August von Platen

Graf Platen;August Graf Platen;August von Platen-Hallemünde

1796 (Ansbach, Germany) – 1835 (Syracuse, Sicily)

Platen’s writing continues to be re-evaluated, though his literary vendetta with Heine (anti-semitism and gay-bashing to the fore) has ensured a continuing prominence. During his decade spent as a student, he befriended Grimm, and had a short but intense affair with Liebig (who later married and settled down). He met Goethe, who said that he was talented but lacked love, and was enthusiastic about Schelling, who gathered an enthusiastic circle of admirers in Erlangen. His friend Bruschmann introduced his poetry to Schubert, who set some of it to music (and may have met Platen). There is little evidence that he and Heine ever met.