Clemens Wenzeslaus Brentano de La Roche was born on September 9, 1778, in Ehrenbreitstein (present-day Koblenz). Bettina (later "von Arnim") was one of his many siblings. Brentano met Ludwig Achim von Arnim, with whom he soon established a close friendship, in 1801 while a student of philosophy in Göttingen. After marrying the writer Sophie Mereau, he moved to Heidelberg in 1804. Two years later, his wife died giving birth to their third child. A short time later, Brentano married Auguste Bußmann, though they divorced in 1814. He stayed in Berlin as of the end of 1809. Brentano went to Bohemia in 1811 and lived there for the next two years. In 1818, Brentano closed up house again in Berlin and went to Dülmen. Brentano met the Swiss painter Emilie Linder in Munich in 1833. He produced his late works in the context of this later love. The last years of Brentano's life were marked by melancholy. In 1842, he died in Aschaffenburg, in the house of his brother Christian.