Heinrich Heine

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Heinrich Heine bigraphy, stories - journalist, an essayist, and one of the most significant German romantic poet

Heinrich Heine : biography

13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856

Heinrich Heine (born Harry Heine, changed to Christian Johann Heinrich Heine following his conversion to Christianity from JudaismPeter Meister (ed.) German Literature Between Faiths (Peter Lang, 2004), p.108) (13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder (art songs) by composers such as Robert Schumann and Franz Schubert. Heine’s later verse and prose is distinguished by its satirical wit and irony. His radical political views led to many of his works being banned by German authorities. Heine spent the last 25 years of his life as an expatriate in Paris.

Works

A list of Heine’s major publications in German. All dates are taken from Jeffrey L. Sammons: Heinrich Heine: A Modern Biography (Princeton University Press, 1979).

  • 1820 (August): Die Romantik ("Romanticism", short critical essay)
  • 1821 (20 December The title page says "1822"): Gedichte ("Poems")
  • 1822 (February to July): Briefe aus Berlin ("Letters from Berlin")
  • 1823 (January): Über Polen ("On Poland", prose essay)
  • 1823 (April): Tragödien nebst einem lyrischen Intermezzo ("Tragedies with a Lyrical Intermezzo") includes:
    • Almansor (play, written 1821-1822)
    • William Ratcliff (play, written January 1822)
    • Lyrisches Intermezzo (cycle of poems)
  • 1826 (May): Reisebilder. Erster Teil ("Travel Pictures I"), contains:
    • Die Harzreise ("The Harz Journey", prose travel work)
    • Die Heimkehr ("The Homecoming", poems)
    • Die Nordsee. Erste Abteilung ("North Sea I", cycle of poems)
  • 1827 (April): Reisebilder. Zweiter Teil ("Travel Pictures II"), contains:
    • Die Nordsee. Zweite Abteilung ("The North Sea II", cycle of poems)
    • Die Nordsee. Dritte Abteilung ("The North Sea III", prose essay)
    • Ideen: das Buch le Grand ("Ideas: The Book of Le Grand")
    • Briefe aus Berlin ("Letters from Berlin", a much shortened and revised version of the 1822 work)
  • 1827 (October): Buch der Lieder ("Book of Songs"); collection of poems containing the following sections:
    • Junge Leiden ("Youthful Sorrows")
    • Die Heimkehr ("The Homecoming", originally published 1826)
    • Lyrisches Intermezzo" ("Lyrical Intermezzo", originally published 1823)
    • "Aus der Harzreise" (poems from Die Harzreise, originally published 1826)
    • Die Nordsee ("The North Sea: Cycles I and II", originally published 1826/1827)
  • 1829 (December): Reisebilder. Dritter Teil ("Travel Pictures III"), contains:
    • Die Reise von München nach Genua ("Journey from Munich to Genoa", prose travel work)
    • Die Bäder von Lucca ("The Baths of Lucca", prose travel work)
    • Anno 1829
  • 1831 (January): Nachträge zu den Reisebildern ("Supplements to the Travel Pictures"), the second edition of 1833 was retitled as Reisebilder. Vierter Teil ("Travel Pictures IV"), contains:
    • Die Stadt Lucca ("The Town of Lucca", prose travel work)
    • Englische Fragmente ("English Fragments", travel writings)
  • 1831 (April): Zu "Kahldorf über den Adel" (introduction to the book "Kahldorf on the Nobility", uncensored version not published until 1890)
  • 1833: Französische Zustände ("Conditions in France", collected journalism)
  • 1833 (December): Der Salon. Erster Teil ("The Salon I"), contains:
    • Französische Maler ("French Painters", criticism)
    • Aus den Memoiren des Herren von Schnabelewopski ("From the Memoirs of Herr Schnabelewopski", unfinished novel)
  • 1835 (January): Der Salon. Zweiter Teil ("The Salon II"), contains:
    • Zur Geschichte der Religion und Philosophie in Deutschland ("On the History of Religion and Philosophy in Germany")
    • Neuer Frühling ("New Spring", cycle of poems)
  • 1835 (November): Die romantische Schule ("The Romantic School", criticism)
  • 1837 (July): Der Salon. Dritter Teil ("The Salon III"), contains:
    • Florentinische Nächte ("Florentine Nights", unfinished novel)
    • Elementargeister ("Elemental Spirits", essay on folklore)
  • 1837 (July): Über den Denunzianten. Eine Vorrede zum dritten Teil des Salons. ("On the Denouncer. A Preface to Salon III", pamphlet)
  • 1837 (November): Einleitung zum "Don Quixote" ("Introduction to Don Quixote", preface to a new German translation of Don Quixote)
  • 1838 (November): Der Schwabenspiegel ("The Mirror of Swabia", prose work attacking poets of the Swabian School)
  • 1838 (October): Shakespeares Mädchen und Frauen ("Shakespeare’s Girls and Women", essays on the female characters Shakespeare’s tragedies and histories)
  • 1839: Anno 1839
  • 1840 (August): Ludwig Börne. Eine Denkschrift ("Ludwig Börne: A Memorial", long prose work about the writer Ludwig Börne)
  • 1840 (November): Der Salon. Vierter Teil ("The Salon IV"), contains:
    • Der Rabbi von Bacherach ("The Rabbi of Bacharach", unfinished historical novel)
    • Über die französische Bühne ("On the French Stage", prose criticism)
  • 1844 (September): Neue Gedichte ("New Poems"); contains the following sections:
    • Neuer Frühling ("New Spring", originally published in 1834)
    • Verschiedene ("Sundry Women")
    • Romanzen ("Ballads")
    • Zur Ollea ("Olio")
    • Zeitgedichte ("Poems for the Times")
    • it also includes Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen ("Germany: A Winter’s Tale", long poem)
  • 1847 (January): Atta Troll: Ein Sommernachtstraum ("Atta Troll: A Midsummer Night’s Dream", long poem, written 1841-46)
  • 1851 (September): Romanzero; collection of poems divided into three books:
    • Erstes Buch: Historien ("First Book: Histories")
    • Zweites Buch: Lamentationen ("Second Book: Lamentations")
    • Drittes Buch: Hebräische Melodien ("Third Book: Hebrew Melodies")
  • 1851 (October): Der Doktor Faust. Tanzpoem ("Doctor Faust. Dance Poem", ballet libretto, written 1846)
  • 1854 (October): Vermischte Schriften ("Miscellaneous Writings") in three volumes, contains:
    • Volume One:
      • Geständnisse ("Confessions", autobiographical work)
      • Die Götter im Exil ("The Gods in Exile", prose essay)
      • Die Göttin Diana ("The Goddess Diana", ballet scenario, written 1846)
      • Ludwig Marcus: Denkworte ("Ludwig Marcus: Recollections", prose essay)
      • Gedichte. 1853 und 1854 ("Poems. 1854 and 1854")
    • Volume Two:
      • Lutezia. Erster Teil ("Lutetia I", collected journalism about France)
    • Volume Three:
      • Lutezia. Zweiter Teil ("Lutetia II", collected journalism about France)