The years 1799 to 1801 in Kleist's life may, with certain reservations, be characterized as Lehrjahre. In the early spring of 1799, at latest, his resolve to leave the army was definitely established. Before the end of the year 1801 the Wanderjahre had begun with work on Die Familie Schroffenstein. The period includes Kleist's betrothal with Wilhelmine von Zenge, his time of study in Frankfurt an der Oder and in Berlin up to and including his Zusammenbruch über Kant—or Fichte, the much discussed trip to Würzburg, the poet's conflict within himself and with his family concerning his right to reject a civil office, and the more or less voluntary trip with his sister Ulrike to Paris. Then came his final break with the past, and the synchronous break with Wilhelmine, when Kleist fled, we may say without exaggeration, to Switzerland, ostensibly to become a peasant. He became a poet.