Heinrich Heine‘s “Französische Zustände” (“French Affairs”) were like a thunderbolt and lightning to me: to my huge shame and surprise, I never even heard of this set of articles describing post-revolutionary and post-Napoleonic France, that is, of 1810s-1820s.
The traveling poet analyzes in depth everything he sees round, giving explanations how these or the other processes should be understood and in what way they differ from his native German territories.
He also speculates on Roman law of which the French were seen as direct heirs at that time, but we should bear in kind that Heine was not its (Roman law’s) big fan.
There are also dozens of marvelous maxims to memorize and to quote in corresponding situations.
Wer keinem Gesetze unterworfen ist, der entbehrt der heilsamsten Schutzwehr; denn die Gesetze sollen uns nicht bloß gegen Andere, sondern auch gegen uns selbst schützen.
“Who is not subject to any law has no protection, for the laws are not only supposed to defend us from others, but from ourselves as well.”
English title: Heinrich Heine “French Affairs”
Original title (German): Heinrich Heine “Französische Zustände” (“Augsburger Allgemeine”, 1831-1832)
First published in the Levinarium Telegram Channel (now closed and deleted)