Die Harzreise

Harzreise, Die, a whimsical account of a journey in the Harz mountains by H. Heine, based on a walking tour made in 1824, and published in Vol. 1 (1826) of Reisebilder. It is partly idyllic and partly satirical, and the principal objects of its satire are Göttingen University and the self-satisfied German citizen. It contains eight poems of folk-song character; the best known are the cycle of three poems beginning ‘Auf dem Berge steht die Hütte’, ‘Tannenbaum mit grünen Fingern’, and ‘Still versteckt der Mond sich draußen’, and the separate poem ‘Ich bin die Prinzessin Ilse’.