12 questions · Literature
Heinrich Heine, born in 1797 in Düsseldorf into a Jewish merchant family, first failed as a businessman, then studied law and in 1825 accepted Protestant baptism: the 'entrance ticket to European culture', as he bitterly quipped; it availed the Jew Heine little. Two years later appeared the book that made him the most read German lyric poet: the 'Book of Songs' with the Loreley ('I know not what it may signify'): composers from Schumann to Silcher set its verses a thousandfold. But Heine was more than the poet of sweet love songs with an ironic sting: with his 'Travel Pictures' he invented a new, impudent prose and became the most brilliant journalist of his age. In 1835 the German Confederation's censors banned his collected writings outright; by then Heine had long been living in Paris, where he moved in 1831: a mediator between Germany and France, admirer of the Revolution and acquaintance of Marx, with whom he associated for a time. From afar he wrote his satirical epic 'Germany. A Winter's Tale' (1844): after a journey home that would be his last. In 1848 Heine collapsed: a disease of the spinal cord confined him for eight years to what he called his 'mattress grave' in Paris. Half paralysed and nearly blind, he went on dictating poems of biting clarity; the 'Romanzero' was written in misery. He died in Paris in 1856 and lies buried in Montmartre. Did you know that Heine's line 'Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people' comes from his 1823 tragedy 'Almansor'? 110 years later the Nazis burned Heine's books too: yet still printed the Loreley, as the work of an 'unknown poet'.
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I know not what it may signify
From the 'Book of Songs' (1827): Heine made the legend of the maiden on the Rhine rock world-famous.
💡 Did you know? „I know not what it should mean“: Heine's „Lorelei“ became so popular that the Nazis printed it as a „folk song of unknown origin“ to erase Heine's Jewish name.
Book of Songs
Schumann, Schubert, Mendelssohn and hundreds more set its verses: a world success with an ironic sting.
💡 Did you know? Heine's „Book of Songs“ is the most frequently set German poetry collection: Schubert, Schumann and many others put his verses to music.
Germany. A Winter's Tale
'Thinking of Germany in the night, I am robbed of my sleep' comes from the 'Night Thoughts' of the same period.
💡 Did you know? In „Germany. A Winter's Tale“, Heine bitingly mocked German fragmentation and reaction: a masterpiece of political satire.
Paris
A mediator between Germany and France and out of reach of the German censors.
💡 Did you know? Heine moved to Paris in 1831 and became the chief mediator between German and French culture.
all his writings
Together with the authors of 'Young Germany': an unprecedented act of censorship.
💡 Did you know? In 1835 the German Confederation banned all writings by Heine and the „Young Germany“ group: an unprecedented ban on living authors.
mattress grave
A spinal disease paralysed him: half blind, he went on dictating poems of biting clarity.
💡 Did you know? Paralysed, Heine spent his last eight years in the „mattress grave“: bedridden, but witty and productive to the end.
entrance ticket to European culture
It availed the Jew Heine little: public office remained closed to him.
💡 Did you know? He was born Harry Heine: only with baptism did he take the name Heinrich.
Where they burn books, they will also burn people
From the tragedy 'Almansor' (1823): 110 years later the Nazis burned Heine's books too.
💡 Did you know? „Where they burn books, they will in the end also burn people“: Heine's line from 1823 proved horrifyingly prophetic.
Travel Pictures
'The Harz Journey' led the way (impudent, witty, political): a new German prose.
💡 Did you know? With his „Travel Pictures“, Heine invented a new, ironic and personal prose form between reportage and poetry.
Karl Marx
Heine's 'Weavers' song' appeared in Marx's journal 'Vorwärts!': the two were, in fact, distantly related.
💡 Did you know? In Paris Heine associated for a time with the young Karl Marx; the two were even distantly related.
Düsseldorf
The city's university bears his name: only since 1988, after decades of dispute.
💡 Did you know? Heine grew up as a Jew in Düsseldorf: the exclusion he experienced all his life sharpened his eye and his mocking wit.
Foto: Moritz Daniel Oppenheim · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine was a German Romantic poet, famous for his love poetry like the „Lorelei“ and his sharp political satire.
💡 Did you know? His line „Where they burn books, they will also burn people“ proved horrifyingly prophetic a century later.
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