(1797 - 1856)
Born in Düsseldorf in 1797, Heinrich Heine became widely appreciated for his collection of Romantic poems, The Book of Songs, published in 1827. He wrote On the History of Religion and Philosophy in 1835. This work was the second of two studies of German culture’s past, present, and future written primarily for the reading public in France, where Heine had moved in 1831 after the July Revolution and remained for the rest of his life.
Where shall I, of wandering weary, find my resting place at last?
—Heinrich Heine, 1827
Miscellany
“Mine is a peaceable disposition,” Heinrich Heine writes in his journals, declaring simple wishes: a humble cottage, some fine trees out front. But “if God wants to make my happiness complete,” he adds, “he will grant me the joy of seeing some six or seven of my enemies hanging from those trees. Before their death I shall, moved in my heart, forgive them all the wrong they did me in their lifetime. One must, it is true, forgive one’s enemies—but not before they have been hanged.”
The Romans would never have found time to conquer the world if they had been obliged first to learn Latin.
—Heinrich Heine, 1827
