History knows many geeks. That is, people who showed great abilities at an early age for one or another kind of activity. But even among them Christian Friedrich Heineken - “the baby from Lübeck,” as he is often called, is one of the most surprising examples.
The boy was born in 1721 in the German city of Lubeck. It is believed that he began speaking at the age of eight weeks. And immediately showed a phenomenal craving for absorbing information. One year old, Christian knew and could retell the first five books of Scripture. At two years old, he studied the entire Bible perfectly.
At the age of three, the baby amazed those around him with deep knowledge in the field of world history and geography. He studied French and Latin. He was engaged in biology and mathematics. But most of all he was interested in religion and church history.
The boy's father was the architect and artist Paul Heineken. He and his wife, the alchemist Katarina Elizabeth Heineken, did everything to make the whole world known about their amazing son. Christian often demonstrated his talents in front of everyone. He traveled a lot, gave lectures and was in the world. As it turned out later, such a violent "social activity" had a bad effect on his health.
The pinnacle of his fame was the meeting with the King of Denmark and Norway, Frederick the fourth. Christian arrived at court in September 1724. He gave several lectures on history. And he was awarded the order. The king gave him the nickname Miraculum (in Latin, "miracle"). His Majesty must have been all the more shocked that he himself spoke only his native language and could hardly sign.
Frederick the fourth Danish.
At the same time or a little later, it became clear that the boy was physically weakened, suffered from insomnia, pain in the joints and muscles, and did not tolerate any stress. Christian ate little, often cried and asked for silence.
The crisis happened after returning home from Denmark, in June 1925. Despite walks in the fresh air, the care of the devoted nurse Sophie Hildebrandt, the prayers and all the art of the then doctors, Christian's health deteriorates sharply. Tumors form on the boy's face. And on June 27, he dies.
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It is strange that, until the very last days, the parents allowed visitors to visit the boy. He continued to have long conversations with them. That probably could not but affect the health of the young prodigy.
The coffin stood open for two weeks. Many influential and famous people in Europe came to say goodbye to Christian.
At the end of this sad story, it is worth citing a quote from Kant's book "Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View": "… the prematurely developed ephemeral mind of the prodigy (ingeniuin pgaesoch), as in Lübeck Heineck or Halle Baratier, is a deviation of nature from its rules, these are rare for the offices of natural science collections, although their premature maturity may be surprising, but often deeply regretted by those who contributed."
