Immensee (novella)

[1] Immensee was first published in Biernatzki’s Volksbuch in December 1849 when the author was well known regionally, but with the revised edition 1851, he became famous all over Germany and then the world.

[2] Storm revised it using some comments from his friend Tyco Mommsen and republished it in 1851 in Sommergeschichten und Lieder and finally as a single work edition in 1852.

[1] It was Storm's best selling work and remains to this day one of his most widely read, along with The Rider on the White Horse and Pole Poppenspäler.

[5] Wiebke Strehl said that "Growing interest on the part of twentieth-century literary scholars indicate that there is much more to this story than meets the eye.

Although he will pursue his education in town, Reinhard promises to continue writing fairy tales for her and send them by letter to his mother.

Reinhard spends his time with his fellow students in the Ratskeller, where he shows interest to a girl playing the zither accompanied by a fiddler.

With the evening drawing near, Reinhard recites some verses of a romantic drama, prompting Elisabeth to leave the small party embarrassed.

Discovering a field of erica and listening to Reinhard's words about lost youth bring tears to Elisabeth's eyes.

He decides to abandon Immensee early next morning, leaving a note behind but Elisabeth surprises him when she anticipates his plan to depart and never come back.

Because of its rich symbolism, the work has been interpreted a number of ways, including three film adaptations for political propaganda purposes.

[2] These include the 1943 film Immensee: A German Folk Song, directed by Veit Harlan during the Nazi years.

The 1999 Bollywood film, Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (or I Have Already Given My Heart, Sweetheart in English) is a loose adaptation of the story's theme.