{"id":780,"date":"2009-12-06T21:41:51","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T02:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/?p=780"},"modified":"2016-07-19T19:27:01","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T02:27:01","slug":"with-heine-at-lorelei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2009\/12\/with-heine-at-lorelei","title":{"rendered":"With Heine at Lorelei"},"content":{"rendered":"

At 161st Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx, there is a highly ornate fountain named Lorelei<\/a> located in a rather lonely park<\/a> dedicated to dead poets. Inscribed at the base of Lorelei is the name and visage of a man — once upon a time, Germany’s favorite Romantic poet. Hitler tried his best to remove all memory of him from German culture, even going so far as to anonymize the attribution of his poems and to order the atomization of his grave site with explosives, all because the poet, Heinrich Heine, was born a Jew.<\/p>\n

This Friday, the 24th of Kislev and the eve of \u1e24anuka, is Heine’s Hebrew birthday. He was born December 13th, 1797.<\/p>\n

\"Lorelei<\/a><\/p>\n

I first encountered Heine, in Amos Elon’s survey of German Jewry, The Pity of It All: A Portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch 1743-1933<\/em><\/a>. Here’s why I love him so much. Besides his sharp wit and poetry, Heine railed against patriotic chauvinism. In 1817 at the age of 20 he witnessed the Hep! Hep! riots<\/a> and a mass burning of “subversive” books\u00a0 accompanied by speeches against Jews, foreigners, “and cosmopolitans, et al.” Three years later, he penned the following prescient line in his verse tragedy, “Almansor,”:<\/p>\n

Dort, wo man B\u00fccher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.
\n[Where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people.]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Heine had keen, almost prophetic insight. Elon writes that he “voiced the first, most acute prophecies about German nationalism and militarism.” Heine is famous for having predicted the dangers of Prussian nationalism manifest in a unified Germany. Living as a fugitive expatriat in France in 1834, “he saw the demons lurking under the surface of German life and warned the French:”<\/p>\n

Watch out! I mean well with you and therefore I tell you the bitter truth. You have more to fear from a liberated Germany than from the entire Holy Alliance along with all Croats and Cossacks.<\/p>\n

A drama will be enacted in Germany compared to which the French Revolution will seem like a harmless idyll. Christianity restrained the martial ardor of the Germans for a time but it did not destroy it; once the restraining talisman is shattered, savagery will rise again, . . . the mad fury of the berserk, of which Nordic poets sing and speak. . . . The old stony gods will rise from the rubble and rub the thousand-year-old dust from their eyes. Thor with the giant hammer will come forth and smash the gothic domes.<\/p>\n

The German thunder. . . rolls slowly at first but it will come. And when you hear it roar, as it has never roared before in the history of the world know that the German thunder has reached it’s target.<\/p>\n

(H. Heine. “Zur Geschichte von Religion und Philosphie im Deutschland,” S\u00e4mtliche Schriften<\/em>, vol. 3, p.505.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

His attitude towards Judaism was highly influenced by the difficulty he and other assimilated intellectual German Jews felt in the face of state oppression. But these sentiments were tempered when he experienced Polish Jewry during a trip in 1821, writing:<\/p>\n

Despite the barbaric-looking fur cap on his head and the even more barbaric ideas within, I hold the Polish Jew in much higher regard than many a German Jew with a Bolivar hat on top of his head and Jean Paul inside it. In stark isolation, the character of the Polish Jew has evolved into an integral whole; by breathing the air of tolerance this character has acquired the stamp of freedom. . . . As for me, I prefer the Polish Jew, with his grimy fur, his flea-bitten beard, his odor of garlic, and his wheeling and dealing to many others in all their savings-bond splendor.<\/p>\n

(Heine. S\u00e4mtliche Schriften<\/em>, vol. 2, p.69.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This description mixes criticism with a liberal romantic pride in ethnic Judaism born outside the constraints and pressures of the assimilationist Germany he was familiar with. In contrast, his attitude towards Reform Judaism reflects deep misgivings. Elon notes that Heine was “dubious about fashionable modifications like German [Jewish] prayer books and organ music. They were merely imitative of Christianity and offered only a “new stage set and decor.” The new rabbis (Heine called them souffleurs<\/em>–prompters) wore a Protestant parson’s ‘white band’ in their collars. Reform Judaism was like mock turtle soup, he thought, ‘turtle soup without the turtle.’ Heine was an early precursor of the legendary Spanish anarchist who asked a Protestant missionary, ‘How can I believe in your religion when I don’t even believe in mine, which is the only true one?'” Like many Jews in his circle he submitted to a Baptism that held meaning only in the burden of shame and bitterness he would carry the remainder of his life. Professional life in Germany was entirely closed off to Jews unless they submitted to a Baptism. Regardless, his tragic humiliation has haunted his name<\/a> ever since.<\/p>\n

Fleeing Germany for freedom in France, Heine was quickly attracted to the early socialism espoused by Henri de Saint-Simon<\/a>, a practical philosophy that espoused a mix of free love, pantheism, technocracy, and meritocracy — in short, liberal ideals anathema to more conservative and traditional sentiments. Meanwhile, he continued to write romantic poetry that drew its imagery from the well of both German and Jewish mythology.<\/p>\n

Undeniably, I feel a kinship here. I am one dreaming being even when the catalog of prideful identities bifurcates and fragments my imagination in so many useless ways. I am navigating my religious, ethnic, and national identity when ethnic patriotism and religious demands make claims on the integrity and authenticity of my being Jewish, and often enough seem to distract from more universal truths.<\/p>\n

The pity of it all is that the fathomless tragedy of the Holocaust was not only the mass slaughter of our families and the dissolution of our being. It is also in how Germany butchered and mutilated itself, for we were once Germans even if they refused to accept this, and how much the poorer they are for it. Romantics like Heine pined for acceptance as Jewish Germans, a desire absolutely justified by his ancestors cultural identity rooted in the more than 1500 year long residence amidst the misty woods and vales of Ashkenaz. Ethnic narratives profoundly shaped by Zionist self-reliance and a complete rejection of Germany following the Holocaust, conspire as well to obscure the profoundly deep connections Ashkenaz Jewry had in those lands, cities, and shtetls stolen from our grandparents and great-grandparents. Their presence as neighbors was organically entangled in their culture, but they pretended it wasn’t so, and what a bloody mess they left behind when they ripped us out from inside them.<\/p>\n

This coming Sunday 2-5pm, December 13th, I’ll be at the Lorelei Fountain<\/a> in the Bronx reading Heine’s poem Die Lorelei<\/a>, drinking a toast in his honor, and lighting the third light of \u1e24anuka. Anyone who cares to is welcome to join me.<\/p>\n

\"Heinrich_Heine<\/a>

Portrait of Heine by Gottlieb Gassen, 1828<\/p><\/div>\n

\n

Die Lorelei <\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

by Heinrich Heine<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ich wei\u00df nicht, was soll es bedeuten,
\nDa\u00df ich so traurig bin;
\nEin M\u00e4rchen aus alten Zeiten,
\nDas kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.<\/p>\n

Die Luft ist k\u00fchl, und es dunkelt,
\nUn ruhig flie\u00dft der Rhein;
\nDer Gipfel des Berges funkelt
\nIn Abendsonnenschein.<\/p>\n

Die sch\u00f6nste Jungfrau sitzet
\nDort oben wunderbar,
\nIhr goldenes Geschmeide blitzet,
\nSie k\u00e4mmt ihr goldenes Haar.<\/p>\n

Sie k\u00e4mmt es mit goldenem Kamme
\nUnd singt ein Leid dabei;
\nDas hat eine wundersame,
\nGewaltige Melodei.<\/p>\n

Den Schiffer im kleinen Schiffe
\nErgreift es mit wildem Weh;
\nEr schaut nicht die Felsenriffe,
\nEr schaut nur hinauf in die H\u00f6h’.<\/p>\n

Ich glaube, die Wellen verschlingen
\nAm Ende Schiffer uns Kahn;
\nUnd das hat mit ihrem Singen
\nDie Lorelei getan.<\/td>\n

I don’t know what it may signify
\nThat I am so sad;
\nThere’s a tale from ancient times
\nThat I can’t get out of my mind.<\/p>\n

The air is cool and the twilight is falling
\nand the Rhine is flowing quietly by;
\nthe top of the mountain is glittering
\nin the evening sun.<\/p>\n

The loveliest maiden is sitting
\nUp there, wondrous to tell.
\nHer golden jewelry sparkles
\nas she combs her golden hair<\/p>\n

She combs it with a golden comb
\nand sings a song as she does,
\nA song with a peculiar,
\npowerful melody.<\/p>\n

It seizes upon the boatman in his small boat
\nWith unrestrained woe;
\nHe does not look below to the rocky shoals,
\nHe only looks up at the heights.<\/p>\n

If I’m not mistaken, the waters
\nFinally swallowed up fisher and boat;
\nAnd with her singing
\nThe Lorelei did this.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At 161st Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx, there is a highly ornate fountain named Lorelei located in a rather lonely park dedicated to dead poets. Inscribed at the base of Lorelei is the name and visage of a man — once upon a time, Germany’s favorite Romantic poet. Hitler tried his best to . . . → Continue reading: With Heine at Lorelei<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,20],"tags":[49,60],"class_list":["post-780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yiddishkeit","category-poetry","tag-imagination","tag-romanticism","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nWith Heine at Lorelei • Aharon's Omphalos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2009\/12\/with-heine-at-lorelei\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With Heine at Lorelei • Aharon's Omphalos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At 161st Street and Grand Concourse in the Bronx, there is a highly ornate fountain named Lorelei located in a rather lonely park dedicated to dead poets. 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He is particularly interested in pedagogies for advancing ecological wisdom, developing creative and emotional intelligence, and realizing effective theurgical praxes. He welcomes your comments, personal messages, and kind words. If you find his work helpful to your own or you'd simply like to support him, please consider donating via his Patreon account.","sameAs":["https:\/\/aharon.varady.net","http:\/\/facebook.com\/aharonium","https:\/\/x.com\/http:\/\/twitter.com\/aharonium"],"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/author\/admin"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/Gottlieb_Gassen_-_Heinrich_Heine.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pgdGV-cA","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/2006\/05\/from-moinesti","url_meta":{"origin":780,"position":0},"title":"From Moine\u015fti","author":"Aharon N. 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Varady","date":"February 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I look for them in the past and I find their remains, enough to resemble a person, even someone whose passions I can identify more than vaguely with my imagination. Again, I have this feeling that the historical researcher is more than part necromancer. 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Varady","date":"March 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people ask me about my last name. \"Hey Aharon, where does your last name come from?\" etc. It's a question I've long wanted to know myself. 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While that attribution should rightfully be given to the French socialist leader Jean Jaur\u00e8s (1859\u20131914), the actual origin goes back quite a bit further.","rel":"","context":"In "General Research"","block_context":{"text":"General Research","link":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/category\/miscellanies\/general-research"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Portrait-of-an-Old-and-a-Younger-Man-John-Taylor-and-John-Denham-by-William-Dobson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Portrait-of-an-Old-and-a-Younger-Man-John-Taylor-and-John-Denham-by-William-Dobson.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Portrait-of-an-Old-and-a-Younger-Man-John-Taylor-and-John-Denham-by-William-Dobson.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Portrait-of-an-Old-and-a-Younger-Man-John-Taylor-and-John-Denham-by-William-Dobson.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Portrait-of-an-Old-and-a-Younger-Man-John-Taylor-and-John-Denham-by-William-Dobson.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2373,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780\/revisions\/2373"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aharon.varady.net\/omphalos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}