Heinrich Heine

by Paul A. Schons

Originally published by the Germanic-American Institute in December of 2000

"Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten, daß ich so traurig bin…." Heinrich Heine's Die Loreley is possibly the most widely recognized of all German poems, telling the story of a lovely goddess luring sailors to their destruction on the rocks in the Rhine. During the summer tourists hear and sing the song on the white passenger ships sailing the Rhine as they pass the Loreley rock near St. Goarshausen. Students of German throughout the world learn Heine's poem and sing the song as a part of their lessons (music by Friedrich Silcher, 1789-1860). Heine was born in Düsseldorf on December 13, 1797. The house on Bolkerstraße where he was born stands in the "Altstadt" near the Rhine. His name was originally Harry Heine. He had been born into a Jewish family of rather modest means. The name Heinrich was a baptismal name, taken when he was baptized a Christian in 1825. He perceived that as a Jew in those times he had little chance to enjoy the full potential of European life. He designated the baptism as the "Entréebillet zur europäischen Kultur" (the admission ticket to European culture). Heine studied law at the University of Bonn for two semesters. He then transferred to the University of Göttingen. He was forced to leave Göttigen in 1821 after being involved in an altercation leading to a duel. He then studied at the University of Berlin from 1821-1823. In 1824 he was readmitted to the University of Göttingen where he completed his doctorate in law in 1825. It was in 1825 that he converted to Christianity in order to be able to practice law or to achieve a position in the civil service. But he never did actually practice law. His interests throughout his university years were in poetry, history and literature. The study of law seems to have been primarily to please his wealthy, businessman uncle, Solomon Heine, who supported him during his university years and insisted on a practical major. Heinrich Heine had begun publishing poetry as early as 1822. His first major collection of poetry, Buch der Lieder, (Book of Songs) was published in 1827. It was in that volume that his Loreley appeared as well as a number of bitter-sweet, ironic love poems. (He suffered greatly from unrequited love in those years.) In 1831, attracted to the growing liberal idealism in France, he moved to Paris. His satire was well received in liberal circles, but not in very conservative Germany. In 1835 the German Bundestag (parliament) banned his works. He published his collection of poetry, Neue Gedichte (New Poems) in 1844. In that period he became a friend of Karl Marx and published political satire in Marx's newspaper, Vorwärts. His Deutschland, Ein Wintermärchen (Germany, a Winter's Tale) in 1844 was a bitter attack on the conservative political culture of Germany. As his criticism continued he was increasingly disliked by the German authorities. He was never allowed to return to his homeland. Heine became seriously ill in the 1840's and was continuously tormented by a deteriorating nerve disease and partial blindness. He grew more bitter and angry. He became increasingly negative about the human condition. Nevertheless he continued to write masterful poetry. His Romanzero was published in 1851 and his Gedichte 1853 und 1854 (Poems of 1853 and 1854) are also masterful. Heinrich Heine died on February 17, 1856 in Paris and was buried in the Montmartre Cemetery. Despite all of the political problems during his lifetime, the city of Düsseldorf is today justly proud if its native son, Heinrich Heine. There is a Heinrich-Heine-Institut on Bilker Street. The institute is a museum and Heine research center. The original Heine manuscripts are housed there. The institute was founded in 1970 by the city of Düsseldorf. A monument to Heine was erected in 1981 in the Schwanenmarkt. The city of Düsseldorf gives a "Heine Prize" of 25,000 marks for persons deemed to have made contributions to human rights and contributing to social or political progress. Notable winners of the Heine prize have included Carl-Friedrich von Weizsäkker (a philosopher), Marion Gräfin Dönhoff (a newspaper publisher), Max Frisch (a writer), Richard von Weizäcker (a statesman) and Wolf Biermann (a poet/singer). The University of Düsseldorf bears the name the Heinrich Heine University of Düsseldorf.