Der arme Heinrich

arme Heinrich, Der, a Middle High German poem, some 1, 500 lines in length, by Hartmann von Aue. It was written c.1195, after Gregorius and before Iwein, and is believed to mark Hartmann's emergence from a crisis to a harmonious state of mind. Its source is unknown. Heinrich is a nobleman of courtly demeanour and humane temper who in the midst of prosperity and happiness is stricken with leprosy. From a doctor at Salerno he learns that the only cure is the heart's blood of a marriageable virgin, willingly given. The daughter of the tenant farmer with whom the leper has chosen to lodge offers herself as a willing sacrifice, and insists, in spite of resistance by Heinrich and her parents. At Salerno she is bound naked on the operation table but Heinrich, hearing the sharpening of the surgical knife and perceiving her innocent beauty through a chink, bids the surgeon desist, to the distress of the girl. Heinrich, who has been moved by ‘eine niuwe güete’ (eine neue Güte), is, by the grace of God, cured of his leprosy, and the couple are married.

Revived by the brothers Grimm, its treatments include a ballade by A. von Chamisso (1839), an opera by H. Pfitzner (1895), a novella by R. Huch (1898), and a play by G. Hauptmann (1902). The 15th edition by H. de Boor appeared in 1981; the 15th edition by H. Paul, revised by G. Bonath, in 1984.