Hellingrath was born in Munich: his father was an army officer and his mother claimed descent from the Byzantine Emperor John VI Cantacuzenus.

From 1912 to 1914 Hellingrath lived and taught in Paris, during which time he began work on his monumental first-ever "Complete Edition" of Hölderlin, Hölderlins Samtliche Werke, collecting together not only all the poems in their variant forms, the novel Hyperion, the unfinished drama The Death of Empedocles, the articles and translations, but also all traceable letters and written accounts of the poet.

Hellingrath published Volumes I and V in Munich in 1913, but after the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered for military service and was killed in action during the Battle of Verdun on 14 December 1916 at the age of 28.

Though since superseded by two subsequent complete editions (the Stuttgarter and Frankfurter Ausgabe), Hellingrath's pioneering work continues to have value.

Due to Norbert von Hellingrath's scholarship and advocacy, Hölderlin has been regarded since 1913 as one of the greatest poets ever to write in the German language.