He attended Slagelse Latin school with the chemist William Christopher Zeise and the poet Christian Hviid Bredahl.

During his next period, inspired by Scott's Waverley novels, Ingemann produced his series of historical romances, by virtue of which he disputes with H. C. Andersen the title of the children's writer of Denmark.

While his historical romances show a lack of accuracy, their strong nationality gives them a special interest to the student of Danish culture.

Known as the fourth great Danish hymn writer (after Kingo, Brorson and Grundtvig), Ingemann is considered less rooted in Biblical dogma and more borne up by a general spiritual and religious interest.

Especially popular were his Morgen og Aftensange (Morning and Evening Songs), a collection of religious poems of great beauty and spirituality written during 1837–39.

He was a personal friend of Grundtvig who was in some degrees his mentor and with whom he shared a deep interest of Danish medieval history.