Page "Heinrich Heine" Paragraph 93

Heine's relationship with his fellow dissident Ludwig Börne was troubled.

Since Börne did not attack religion or traditional morality like Heine, the German authorities hounded him less although they still banned his books as soon as they appeared.

Börne was the idol of German immigrant workers in Paris.

He was also a republican, while Heine was not.

Heine regarded Börne, with his admiration for Robespierre, as a puritanical neo-Jacobin and remained aloof from him in Paris, which upset Börne, who began to criticise him ( mostly semi-privately ).

In February 1837, Börne died.

When Heine heard that Gutzkow was writing a biography of Börne, he began work on his own, severely critical " memorial " of the man.