Eichendorff was born to an aristocratic family in Upper Silesia. He studied law in Halle and Heidelberg and made the acquaintance in Vienna of several leading poets before seeing active service as an army officer in the closing stages of the Napoleonic wars.

Eichendorff was a leading exponent of German romanticism writing several books and numerous lyric poems several of which were set to music by the great composers. He excelled in identifying the essence of human experience with nature and in blending the soul of biedermeier Germany with natural features.