A fountain grows in the Bronx

German romantic poet Christian Johann Heinrich Heine died on this date in 1856. A figure of religious and political controversy, Heine lived a fascinating life. The Lorelei fountain designed in his honor, originally intended to be placed in Düsseldorf, ended up in NYC’s Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx.

One of Heine’s more famous quotes is displayed in the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: Where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people.

I must confess, however, that my favorite of his quotes was in his will, in which he left his entire estate to his wife only in the event that she remarry, so that “there will be at least one man to regret my death.”

3 thoughts on “A fountain grows in the Bronx”

  1. The loveliest maiden is sitting
    High-throned in yon blue air
    Her golden jewels are shining
    She combs her golden hair

    I know two poems – one of them is the Mark Twain translation of the The Lorelei

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