HERTZ, HENRIK

born Aug. 25/27, 1797/8, Copenhagen died Feb. 25, 1870, Copenhagen original name Heyman Hertz dramatist and poet, among the most popular Danish dramatists. Orphaned early, he took his first inspiration from an unhappy love affair. He first imitated Johan Ludwig Heiberg, whom he joined in attacking contemporary Romantics. Like his friend Heiberg, he regarded perfection of form as more important than content, as is clearly expressed in his set of satirical letters, Gjenganger-breve (1830; "Letters of a Ghost"), which were a great success. Hertz wrote some 50 plays, of which the best known are Sparekassen (1836; "The Savings Bank"), Svend Dyrings hieus (1837; "Sven Dyring's House"), and Kong Rens datter (1843; King Ren's Daughter, 1843). He was also a prolific writer of many kinds of verse.