Background
He was born at the Castle of Wallerstein (near Nördlingen) in Franconia.
He was born at the Castle of Wallerstein (near Nördlingen) in Franconia.
After having studied law for a short while at Halle, he entered the regiment of the crown prince of Prussia in Potsdam and was attached to it as officer for ten years.
On this journey he visited Goethe in Frankfurt-on-Main, and introduced him to the hereditary prince, Charles Augustus. This meeting is memorable as being the immediate cause of Goethe"s later intimate connection with the Weimar court. After Knebel"s return and the premature death of his pupil he was pensioned, receiving the rank of major.