Ludwig von Alvensleben was born on 3 May 1800 in Berlin. He came from the Low German noble family of Alvensleben. At the age of thirteen, he took part in the German War of Liberation and began his career as an officer. In 1821, he was punished with two years of fortress arrest for a threatening letter written to Prince Augustus of Prussia. From 1825 to 1828, he completed a law degree in Leipzig, but could not take the final exam due to a lack of knowledge of Latin. However, he was able to make a living as a freelance writer, translator and journalist. In 1830, he was imprisoned for a short time because of a text "shadow and no light" ("Schatten und kein Licht") printed in Halle and directed against the Leipzig police. In 1836, he temporarily directed the Meiningen Court Theatre. In 1841, he moved to Vienna. There he took an active part in the revolutionary uprisings in October 1848 and was initially sentenced to death after being arrested, but then pardoned to one year in prison and expelled from Vienna after serving his sentence. His literary work was often impaired by frequent illnesses, so that he was in need and had to be supported by his family.