Friedrich Hielscher

Friedrich Hielscher (born May 31, 1902 in Plauen , Vogtland , as Fritz Johannes Hielscher , officially Hans Friedrich Hielscher from 1926 ; † March 6, 1990 in Furtwangen ) was a national revolutionary journalist in the Weimar Republic . As a religious philosopher he founded a non-Christian free church .

Hielscher is considered to be one of the most idiosyncratic minds assigned to the spectrum of the so-called conservative revolution . Characteristic for him are a strictly systematic, deductive approach in the development of his teaching, the ability to synthesize intellectual stimuli from very different directions as well as the gradual but consistent transformation of positions initially still in the field of politics (for example his concept of the Reich ) into the sphere of the exclusively religious.

biography

Origin and education

Friedrich Hielscher was born as the son of Gertrud Hielscher. Erdmenger and Fritz Hielscher were born. He was baptized with the name Fritz Johannes, but later changed his name to Hans Friedrich and finally to Friedrich.

After 1919 in the Gymnasium Guben the Notabitur had taken, he joined on 10 June 1919 a volunteer corps at the end in the 1919 Reichswehr was incorporated. When his unit wanted to take part in the Kapp Putsch in 1920 , he left them because he considered the putsch attempt to be "stupid". He studied law at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin and in 1923 became a member of the Corps Normannia Berlin . In 1926 he received his doctorate at Otto Koellreutter at the University of Jena to Dr. iur. He then worked in the civil service until November 1927. As part of his dissertation , he dealt intensively with the work of Oswald Spengler (whom he visited in his Munich apartment in this context) and Friedrich Nietzsche (research in the Weimar Nietzsche archive and acquaintance with Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche , the philosopher's sister) and made the relevant knowledge usable for first own reflections on questions of political, religious and legal philosophy. The identification with Nietzsche, who had been his model for a long time, went so far that Friedrich Hielscher regarded himself as the "third great Friedrich" after the Prussian king Friedrich the Great and Friedrich Nietzsche and for this reason changed his first name to "Friedrich" in 1926 .

National revolutionary publicist

In the same year he began his work as a publicist in the national revolutionary magazine Arminius, published by Ernst Jünger . Hielscher moved from now on in the environment of the Conservative Revolution and also became a member of the Society for the Study of Fascism . For years he was in lively exchange with personalities such as Ernst Jünger, his brother Friedrich Georg Jünger , August Winnig , Franz Schauwecker , Friedrich Wilhelm Heinz and Ernst von Salomon . With the advance (from June 1928) and the Reich (from October 1930) he published two important journals of this intellectual trend. In 1931 Hielscher's politically and philosophically intended book Das Reich was published , which sparked lively debates far beyond the conservative-revolutionary spectrum. In Ernst Jünger's diaries and in Ernst von Salomon's post-war work The Questionnaire , Hielscher appears several times under the nickname “Bogo” or “Bogumil”, and in Friedrich Georg Jünger's autobiographical memoirs Spiegel der Jahre he is shown under the name “Helmer”.

The Independent Free Church

In 1933, some time after leaving the Protestant Church , Hielscher founded his own, largely conspiratorial religious community, the " Independent Free Church (UFK)", whose doctrine includes panentheistic elements (with strong reference to Johannes Scotus Eriugena and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe ) as well as traditions of the traditional folk belief, which partly goes back to pagan roots. The UFK, at its heyday in the 1950s, had around 50 - 60 people, including quite a few academics in partially influential positions (e.g. Rolf Kluth , who later became head of the Bremen State and University Library, and Arno Deutelmoser , at the time head of a Lower Saxony folk high school), existed de facto until 1984, de jure even after Hielscher's death until today.

Resistance group

After the seizure of power by the Nazis in 1933 Hielscher was rated "regime hostile" as his book The Kingdom banned and the magazine of the same name. According to his own account, Hielscher secretly founded a resistance group that planned to infiltrate the Third Reich from within. Resistance group and Free Church overlapped, shaped by the same ethical motives, in terms of personnel to a large extent, but without being completely identical. Members of the Hielscher circle were u. a. Placed in functions in the defense and supported politically persecuted people in various cases. Because of his friendship with some conspirators of July 20, 1944 , Hielscher was arrested after the assassination attempt, but was released again due to the efforts of his friend Wolfram Sievers , the Reich manager of the SS Ahnenerbes . Despite his negative attitude towards National Socialism, he was a member of various Nazi organizations, such as the National Socialist People's Welfare (NSV) and the NS-Altherrenbund .

In July 1939 he married Liese-Lotte Gertrud Daumann († on March 7, 2003 in Furtwangen ), who was 15 years his junior .

Late work and estate

After the end of the Second World War, Hielscher largely withdrew from the public and, in particular, expressly refused any further intervention in political events. However, he continued his journalistic work (as part of his autobiography Fifty Years Among Germans , published by Rowohlt in 1954 ) and had in some cases long-term correspondence with personalities such as Ernst Jünger , Theodor Heuss , Karl August Wittfogel , Alfred Kantorowicz , Karl Otto Paetel and Karl Rahner . Most of his extensive late work, which was mainly devoted to topics of theology, the history of religion and the philosophy of religion, remained unpublished, however, from some articles in the Deutsche Corpszeitung (of which he was editor), in the annual commemorative publications of the Kösener Seniors' Convents Association as well as in the yearbook once and now apart. For the Kösener Seniors Convents Association, he also temporarily acted as a representative for university policy issues. Hielscher's extensive estate with hundreds of typescripts that have not yet been published or that have only been distributed within the framework of his Independent Free Church has been in the district archive of the Schwarzwald-Baar district in Villingen-Schwenningen since 1991 , the reference files from his time as editor of the Deutsche Corpszeitung in Kösener Archive in the Institute for Higher Education at the University of Würzburg.

After the Second World War, Hielscher and his wife first lived in Marburg in Hesse and then in Münnerstadt in Lower Franconia . They spent their last decades in seclusion on the remote Rimprechtshof near Schönwald in the Black Forest . Hielscher died at the age of 88 in the Furtwangen hospital and was buried in the Schönwald cemetery.

Teaching

God, the only real one

At the center of Hielscher's “pagan theology” was the belief in “God, the only real and almighty”, the “primordial”, which was not intended in the sense of the God of the Bible, but in the categories of panentheism : as God who is the contained the entire world and at the same time worked eternally in it without being absorbed in it - according to Hielscher, the being of God contained the world, but went infinitely beyond it. All other gods, as well as spirits, people, animals, plants, minerals, etc. were in this view from the divine all-soul of the “only real” emerging “special features” that returned to the divine all-soul in an eternal cycle because of their transience in the here and now to be singled out again at some point. In this idea echoes of the image of the " eternal return " of the late Nietzsche became clear, from which Hielscher was already strongly influenced as a student.

The Heavenly Messengers

Hielscher regarded his twelve “Heavenly Messengers” (six male and six female), who were assigned the rank of “gods” and “goddesses”, to be the highest distinctive features of the only real God. The 24 festivals in the annual festival cycle of his free church were dedicated to them. In the characterizing description of the "Heavenly Messengers" and the design of the festivals, Hielscher drew heavily on Germanic mythology and numerous traditions of central and northern European folk beliefs.

Theologia Naturalis

Although Hielscher always demanded the utmost consistency in matters of faith from his followers - once they had made a free decision in favor of a certain faith and its teaching system - he rejected other religions (Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, etc.), which in his opinion were “founded by foreign gods”. ) by no means flat rate. Rather, he emphasized the idea of ​​a standing together of "all believers of all religions" against the "unbelievers" who, as materialists and atheists, only attached value to the purely material world. He did not see revelation as the common basis of all religions , but rather the “Theologia Naturalis” ( natural theology ), which should be continuously developed.

Creed

As early as the end of 1929, Hielscher formulated his first creed in a letter to Ernst Jünger . After various modifications, the following confession was obligatory for the members of his free church, from which all other elements of his teaching were deductively derived:

I believe in God the Only Real, our reason and Father.

I believe in His twelve divine messengers, our reconcilers and finishers.

I believe in your eternal kingdom, God's world and our church.

Derivatives

Hielscher's belief system, which was highly complex and highly differentiated with regard to dogmatics and liturgy, and which he continuously worked on from the twenties until his death, aimed at overcoming the dualism of “God” and “world” and the separation of monotheism and polytheism in a new wholeness. From this, ideas of the state were derived that were essentially theocratic and that stood in sharp contrast to the ideas of the Enlightenment and modernity , but especially to the national socialists' ethnic, racial materialism.

Technology and technocracy criticism

Also in this religiously determined context, Hielscher developed a criticism of technology and technocracy, which was based heavily on Friedrich Georg Jünger's work The Perfection of Technology . In this way, positions of the later “ecological movement” were anticipated in the context of the UFK early on (in the 1950s), both in ideas and in some cases in practice. The technocratic aspects of the late work also reflected elements of the sociological and historical-philosophical research of Karl August Wittfogel , with whom Hielscher had been in contact since the late 1920s.

Works

• The Empire. Hermann & Schulze, Leipzig 1931. Was placed on the list of literature to be segregated in the Soviet occupation zone after the end of the Second World War .
• The high-handedness: attempt to present the German legal concept. Vormarsch-Verlag, Berlin 1928 (dissertation).
• Fifty years among Germans. Rowohlt, Hamburg 1954 (autobiography).
• Refuge for sinners. Dionysos-Verlag Thulcke & Schulze, Berlin 1959 (autobiographical text about Hielscher's school days).
• The leading letters of the Independent Free Church. With an introduction edited by Dr. Peter Bahn . Telesma-Verlag, Schwielowsee 2009.

Articles (selection)

• Bourgeoisie and Germanness . In: New Standard. Arminius, combat pamphlet for German nationalists No. 33 (1926) v. September 5, 1926, p. 5
• Inwardness and statecraft . In: New Standard. Arminius, pamphlet for German nationalists v. December 26, 1926, pp. 6-8
• The Faustian soul . In: The New Standard. Arminius v. February 3, 1927, p. 4 f.
• The old gods . In: The New Standard. Arminius v. February 27, 1927, p. 7 f.
• For the oppressed peoples! In: The New Standard. Arminius v. March 16, 1927, pp. 3-5
• The eternal return . In: Arminius v. August 28, 1927, p. 2 f.
• Afghanistan and the Islamic Movement . In: The Islamic Present. Monthly for the contemporary history of Islam. Issue 4/5 (April / May) 1928, p. 57 f.
• Japan, Russia and the West . In: Der Vormarsch, No. 12 (May 1928), pp. 317-319
• Imperialism and nationalism . In: Der Vormarsch, March 1929 edition
• The great transformation . In Ernst Jünger (ed.): War and Warriors . Berlin 1930, pp. 127-134
• The real powers . In Franz Schauwecker (ed.): Mondstein. Magical stories. 20 novellas . Berlin 1930, pp. 240–249
• The spirit of business . In: Das Reich, 1st vol. (1930/31), Issue 8 (May 1931), pp. 150–156
• The rise of the forces . In Hans Troebst (ed.): Stecowa. Fantastic and supernatural from the world war . Berlin 1932, pp. 195-205
• Duel and scale . In: Festschrift for the Kösener Congress from June 1st to 4th in Würzburg. OO 1960, pp. 37-59
• The intellectual-historical foundations of the Kösener Corps . In: Festschrift for the Kösener Congress from June 6th to 9th, 1962 in Würzburg. OO 1962 (Ninth Festschrift of the HKSCV), pp. 7–33
• The canonical judgment of the Catholic Church on the scale length in the 19th century . In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research . 7th Volume (1962), pp. 91-117
• Corps and Propaganda . In: Die Kösener Freiheit. Festschrift for the Kösener Congress from May 29 to June 1, 1963 in Würzburg. OO1963 (Tenth Festschrift of the HKSCV), pp. 36–60
• Tolerance and truth . In: Humanitas honos noster. Festschrift for the Kösener Congress from June 2nd to 5th, 1965 in Würzburg. OO 1965 (Twelfth Festschrift of the HKSCV), pp. 19–48
• Duel and scale . In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research. 11th Volume (1966), pp. 171-199
• Schiller's classic place in history . In: The Founders and Friedrich Schiller. Festschrift for the Kösener Congress from May 25 to 28, 1966 in Würzburg. OO1966 (Thirteenth Anniversary Publication of the HKSCV), pp. 51–61
• Origin and nature of the scale . In: The scale length. Origin, law and essence. Documentation by the Kösener SC Association, presented by the Kösener Seniors Convent Association and the Association of Old Corps Students. OO 1968 (Fourth memorandum of the HKSCV. Published for the Kösener Congress 1968), pp. 9–32
• Noblesse or Elite (1st part). In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research. 14th Volume (1969), pp. 89-97
• Noblesse or Elite (2nd part). In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research. 15th Volume (1970), pp. 130-138
• Noblesse or Elite (3rd part and conclusion). In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research. 17th Volume (1972), pp. 38-52
• Fifty Years Among Germans , Rowohlt, Hamburg, 1954.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Kösener Corpslisten 1996, 108 , 754
2. ↑ Ernst Jünger / Friedrich Hielscher. Correspondence. Edited, commented and with an afterword by Ina Schmidt and Stefan Breuer. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005, p. 489 and Note 49.
3. ↑ Michael H. Kater: The "Ahnenerbe" of the SS 1935–1945: A contribution to the cultural policy of the Third Reich . Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich, 4th edition 2006. ISBN 3-486-57950-9 , p. 317.
4. ↑ On Hielscher's resistance activities cf. especially Ina Schmidt, Der Herr des Feuers , pp. 240–284; also Michael Kater, The “Ahnenerbe” of the SS 1935–1945: A contribution to the cultural policy of the Third Reich , Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1974, p. 322f. (there p. 322: “There was really resistance from the Hielscher district, even if hardly anything is announced about it today”).
5. ^ Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich. Who was what before and after 1945 . 2nd Edition. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, p. 254.
6. ↑ http://www.polunbi.de/bibliothek/1947-nslit-h.html

literature

Monographs on Hielscher

• Ina Schmidt: The Lord of Fire. Friedrich Hielscher and his circle between paganism, new nationalism and resistance against National Socialism. SH-Verlag, Cologne 2004, ISBN 3-89498-135-0 (also dissertation at the University of Hamburg with Stefan Breuer 2002; see review by H-Soz-u-Kult ).
• Ernst Jünger / Friedrich Hielscher. Correspondence. Edited, commented and with an afterword by Ina Schmidt and Stefan Breuer. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3-608-93617-3 .
• Kurt M. Lehner: Friedrich Hielscher: National revolutionary, resister, pagan priest. Schöningh, Paderborn 2015, ISBN 978-3-506-78134-5 .

Essays on Hielscher

• Peter Bahn : The Hielscher legend. A panentheistic "church" foundation of the 20th century and its misinterpretations. In: Gnostika. Issue 19 (2001), pp. 63-76.
• Peter Bahn: Ernst Jünger and Friedrich Hielscher: a friendship at a distance . In: Les Carnets Ernst Jünger, No. 6 (2001), pp. 127–145
• Peter Bahn: “But he remained essentially a theologian”. Encounters between Friedrich Georg Jünger and Friedrich Hielscher. In Tobias Wimbauer (ed.): Anarch in contradiction. New contributions to the work and life of the Jünger brothers. Edition Antaios , Schnellroda 2004 (The Luminar. Writings on Ernst and Friedrich Georg Jünger. Volume 3).
• Peter Bahn:  HIELSCHER, Friedrich. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 30, Bautz, Nordhausen 2009, ISBN 978-3-88309-478-6 , Sp. 635-638.
• Werner Barthold : The intellectual achievement of Friedrich Hielscher for the Kösener Corps students. In: then and now. Yearbook of the Association for Corporate Student History Research . 36th Volume (1991), pp. 279-282
• Marcus Beckmann: The Second Coming of the Gods. Friedrich Hielscher as a political publicist 1926-1933 . In: Yearbook of the Conservative Revolution 1994 . Cologne 1994, pp. 265-272
• Stefan Breuer / Ina Schmidt: The man of letters and the theocrat. Ernst Jünger and Friedrich Hielscher . In Günter Figal, Georg Knapp (ed.): Relatives . Disciples studies. Volume II, Tübingen 2003, pp. 92-115
• Rolf Kluth : The Hielscher resistance group . In: pulse. Documentation of the youth movement . No. 7 (December 1980), pp. 22-27
• Kurt Lehner: Anti-Western thinking: For example Friedrich Hielscher . In: Criticón 174, summer 2002, pp. 36-40
• Baal Müller: Cruel and cozy. Ernst Jünger's friendship with Friedrich Hielscher . In: Sezession , issue 22 (February 2008), p. 42 f.
• Klaus Schiller: Political Religiosity . In: Walter Künneth , Helmuth Schreiner (ed.): The nation before God. On the message of the Church in the Third Reich . Berlin 1933, pp. 422-440.
• Karlheinz Weißmann : Friedrich Hielscher. Kind of an obituary. In: Criticón 123, January / February 1991, pp. 25-28.

Further literature with references to Hielscher

Non-fiction

• Louis Dupeux : “National Bolshevism” in Germany 1919–1933. Communist strategy and conservative dynamics . Beck, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-406-30444-3 (German translation of the habilitation thesis defended in Paris in 1974).
• Friedrich Georg Jünger : Mirror of the Years. Memories . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1980, ISBN 3-12-904061-7 .
• Michael H. Kater : The "Ahnenerbe" of the SS 1935-1945: A contribution to the cultural policy of the Third Reich (last checked January 9, 2010). Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, Munich 2006. ISBN 9783486579505
• Hans-Georg Meier-Stein: The imperial idea 1918–1945. The medieval empire as an idea of ​​national renewal . San Casciano Verlag, Aschau 1998, ISBN 3-928906-22-4 .
• Armin Mohler : The Conservative Revolution in Germany 1918–1932. A manual . Ares-Verlag , Graz 1999, ISBN 3-902475-02-1 (also dissertation, University of Basel 1949).
• Karl Otto Paetel : National Bolshevism and National Revolutionary Movements in Germany. History, ideas, people . Verlag Bublies, Schnellbach 1999, ISBN 3-926584-49-1 (former title: Temptation or Chance? On the history of German national Bolshevism ).
• Otto E. Schüddekopf : National Bolshevism in Germany 1918-1933 . Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. 1973, ISBN 3-548-02996-5 (former title: Left People from Right ).

Fiction

• Ernst von Salomon : The questionnaire . Rowohlt, Reinbek 1999, ISBN 3-499-10419-9 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Friedrich Hielscher in the catalog of the German National Library
• Ina Schmidt: Hielscher, Friedrich in: Database writing and image 1900–1960
• Image by Hielscher (VfcG)
• A stroke of luck - Friedrich Hielscher and Werner Barthold (VfcG)