Not all Dutchmen can fly, and only one had his roots in Düsseldorf – the ‘real’ Flying Dutchman. In the “Memoirs of Herren Schnabelewopski”, a rather unknown work by the famous son of Düsseldorf Heinrich Heine (1797–1856), the composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) discovered the tale of this eerie seafarer.

Although for Heine an ironic, marginal work, the story was to be Wagner’s first spark for the drama of the Flying Dutchman, and very close to real life indeed: Wagner himself was on the run from his creditors by sea from Riga to London. Wagner’s truly dramatic flight, which was marked by anguish and storms at sea, was to later impact the dramatic effect on his ‘Flying Dutchman’. The work served as a pilot opera for the music dramas that would follow.

At the Deutsche Oper am Rhein – thanks to Heine and Wagner – the Flying Dutchman has long held the status of being a classic work. Banished forever to a life at sea, the Dutchman is given a chance every 7 years to come ashore to seek the love of a woman who must remain absolutely devoted to him. He finds her, supposedly loses her, misunderstands the situation, refuses to be the victim of her devotion, and sails away. It is then only through Senta, who throws herself into the sea in everlasting fidelity, that he receives salvation and understands the essence of love.