Ernst Schulze (poet)

Ernst Conrad Friedrich Schulze (22 March 1789 – 29 June 1817) was a German Romantic poet. He was born and died in Celle.

The son of the Mayor of Celle, his mother died while he was only two years old and much of his early education was overseen by his two grandfathers, who were a Celle bookseller and a minister.

Widely respected by his contemporaries in early youth, he found himself increasingly drawn into a new poetische Welt (world of poetry) in his mid-teens, showing a particular interest in folklore, fairy tales and diverse French literature. He said of himself, "I lived in a fantasy world and was on the way to becoming a complete obsessive." Despite these early Romantic daydreams, he was able to apply himself to his school work and was, at age 16, a model student.

Given his upbringing, it is probably unsurprisingly that he initially studied theology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen from 1806. He went on to study philosophy, literature and aesthetics from 1808, and received his doctorate in 1812. Afterward, he devoted himself to philology, which he taught privately in Göttingen. During his time at university he became a member of the Göttingen 'Corps Hannovera', one of the original German Student Corps.

Schulze's early post-graduation lectures reflected his particular poetical interests, particularly Ancient Greek lyric poetry; his first two lectures were entitled „Ueber die Geschichte der lyrischen Poesie bey den Griechen“ and „Metrik […] und Prometheus des Aeschylus“. Perhaps more importantly than his profession, however, became his love for Cäcilie Tychsen, daughter of the Orientalist and theologian Thomas Christian Tychsen. Cäcilie and her sister Adelheid were regarded by as Göttingen society as beautiful and musically talented and Schulze first met Cäcilie in 1811. A brief romance followed, which intensified on Schulze's part after Cäcilie fell incurably sick from pulmonary tuberculosis the following year at the age of eighteen. The couple's engagement came shortly before Cäcilie's death on 3 December 1812. Schulze wrote, "In Cäcilie, whilst truly chaste, I was made many times more beautiful and wonderful. It was what, perhaps, I could become if there were immortality, instead of now residing in gloom."

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