“Farewell, You Cheerful Folk of France”

A German romantic poet and essayist, Heinrich Heine was born in Düsseldorf. Unsuccessful in his early business career, he studied law, and settled in Berlin in 1821. There he met with success as a poet and was influenced by the founders of Wissenschaft des Judentums; he became acquainted with Rahel Varnhagen, Moses Mendelssohn, and Leopold Zunz. In 1825, Heine converted to Christianity, apparently for the career opportunities that such a conversion might have afforded. Heine’s life was dominated by enthusiasm for the French Revolutionary ideals and Napoleon in their liberal treatment of Jews; he spent the last twenty-five years of his life in Paris. (Several of Heine’s poetry and prose works appear in this volume.)