User:Blurpeace/Hörlderlinturm



The Hölderlinturm (English: Hölderlin Tower) is a building located in Tübingen, Germany that served as the place of residence and death in the final years of poet Friedrich Hölderlin. He lived there from May 3, 1807 until his death in 1843. The building is located on the Neckar riverfront and is one of the most popularly-known sites in Tübingen.

History


The construction of the building traces back to the 13th century. The stone foundation originates from the medieval city wall that originally ran along the northern bank of the Neckar. Hölderlin had been forcibly sent by his family to be interred at the clinic of physician Johann Autenrieth on September 15, 1806. The 34-year-old master carpenter Ernst Friedrich Zimmer acquired the property in 1807. Hölderlin was released on May 3, 1807, around the same time as Zimmer's purchase, with a prognosis of incurable illness and three years to live ("höchstens noch drei Jahre").

Autenrieth, meanwhile, had encouraged Zimmer to take Hölderlin into his home, and, looking back on the situation, wrote:


 * "Ich besuchte Hölderlin im Clinikum und Bedauerte ihn sehr, daß ein so schönner Herlicher Geist zu Grund gehen soll. Da im Clinikum nichts weiter mit Hölderlin zu machen war, so machte der Canzler Autenrit mir den Vorschlag Hölderlin in mein Hauß aufzunehmen, er wüßte kein pasenderes Lokal."

Hölderlin moved into the first floor of Zimmer's residence the day after his release and would live there until his death in 1843. During Hölderlin's tower period, he often wrote under the pseudonym Scardanelli. He also received visitors from the neighboring Tübinger Stift, the school Hölderlin himself had once attended. A visit to the ill Hölderlin by Eduard Mörike and Wilhelm Waiblinger, figures both known for their relationship to Hölderlin, is poignantly documented by Hermann Hesse in his 1914 short story "Im Presselschen Gartenhaus" ("In Pressel's Garden-House").

The building has since been extensively rennovated and is now the seat of the Tübingen-based Hölderlin-Gesellschaft ("Hölderlin Society").