Having begun his studies at Göttingen, Heeren, like so many ambitious young men of that period, decided against theology as a vocation. (This did not, however, denote a turning away from religion; Heeren would remain sympathetic to religious belief throughout his life.) By Christian Gottlob Heyne he was introduced to philology, and by Ludwig Timotheus Spittler to the study of history. After much vacillation, Heeren let himself be persuaded by Spittler that his primary talent lay in historical research. It was the decisive moment of his young life.