Heinrich Heine (1977)

The first part describes Heine’s life from his childhood in Düsseldorf, through his commercial work in Hamburg and his law studies, to his first literary successes and his connections with Berlin’s literary life, especially through his friendship with Rahel von Varnhagen. Disappointed by political stagnation in Prussia and the lack of progress in his career—which neither completing his studies nor converting to Christianity could change—he emigrates to Paris in 1831. There he comes into conflict with a group of German émigrés with radical republican views, led by Ludwig Börne. In 1833, he meets his future wife, the saleswoman Augustine Crescence Mirat, known as Mathilde. The second part explores Heine’s life in Paris, marked by literary success but also by financial worries, including a temporary ban on publishing in all the states of the German Confederation. In 1843, he travels to Germany, where he visits his uncle and patron, the merchant Salomon Heine, and negotiates with his publisher, Julius Campe, over a new contract intended to finally give him financial security. But then Salomon Heine dies, ending his financial support and leaving Heine once again reliant on tedious commissioned work. Through his maid Babette, who lives in a poor district of Paris, Heine becomes more keenly aware of social divisions and the rise of socialism. In the years that follow, his health deteriorates. When revolutions break out in Germany and France in 1848, Heine, afflicted by a nervous disorder, takes little active part in political developments and instead views them with resignation. From 1848 onward, increasing paralysis leaves him barely able to get out of bed. He dictates his final works to a secretary and watches life in the street through the window, but this only makes him more despairing about his own condition. He considers himself one of the most hated German writers and looks back, wondering why he repeatedly clashed with others—the Church, the nobility, the propertied bourgeoisie, and some of his fellow writers. His siblings come to visit, and with his sister Charlotte he looks back once more on his childhood. Shortly afterward, in February 1856, he dies. In a brief epilogue, the lead actor, Christoph Bantzer, is seen standing at Heine’s grave and laying down flowers.