Heinrich Heine Biography - Infos for Sellers and Buyers

Heinrich Heine

Düsseldorf 1797 - Paris 1856

Heinrich (Harry) Heine was born in Düsseldorf on December 13, 1797. His parents, the drapery merchant Samson Heine and his wife Betty, had four children. Heine attended the lycée in Düsseldorf but ended his schooling without a diploma. In 1814 he attended the merchant school and began an apprenticeship at a bank in Frankfurt in 1815. The next year Heine went to Hamburg to perform his voluntary service for his uncle Salomon. From 1819 to 1825 he studied law in Bonn, Göttingen and Berlin. In 1824 during his "Harzreise", his travels through the Harz Mountains, Heine met Goethe in Weimar.
In 1825 Heine was baptized in the Protestant church, where his name was changed from Harry to Heinrich. He passed his law exams and worked on his doctorate at Hugo in Göttingen. In 1826 the first relationships to publishing houses began to form with Hoffman and Campe. Heine then traveled to Cuxhaven, Norderney and Lüneburg, returning to Hamburg in 1827 before going to England.
In 1828 he published his "Book of Songs" ("Das Buch der Lieder") and settled in Munich. He worked there for a time as editor on Cotta's "The New General Political Annals." While traveling in Italy, Heine's father died, and he returned to Hamburg. In 1830 Heine moved (unknowingly permanently) to Paris and worked on the "Allgemeine Zeitung." He became acquainted with such artists as Balsac, Berlioz, Chopin, Dumas, Victor Hugo, Liszt, Nerval, George Sand.
In 1835 the German Parliament banned the works of "Young Germany" (Junges Deutschland); Heine's book were also banned. The French regime gave Heine a pension and he continued to print his works in Germany. In 1841 Heine married Crescentia Eugenie (Mathilde) Mirat in Saint-Sulpice. Heine's "Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen" appeared in "Neue Gedichte" in 1844.
Heinrich Heine died on February 17, 1856 in Paris, and was buried three days later in the Montmartre cemetery.