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Which European country did Heinrich Heine intend to flee to in case the End of the World was drawing near,- because things always happened a century later in that country?
Question
#126617. Asked by flem-ish. (Aug 18 12 2:33 AM)
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bloomsby
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No it was England (by which he presumably meant the UK):
"Heinrich Heine hatte einst auf die Frage, wo er beim Weltuntergang am liebsten sein möchte, geantwortet: "In England -- weil dort alles erst hundert Jahre später geschieht."
(Translation: 'Once Heinrich Heine said in reply to the the question where he would most like to be at the end of the world: "In England, because everything only happens a hundred years later there". '
Source:  http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-46196135.html
Heine visited Britain in 1827 and took a very dim view of the country. He was, as far as I know, just about the only Continental liberal of the time who saw Britain as positively backward.
Of course, the saying is a witticism that has also been applied to many, many places. (See source given by Timence).
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