Introduction

Biography

Friedrich was the son of Gott­lob Hein­rich Klop­stock, ad­vo­cate and Com­mis­sions­rath at Qued­lin­burg.

From 1739–45, he at­tend­ed the school at Schul­pforte, near Naum­burg (where he con­ceived the first idea for his Mes­si­as).

He en­tered the Uni­ver­si­ty of Je­na in the au­tumn of 1742 as a theo­lo­gy stu­dent, and the Uni­ver­si­ty of Leip­zig at East­er, 1746. At Leip­zig he met J. A. Cra­mer and be­came one of the con­trib­u­tors to the Bre­mer Bei­träge, in which the first three books of his Mes­si­as ap­peared.

In 1748, he be­came a tu­tor in the house of a mer­chant named Weiss at Lan­gen­sal­za. In 1750, he ac­cept­ed an in­vi­ta­tion to visit Zür­ich, Swit­zer­land, where his Mes­si­as had been en­thu­si­as­tic­al­ly re­ceived.

In 1751, the Da­nish prime min­is­ter, Count von Bern­stoff, in­vit­ed him to take up re­si­dence at the Court of King Fred­eri­ck V in Co­pen­ha­gen, so he could fin­ish the Mes­si­as with­out the dis­tract­ion of hav­ing to earn a liv­ing.

In 1771, Klop­stock re­tired to Ham­burg, where he lived the rest of his life, ex­cept for a year in Karls­ruhe, at the court of the Mar­grave Karl Fried­rich of Ba­den, who ap­point­ed him Hof­rath.

Works

• Geist­liche Lied­er (Co­pen­ha­gen: 1758 & 1769)