May 2, 1772

• Friedrich von Hardenberg (Novalis) is born at Oberwiederstedt Castle in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, to Auguste Bernhardine (née von Böltzig) and Erasmus von Hardenberg.

1772–1783

• Brought up in a household of devotion to the Unitas Fratrum or Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, a branch of the Moravian Church led by Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf. Receives education from private tutors trained in Pietist doctrine.

1784–1789

• Father receives appointment as supervisor of the salt works at Weissenfels, where the family moves. Exposed to classic poetry and European literature through the library of his uncle, Friedrich Wilhelm von Hardenberg.

1788–1790

• Highschool studies in Weissenfels and Eisleben. Begins composing poetry.

1791–1792

• University studies in Jena. Attends lectures on Kantian philosophy by Karl Reinhold and lectures on history by Friedrich Schiller.

1791

• Publishes his first poem, “Klagen eines Jünglings” (“Lament of a Youth”), in Neuen Teutschen Merkur.

1792

• University studies in Leipzig. Continues his legal studies. Meets Friedrich Schlegel.

1793

• Meets Schlegel’s older brother, August Wilhelm.

1793

• Matriculates at the University of Wittenberg and completes his law degree.

1794

• Moves to Tennstedt to work as an actuary for district administrator Coelestin August Just.

May 1795

• Meets Fichte and Hölderlin during a visit to Jena.

November 17, 1794 

• Meets 12-year-old Sophie von Kühn; soon thereafter the two become secretly engaged. 

1795–1796

• Writes notebooks on Fichte’s philosophy.

1797

• Writes notebooks on the philosophy of Kant, Hemsterhuis, and Eschenmayer.

March 19, 1797

• Sophie von Kühn dies two days after her fifteenth birthday. 

April 1797

• His brother Erasmus dies.

End of 1797

• Joins the Mining Academy of Freiberg and studies under Abraham Werner. Also studies electricity, galvanism, alchemy, medicine, chemistry, physics, mathematics, and natural philosophy.

April 1798

• Blüthenstaub (Flower Pollen) published in the inaugural issue of Athenaeum under the pen name “Novalis.” Begins work on Die Lehrlinge zu Saïs (Disciples at Saïs).

August 25–26, 1798

• Gallery visit in Dresden with Schelling, the Schlegel brothers, Tieck, and others.

September 1798

• Begins work on Das Allgemeinen Brouillons (known as Notes for a Romantic Encyclopedia)

December 1798

• Becomes engaged to Julie von Charpentier, daughter of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Toussaint von Charpentier.

1798

• Glauben und Liebe oder Der König und die Königin (Faith and Love, or the King and the Queen) published in the Jahrbücher der Preußischen Monarchie. Begins work on Das Allgemeine Brouillon (Notes for a General Encyclopedia) and Die Lehrlinge zu Saïs (Disciples at Saïs).

Early 1799

• Completes his studies in Freiberg and returns to manage the salt mines in Weissenfels. Begins work on Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night).

Spring 1799

• Discovers the legend of Heinrich von Ofterdingen from books in Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Funk’s library.

July 17, 1799

• Meets Ludwig Tieck in Jena. Studies Jacob Böhme and Neoplatonism.

Early Fall 1799

• Reads Schleiermacher’s Reden (Speeches on Religion) and annotates his personal copy of Friedrich Schlegel’s Ideen (Ideas).

Late Fall 1799

• Delivers speech in Jena, posthumously titled Die Christenheit oder Europa (Christendom or Europe).

December 1799

• Receives appointment of assessor and director of the salt mines in Thuringia.

End of 1799

• Writes Geistliche Lieder (Spiritual Songs) and begins work on Heinrich von Ofterdingen.

Early 1800

• Finishes revising Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night).

April 1800

• Finishes drafting Part I of Heinrich von Ofterdingen. Continues drafting Part II.

August 1800

• Stops all work due to ill health. Receives tuberculosis diagnosis. Hymnen an die Nacht (Hymns to the Night) are published in the Athenaeum.

November 1800

• Moves to Dresden for medical treatment after a hemorrhage.

January 1801

• Returns to his family home in Weissenfels. 

March 25, 1801

• Dies at age 28 in Weissenfels.

1801

• Novalis is buried in Weissenfels’s “Alter Friedhof” (Old Cemetery).