The Flying Carpet: Heligoland

“The sea was so wild that I often thought I was going to drown. But this kindred element does me no harm. It knows full well that I can be even wilder. And besides, am I not the North Sea’s court poet?” 29 July 1826

Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), the great German poet, has many faces: He is a Romantic and a satirist, a lyric poet and a journalist, radically private yet always political, a mocking lover, an upper-class snob and a relentless critic of bourgeois self-righteousness. All this is evident when, as the first major German poet, he sings of the North Sea. Two cycles of poems entitled ‘Die Nordsee’ were written in 1825 and 1826; they are the poetic fruit of several spa stays on Norderney. Finally, in 1829 and 1830, he visited the island of Heligoland and is regarded as the man who established the island’s reputation as a seaside resort for intellectuals in the first half of the 19th century.

The sea as a force of nature stands in stark contrast to the narrow-minded, stifling German society of the Restoration period. Typical of Heine is the constant alternation between romantic rapture and bitterly caustic irony. In his ‘Helgoland Letters’, he comes alive as an original, unconventional thinker with witty, razor-sharp phrasing. The poems and letters are read by Klaus Hemmerle, who is associated with the Rigiblick as an actor and dramaturg for the ‘Flying Carpet’.

Accompanying this is maritime music, full of wind and vastness, from the ensemble “Transatlantica” led by Philipp Furrer with his very special Weissenborn guitar, played whilst seated, Adrian Würsch on the Schwyzerörgeli and percussionist Sämi Baur. Ahoy!

This performance is part of the series ‘The Flying Carpet – Eight Literary and Musical Island Journeys’.
A season ticket is also available for this series. 8 performances for a season ticket price of CHF 240. Order via info@theater-rigiblick.ch