued his journey toLondon and Scotland.
Arnim was influenced by the earlier writings of Goethe andHerder, from which he learned to appreciate the beauties of German traditional legends andfolk songs. Back in Germany, he began forming a collection of these and in 1805 first published the result, in collaboration with Clemens Brentano, under the titleDes Knaben Wunderhorn.[1] He went to see Goethe inWeimar, in order to edit the collection. In Frankfurt he met with the juristFriedrich Carl von Savigny, the beginning of an enduring friendship.
Arnims's editorial work was increasingly affected by theNapoleonic Wars. Upon the Prussian defeat in the 1806Battle of Jena–Auerstedt, he followed the royal court toKönigsberg, where he joined the circle of Prussian reformers aroundBaron vom Stein. In 1807 he moved back to Weimar andKassel, where he visited theBrothers Grimm, and finally toHeidelberg. He and Brentano completed the second and third volume of their folk song collection and from 1808 together withJoseph Görres published the important romanticZeitung für Einsiedler (Newspaper for Hermits) inHeidelberg in 1808. The Heidelberg Romanticist circle also included Tieck, Friedrich Schlegel,Jean Paul,Justinus Kerner, andLudwig Uhland.
From 1809 Arnim again lived in Berlin, however, his plans to enter the Prussian civil service failed. In 1810 he affianced Brentano's sister Bettina, who won wide recognition as a writer in her own right. They married on 11 March 1811; their daughterGisela (one of seven children) became a writer as well. Shortly after their marriage the couple went on to visit Goethe in to Weimar, however, the reunion was overshadowed by a heated quarrel between Bettina and Goethe's wifeChristiane.
In Berlin, Achim worked onHeinrich von Kleist's legacy and founded the patrioticDeutsche Tischgesellschaft association of Christian men.[2] He remained connected with the Prussian patriots such asAdam Heinrich Müller andFriedrich de la Motte Fouqué and even commanded aLandsturm battalion during theGerman Campaign of 1813. From October 1813 he acted as publisher of the Berlin newspaper "The Prussian Correspondent", until he fell out with his predecessorBarthold Georg Niebuhr in February 1814.
While his wife stayed in Berlin, Arnim in 1814 retired toKünstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf, his family home, where he lived until his death from astroke in 1831. His output, published in newspapers, magazines and almanacs as well as self-contained books, included novels, dramas, stories, poems and journalistic works. Following his death, his library was taken over by the Weimar court library.
Arnim is considered one of the most important representatives of GermanRomanticism. His works were collected, with an introduction byWilhelm Grimm, in twenty volumes (1839–48).Heinrich Heine wrote a eulogy of Arnim in hisDeutschland. His works include:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arnim, Ludwig Achim (Joachim) von".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 630–631.
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