HEINRICH-HEINE-INSTITUT

With its archive, library, museum and events, the Heinrich Heine Institute is a center for international Heine research and diverse literary and cultural communication. Its numerous activities are aimed at a public interested in literature and cultural history.

The museum in the Heinrich Heine Institute is the only museum in the world dedicated to the poet Heinrich Heine, who was born in Düsseldorf in 1797.

With its extensive archive and library holdings, the Heinrich Heine Institute of the state capital Düsseldorf is a center of international Heine research and also provides the basis for very different scientific approaches with a number of other collection focuses, such as the Rheinisches Literaturarchiv and the Schumann collection. The Institute's museum addresses the public with its permanent exhibition “Romanticism and Revolution. The Heine Exhibition” is aimed at a public interested in Heine, while changing special exhibitions provide information on topics arising from the Heine circle and the various Heine references, as well as from the museum's thematic focuses in the 20th century.

A regular program of events relates to the holdings of the archive and library, provides information on the state of research, accompanies the special exhibitions and offers a forum for critical literary communication and discussion.

Romanticism and revolution. The Heine exhibition

Around 250 exhibits are on display in nine rooms covering a total of 180 square meters: from the manuscript of the “Loreley” and a lock of the poet's hair to the famous portrait by Gottlieb Gassen and the death mask. More emphasis than ever before will be placed on the genesis of the literary works. For the presentation of the original portraits and manuscripts, the Heine Institute can draw on its rich collection, which is constantly growing through new acquisitions. Current video, image and audio installations complement the valuable historical images and texts. Interactive exhibits, a literature laboratory and a listening and reading corner invite visitors to engage independently with the poet and his work.

The exhibition is aimed at individual visitors and school classes. It offers a general information level and an in-depth level with numerous opportunities to find out more about selected objects. It has an easy-to-understand visitor guide; the sequence of rooms is biographically and chronologically oriented.