Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller was a German poet and philosopher whose literature and ideas were very influential throughout the German Romantic Era. He was born in Germany on November 10, 1759 and died in Saxe-Weimar on May 9, 1805. During his life he struck a very deep and important friendship with the very famous playwright and philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Both of these individuals shared similar ideas and viewpoints, and their ideas together formed what is now known as Weimar Classicism. Schiller's works were thought of with the highest esteem by other intellectuals of his time. The great German philosopher G. W. F. Hegel finished one of his most famous books with a verse from one of Schiller's poems. The composer Ludwig van Beethoven based the finale of his famous 9th Symphony to the lines of Schiller's poem "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy). Famous works by Schiller include: "The Cranes of Ibykus," "The Diver," and "The Veiled Statue at Sais."