Friedrich Hölderlin studied theology at the Tübinger Stift. As a private tutor in Frankfurt he met his muse, his employer’s wife and the Diotima of his poetry. Dismissed and impoverished, he eventually suffered a breakdown and in 1805 was committed to a clinic at Tübingen. Discharged as incurable, he was taken in by Ernst Zimmer, a well-read carpenter, and lived with his family until his death.