Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (born as Harry Heine December 13, 1797 – February 17, 1856) was one of the most significant German poets.

Heine was born into an assimilated Jewish family in Düsseldorf, G

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (born as Harry Heine December 13, 1797 – February 17, 1856) was one of the most significant German poets.

Heine was born into an assimilated Jewish family in Düsseldorf, Germany. His father was a tradesman, who, during the French occupation, found new prospects opening up for Jews. When his father's business failed, Heine was sent to Hamburg, where his rich banker uncle Salomon encouraged him to undertake a commercial career. After Heine's business career failed he turned to the study of law at the universities of Göttingen, Bonn and Berlin, but found that he was more interested in literature than law, although he eventually took a degree in 1825, at the same time he had decided to convert from Judaism to Protestantism. This was necessary because of the severe restrictions on Jews in the German states; in many cases, they were forbidden, without specific permission, to have their own businesses or to leave the areas in which they were assigned to live. They were also forbidden to become university professors, which was a particular ambition for Heine. Understandably, then, as Heine himself said, his conversion was "the ticket of admission into European culture". Heine is best known for his lyric poetry, much of which was set to music by lieder composers, most notably Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann.