Franz Alexander von Kleist


Franz Alexander von Kleist was a German poet of the late 18th century.

Life

Franz Alexander was a member of the noble Pomeranian von Kleist family. He was born in Potsdam, son of General Franz Kasimir von Kleist and his wife Caroline Luise Eleonore Johanne. General Friedrich Ludwig Heinrich von Kleist was his younger brother.
In 1784 Franz Alexander entered the Prussian Infantry Regiment of the Duke of Brunswick. His regiment was stationed in Halberstadt, where he came into close contact with Johann Wilhelm Ludwig Gleim, who because of his earlier friendship with Ewald Christian von Kleist, who fell in battle in 1759, had a particular inclination towards him. Franz Alexander is reckoned as a member of the Halberstadt Poetry Circle. He wrote several texts while he was in Halberstadt. After he left the town until his early death he kept up a correspondence with Gleim.
He took part in the campaign of 1789, then left the army and went to Berlin. Under Minister Ewald Friedrich von Hertzberg he became an attaché in 1791. In January 1792 he married Albertine von Jungk and left government service in the following year.
He bought the estate of his deceased father-in-law, Falkenhagen near Frankfurt, sold it again and settled at Ringenwalde near Neudamm in the Neumark, where he died before he was 28. His widow married in 1800 Captain Ferdinand von Waldow of Dannenwalde in Gransee.

Works

During his short life Franz Alexander published a great deal. He was much read in his lifetime and immediately after his death, and then almost entirely forgotten. His literary legacy is preserved in the Kleist Museum in Frankfurt.

Children

By his wife Albertine he had the following children: