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Adding to our translations of 19th century travel writing, Heinrich Heine's 'Germany: A Winter's Tale' is now available for browsing and download here. 

‘Germany: A Winter’s Tale’ (Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen, 1844) his satirical verse ‘epic’ describes a journey from Paris to Hamburg in the winter of 1843. The title ‘A Winter’s Tale’ refers to Shakespeare’s late play, and the work forms a counterpart to Heine’s earlier verse epic ‘Atta Troll: A Midsummer Night’s Dream’.

Heine had emigrated to France, in 1831, due to the political conditions in Germany during the post-Napoleonic German Restoration period and, in 1835, his works were banned with those of the other poets of ‘Young Germany’. On the return journey from a brief visit to Germany in 1843, he wrote the first draft of ‘Germany: A Winter’s Tale,’ later turning it into satirical travel epic with political overtones. In October 1844, the book was banned in Prussia, while, in December, a royal arrest warrant was issued against Heine. Subsequently, the work was repeatedly banned by the censor. Though available in other parts of Germany in a separate edition, Heine was forced to shorten and rewrite it.