Novalis, who was baptized as Georg Philipp Friedrich Freiherr (Baron) von Hardenberg, was born in 1772 at his family estate in the Electorate of Saxony, the Schloss Oberwiederstedt, in the village of Wiederstedt, which is now located in the present-day town of Arnstein. Hardenberg descended from ancient, Lower Saxon nobility. Novalis' father was Heinrich Ulrich Erasmus Freiherr (Baron) von Hardenberg, the estate owner and a salt-mine manager. His mother was Auguste Bernhardine (née von Böltzig), who was Heinrich's second wife. Novalis was the second of eleven children. Although Novalis had an aristocratic background, his family was not wealthy.