German cultural work of the European spirit

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The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) was a right-wing extremist organization that existed until 1996 , which saw itself as a "people-conscious and people-loyal community" for the promotion of German cultural assets. It has been under observation by the constitutional protection authorities since its foundation in 1950 .

history

The organization was founded by the former Nazi department head for poetry Herbert Böhme to further promote former elites of the Nazi state in 1950; it saw itself as the opposite of Group 47 . More than almost any other organization, the Kulturwerk brought together writers and writers exposed to the Nazis in its ranks, such as Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer , Will Vesper , Hans Friedrich Blunck , Hans Grimm , Hans Venatier , Helmut Stellrecht , Gerhard Schumann , Erich Limpach , Natalie Beer and Wilhelm Pleyer .

The aim of the DKEG, "the promotion and preservation of the European spirit and the preservation of European intellectual and cultural life within the framework of the German Volkstum", was pursued in different ways. In addition to the in-house publication organ Klüter Blätter and the awarding of various awards (e.g. Schiller Prize), the association focused on cultural events of all kinds, at which writers from the National Socialist scene appeared and which took place in the context of so-called nursing homes. As early as 1955 there were 68 nursing homes spread across the Federal Republic of Germany, which were supposed to ensure that the association's cultural ideas were spread across the board.

In 1955, the DKEG founded the right-wing extremist Schiller Youth together with the Coburg Convent , the German Burschenschaft and the Wiking Youth . The leaders of this youth organization were sentenced to prison terms in 1962 for being ringleaders in an anti-constitutional organization .

In 1965 the Kulturwerk had 1,500 members, including the publicist Rolf Kosiek and the dialect poet and writer Hermann Burte . In 1970 the DKEG reached its highest number of members (3,500), which, according to the BMI, represented the “numerically strongest right-wing radical group after the NPD ”.

After Boehme's death in October 1971, the DKEG lost its importance. Karl Günther Stempel , who took over the office of President in October 1972, was confronted with a number of challenges, such as the "increasing aging" of the members and the question of the future course of the Kulturwerk - a question that led to unbridgeable internal tensions . Events continued to be held, but the DKEG was not successful in recruiting young members.

In 1996 the DKEG dissolved itself. In the tradition of the DKEG are the right-wing extremist Deutsche Kulturwerk , which first appeared in November 1996, the Deutsche Kulturwerk Österreich , founded in 1992 , the Berlin Cultural Association of Prussia and the Ulrich von Hutten Circle of Friends .

German culture work European Humanities registered association was from the March 31, 1998 Vereinsregister deleted. The seat had been Munich .

Poets meeting in Hameln

In 1951 the city of Hameln provided financial support for the first poets' meeting, which took place from August 24th to 26th. However, the city did not donate a literature prize of DM 2,000, which was reported on in contemporary newspapers.

Publications

The DKEG's publication organs were the Klüter Blätter , a magazine that Böhme founded in 1949 and, from 1951, Das deutsche Kulturwerk: Bulletin for the German Cultural Work of European Mind eV , which was merged in 1965. The Klüter Blätter were renamed the German monthly magazine in 1982 . In 1990 the German monthly magazine merged with the magazine Nation und Europa . All of the magazines mentioned have been and are classified as right-wing extremists by the constitution protection authorities from 1949 until today.

Schiller Prize of the German Cultural Association of the European Spirit

Since 1969, the DKEG has awarded the “Schiller Prize of the German Cultural Work of the European Spirit”, named after Friedrich Schiller . The first award winner in October 1969 was Richard W. Eichler . Other prize winners include Herbert Böhme (1971), Konrad Lorenz (1973), Heinrich Härtle (1975), Fritz Stüber (1977), Robert Scholz (1979), Gerhard Schumann (1983), Sigrid Hunke (1985), Hermann Oberth (1987), Jürgen Spanuth (1990), Hellmut Diwald (1992) and Karl Günther Stempel (1994).

literature

  • Peter Dudek: Origin and Development of Right-Wing Extremism in the Federal Republic. Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1984, ISBN 3-531-11668-1 .
  • Bernt Engelmann : The “German Cultural Work of the European Spirit”, “Care Center” of the “Action W”: facts, data and sums (= series of publications of the Democratic Action. Volume 4). Munich 1971.
  • Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, pp. 277–306.
  • Paul Lersch, Rolf Rietzler, Frank Rühmann: The misunderstood danger: Right-wing radicalism in the Federal Republic . Rowohlt, Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-499-33012-1 .
  • Richard Stöss: The extreme right in the Federal Republic: Development - Causes - Countermeasures . Westdeutscher Verlag, Opladen 1989, ISBN 3-531-12124-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Uta Halle: “Drifting as in the Nazi era” - continuities of the Externstein myth after 1945 . In: Uwe Puschner u. G. Ulrich Großmann: Völkisch and national . Darmstadt 2009, p. 200 f.
  2. ↑ DKEG statutes, quoted from Klünemann (2015), p. 279 f. (quoted from summary BfV, BAB 136/1737, p. 241).
  3. ^ Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, p. 281.
  4. ^ Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, pp. 280–283.
  5. ↑ Bernt Engelmann : The "German Cultural Work of the European Spirit", "Care Center" of "Action W": facts, data and sums (= series of publications of the Democratic Action. Volume 4). Munich 1971, p. 7; Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, pp. 280, 284 f.
  6. ^ Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Verfassungsschutz 1969/70. Right-wing and left-wing extremist efforts, counter-espionage, endangering security efforts by foreigners . Publication in the series Concerns , No. 10. Selbstverlag, Bonn 1971, p. 11, quoted from Klünemann (2015), p. 289.
  7. ^ Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, p. 298.
  8. ↑ Extremism Report NRW 1969, p. 7, quoted from Daniel Klünemann: Das Deutsche Kulturwerk Europäische Geistes (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, p. 300.
  9. ^ Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, pp. 300–302.
  10. ↑ Federal Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Verfassungsschutz '80 . Publication in the series concerns . Selbstverlag, Bonn 1981, p. 38; Daniel Klünemann: The German Cultural Work of the European Spirit (DKEG) . In: Rolf Düsterberg (Ed.): Poets for the "Third Reich". Biographical studies on the relationship between literature and ideology . Volume 3. Aisthesis, Bielefeld 2015, p. 302.
  11. ^ German cultural work of the European spirit, poets meeting on the Klüt - City of Hameln donated literary prize . In: New Deister Newspaper. September 6, 1951, p. 2.
  12. ↑ Hameln City Archives, Best. 41 Acc. 1 No. 3052