I. Censorship
- Bundestag Decree 1835
- Heine's affiliation with Young Germans
- Julius Campe: led Hamburg publishing house of Hoffmann and Campe, 1823-1867
- What did Heine do about censorship?
- published in France or in long books
- self-censorship (Gedankenzensur)
II. Production
- Heine's difficult position: hated by all sides
- He wanted prove that political Engagement and aesthetic form could exist together
- Atta Troll: first appeared 1843 in the Zeitung für die elegante Welt, ed. H. Laube
- Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen published by Campe, Feb. 1844
- 1847: Atta Troll revised and republished together with Deutschland, ein Wintermärchen
II. Reception
- Mostly negative during his life, because of political bias
- After failed revolutions of 1848:
- Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen seen as the work of a "Franzosenfreund"
- Atta Troll regarded as a return to the Romantic poetry of Heine's youth
- Strongly negative by 1900, called him a "traitor," also antisemitic
- Recent scholarship very positive, but tends to overlook some weaknesses
- Both poems must be considered together for a true understanding
IV. Political Moments in the Texts
- Atta Troll
- criticism directed at the utopian opposition, especially the Tendenzpoesie
- the figure of Atta Troll: a "conglomerate of Heine's antipathies" (Sammons)
- Atta's "engagement" is undermined by his ridiculousness
- Tendenzpoesie subordinates aesthetics and literature to political agitation.
- For Heine, poetry must be autonomous, subject only to itself.
- "ein zweckloses Lied"? -- it is autonomous: not subjugated to political slogans
- only in this form can he present the ideal freedom
- Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen.
- Models in other political poetry of the time:
- Anastasius Grün: Spaziergänge eines Wiener Poeten (1830-32)
- Franz Dingelstedt: Lieder eines kosmopolitischen Nachtwächters (1841)
- text presents a new offensive, but not a new belief
- a late version of Saint-Simonism and/or Marxism
- criticism is directed at the Restoration (e.g. border crossing, Kölner Dom)
- Barbarossa scene
- Barbarossa as the "Anwalt des Volkes" -- a positive center to the myth
- Disillusionment with the legend; Barbarossa ineffective, nostalgic
- Rejection of Barbarossa; German people will have to free themselves
- Appears to take back this rejection, but just another veiled criticism
- even a medieval empire would be preferable to the fake modern conditions
- Chamber-pot scene
- there will be a bloody but necessary revolution
- Negative ending: no party could fulfill Heine's ideal dream
Selected References:
| Baumann, Günter. Poesie und Revolution: Zum Verhältnis von Kunst und Politik im Werk Heinrich Heines. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1982. |
| Brummack, Jürgen, ed. Heinrich Heine: Epoche - Werk - Wirkung. Munich: C.H. Beck, 1980. |
| Grab, Walter. Heinrich Heine als politischer Dichter. Heidelberg: Quelle und Meyer, 1982. |
| Sammons, Jeffrey L. "Hunting Bears and Trapping Wolves: Atta Troll and Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen." Heinrich Heine: Artistik und Engagement. Ed. Wolfgang Kuttenkeuler. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1977. |
| Ziegler, Edda. Literarische Zensur in Deutschland, 1819-1848. Munich, Vienna: Carl Hanser Verlag, 1983. |
Written and © Nancy Thuleen in 1995 for German 704 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
If needed, cite using something like the following:
Thuleen, Nancy. "Heinrich Heine: Atta Troll und Deutschland. Ein Wintermärchen." Website Article. 28 November 1995. <http://www.nthuleen.com/papers/704Heine.html>.
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