Secret Germany

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The Secret Germany is a key concept the philosophy of culture. It comes from the national conservative George Circle , where it has been used with different meanings: the historian Eckhart Grünewald defines it as “a group of people who embody or promise this [ie Secret Germany], at the same time as a vision of a Germany that has a ' represents inner unity 'according to Stefan George's ideas; after all, this term is used synonymously for the George Circle ”.

Concept history

Prehistory at Lagarde and Langbehn

Ernst Kantorowicz pointed out in 1933 that the idea of ​​secret Germany already had a history with Paul de Lagarde and Julius Langbehn . In Lagarde, a successful and widely read German national cultural philosopher, the term itself does not appear. The connection between the secret and the national is already drawn here, for example in the book On the Present Situation of the German Reich of 1875: “If there were at least conspirators among us, a secretly open alliance that sank and created for the big morning, and to whom, even if the crowd did not understand him on these reversed days of Pentecost, all could join whose unspoken longings he offered the word ”. George later commented on these wistful ideas at a joint Lagarde reading with the words: “Now there are conspirators. And the most beautiful thing is such a conspiracy at the very beginning ”. At another point Lagarde also anticipates later thoughts from George and Kantorowicz: “The Germany that we love and desire to see has never existed and may never exist. The ideal is something that is and is not at the same time [...]. People only thrive on the mysterious warmth of a star that has never been seen [...]. Germany would be founded by negating the vices that are now in force and clearly influenced by the German non-German, by concluding an open alliance to defend against and combat these vices, which should as little lack of outward signs and symbols as the strictest discipline [...] ".

In the popular book Rembrandt as educator of the cultural critic Julius Langbehn, named after this book "Rembrandt German", the figure of the "secret emperor" of the Germans appears.

Early use in the George circle

The term was used for the first time in 1910 by Karl Wolfskehl in an article for the first yearbook for intellectual movement . Just like another central concept of the George circle that Wolfskehl coined, that of the 'New Kingdom', Wolfskehl saw it both as a claim and a reality. Tied to poetic personalities who shaped their respective contemporaries, for Wolfskehl the Secret Germany was both timeless and eschatological . The cultural-historical genealogy of the Secret Germany included the poets revered by George and his followers, who honored George and Wolfskehl in a joint three-volume anthology of German poetry , in particular Goethe and Holderlin, as well as others. a. also Clemens Brentano , Eichendorff , Jean Paul , Conrad Ferdinand Meyer , Mörike , Novalis and Platen . Together with Friedrich vd Leyen had mediävistisch trained Wolfskehl 1909 in the collection oldest German poetry also effective powerful medieval authors like Wolfram v. Eschenbach , Walther vd Vogelweide and the Archipoeta were included in the prehistory of Secret Germany. The Secret Germany was perceived by Wolfskehl and some other Georgians beyond that in a European dimension; Homer , Plato , Pindar and Alexander the Elder were counted among his spiritual 'ancestors' in the broader sense . Great , then selected Roman emperors, as well as medieval emperors from the Carolingian , Ottonian and Hohenstaufen dynasty , but also Dante , for example . Wolfskehl spoke of the fact that in the present it is important to regenerate a number of old European virtues, "discipline and cloth, the epitome of Roman virtus, Hellenic Kalokagathy , and Arete " by means of the Secret Germany . Even in his late poetry, which he wrote in exile in New Zealand, Wolfskehl repeatedly referred to the discursive history of Secret Germany. a. in his poem 'Lebenslied. To the Germans', in which he also went into the Jewish significance for the development of German poetic and political culture. In this context he could refer to the genealogy of his own family; Wolfskehl came from the important Jewish Kalonymus family who had been called to Mainz by the medieval emperors from Italy . One of his ancestors, the knight Raw Kalonymus, gave the Holy Roman Emperor Otto II . left his own horse in the battle of Cape Colonna near Crotone after the emperor had lost his horse, thus saving the life of the emperor and the succession of imperial rule and the empire.

In his essay in Die Blätter für die Kunst and the newest literature , Wolfskehl also used the term for Stefan George's poetry and worldview , which he set apart from the “official” Germany of the then German Empire . In the years that followed, the term was used a lot in the George circle, for example in a speech by Norbert von Hellingrath , a friend of Wolfskehl and Georges, about Hölderlin and the Germans in 1915. George himself chose it as the title for one of his in the 1920s Poems (written in the summer of 1922 at the earliest) that begin with the lines “Pull me to your edge / abyss - but don't confuse me!”. In 1928 it was published in his last volume of poetry, Das neue Reich . George was revered by many of his 'younger ones' as the hidden spiritual leader and 'Emperor' of Secret Germany. The Georgeans were a modern secret society in this sense . The term circle-internal was also used when it came to conveying hidden messages to initiated circle members.

Secret Germany and veneration of the Staufer in the George circle

Probably in 1924 one of the circle members - perhaps Erika Wolters, the wife of Friedrich Wolters - laid a wreath on the grave of the Staufer Emperor Friedrich II , who was particularly venerated in the circle, in Palermo , referring to the secret of Germany. The medievalist Ernst Kantorowicz, a close confidante of Georges, alluded to this wreath in the preliminary remarks to his great work on the Staufer Emperor Friedrich II, published in 1927: “When in May 1924 the Kingdom of Italy celebrated the seven-centenary of the University of Naples, a foundation of the Hohenstaufen Frederick II, a wreath with the inscription: HIS EMPERORS AND HEROES / THE SECRET GERMANY was lying on the emperor's sarcophagus in the Cathedral of Palermo. Later, Kantorowicz, of Jewish origin, used the term as the title of his last lecture, held on November 14, 1933 in Frankfurt am Main, in which he once again acknowledged George and his world of ideas. He explicitly referred to Wolfskehl's role in the development of the term in the George circle.

Around 1930 the term was also occasionally used outside of the George circle, for example in a paper by Friedrich Glum . Like other suggestive terms from national-romantic and national-conservative discourses, it was trivialized and usurped by National Socialist ideologues and politicians in 1933.

The Secret Germany during National Socialism

The exact content of the term is difficult to determine because it contains a whole world of ideas. The Georgeans often used it synonymously with the word "state" used within the Circle of Friends for the George Circle. Since a number of George supporters had initially welcomed and supported the seizure of power by the National Socialists in 1933 , other, predominantly Jewish supporters such as Wolfskehl , Edgar Salin , Ernst H. Kantorowicz and Ernst Morwitz were expelled from Germany without those who remained in Germany publicly protested, after 1945 there was a bitter discussion among George supporters as to who had actually represented secret Germany and who had betrayed it to the thugs of the 'Third Reich'. In this context, the question was once again raised whether the Secret Germany should rather be a group of like-minded musically and philosophically educated people under the direction of a primus inter pares , as it was in the twenties and the like. a. Friedrich Gundolf had represented, or whether it should be more gradual and strictly hierarchical thought and organized, as Friedrich Wolters argued. These discussions are u. a. in the correspondence between Robert Boehringer , Renata v. Scheliha and Karl Wolfskehl understand; where Boehringer, who was appointed administrator of his work by George and who had given up his German citizenship at the outbreak of World War II and went to Switzerland, tried to take on a kind of mediating role. Wolfskehl, old, almost completely blind and impoverished, wrote a few moving poems in exile in Auckland in which he confessed himself to be the guardian of secret Germany in exile ; One of these poems is the poem 'Zu Schand und Ehr', which honors the act of July 20, 1944 as an act of liberation in the spirit of Secret Germany.

Further receptions of the secret Germany

Even independently of the George Circle, the idea of ​​a Secret Germany gained importance as a community of formed spirits that was effective through the ages, for example with Ricarda Huch , Rudolf Borchardt , Rudolf Pannwitz and also with Thomas Mann . Ricarda Huch from Brunswick, who had been friends with Karl Wolfskehl since his time in Munich, developed German cities in the Old Reich in her history . Pictures of Life in German Cities a cultural-philosophical perspective, in which she emphasized the contribution of cities in the development of German-language cultural and intellectual history . Urban patricians of different religious affiliations and the economic and intellectual networking of cities and the like. a. In city ​​federations , Huch was not inferior to political and cultural central powers, especially in times of regional feudalism . She understood the 'Reich' itself rather as a universalistic and pluralistic community supported by different spiritual representatives. The cultural philosopher Erich Kahler , who came from Prague, saw it similarly , who in 1964 wrote an extensive essay in Princeton on the conceptions of Reich in the George Circle under the title Stefan George, Greatness and Tragedy . The imperial concepts of Huchs and Wolfskehl influenced each other. Borchardt and Pannwitz also represented ideas of an arcane German-speaking realm for those educated in ancient culture and German classical and romanticism, who were supposed to preserve and continue the historical intellectual heritage in creative appropriation. Thomas Mann, who supported Wolfskehl in obtaining a visa for his New Zealand exile , saw himself like this ("Where I am, is German spirit") as a spokesman and (symbolic) guardian of German culture after his expulsion from Germany in American exile (" Where I am, there is Germany "). Finally, many exiles close to George and Wolfskehl, who had gone into hiding in Amsterdam's Castrum Peregrini under the protection of artist Gisèle d'Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, felt obliged to Secret Germany; this includes u. a. Claus Victor Bock and Wolfgang Frommel .

The term received new attention after the Second World War a. a. by Edgar Salin and Marion Countess Dönhoff , who publicly pointed out that the Hitler assassin Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg had exclaimed the words “Long live 'Secret Germany'!” before he was shot. Historically handed down, but due to the dramatic circumstances, it cannot be reconstructed precisely, there are other similar final words such as “Long live holy Germany!”; nevertheless it is undisputed that Claus v. Stauffenberg belonged to the George circle and felt that he belonged to and committed to Secret Germany since his youth.

2006 the philosopher Manfred Riedel wrote in his book Secret Germany. Stefan George and the Stauffenberg brothers tried to reinterpret the situation of the exiled Secret Germans, combined with an attempted revival of Stefan George's ideas and values.

swell

  • Ernst Kantorowicz: The Secret Germany . Lecture given when teaching resumed on November 14, 1933. Edition by Eckhart Grünewald. In: Robert L. Benson , Johannes Fried (ed.): Ernst Kantorowicz. Income from the double conference Institute for Advanced Study, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt . Steiner, Stuttgart 1997, pp. 77-93 (also in: George-Jahrbuch , Volume 3, 2000, pp. 156-175).

literature

  • Norman Franke, ' Jewish, Roman, German at the same time ...'? An investigation into the literary self-construction of Karl Wolfskehl with special consideration of his exillyricism. Universitätsverlag Winter, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 3-8253-5106-8 . On Wolfskehl's concept of 'Secret Germany'. the chapter 'Herald of the Secret Germany', pp. 153-165
  • Norman Franke, The 'Secret Germany' as an anarchic republic? On the reception of Ricarda Huch's poetic visions of the empire in Karl Wolfskehl's poetry. In: Germanisch Romanische Monatshefte , (Vol.LXXIV, 2016), pp. 31 - 52
  • Norman Franke, 'Divina Commedia teutsch'? Ernst H. Kantorowicz: the historian as a politician. In: Historische Zeitschrift (291, 2/2010), pp. 297-330
  • Norman Franke, Karl Wolfskehl and the von Stauffenberg brothers. Review of 'Secret Germany'. In: Kalonymos. Contributions to German-Jewish history from the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute . (5, 4/2002), pp. 11-16
  • Norman Franke, 'Honor and Shame'. Karl Wolfskehl and the v. Stauffenberg Brothers: Political Eschatology in Stefan George's Circle. In: Simms, Norman (ed.): Letters and Texts of Jewish History . Hamilton 1998, pp. 89–120 (English)
  • Ulrich Raulff : Circle without a master. Stefan George's afterlife. CH Beck, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-406-59225-6 .
  • Eckhart Grünewald: Ernst Kantorowicz and Stefan George. Contributions to the biography of the historian up to 1938 and to his youth work "Kaiser Friedrich the Second" (= Frankfurt historical treatises 25). Steiner, Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-515-03669-5 , in particular pp. 74-80.
  • Hans-Christof Kraus: Das Geheime Deutschland - On the history and meaning of an idea , in: Historische Zeitschrift Vol. 291 (2010), pp. 385-417.

Movie

  • Rüdiger Sünner : Secret Germany - A Journey to the Spirituality of Early Romanticism Documentary, Atalante, 2006.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Eckhart Grünewald: Ernst Kantorowicz and Stefan George. Contributions to the biography of the historian up to 1938 and to his youth work, Emperor Friedrich the Second . Wiesbaden 1982, p. 76.
  2. ^ Ernst Kantorowicz: Das Geheime Deutschland . In: Robert Benson, Johannes Fried: Ernst Kantorowicz. Income from the double session . Stuttgart 1997, pp. 77–93, here p. 78. There it is even said that Lagarde “coined” the term, but this has not yet been confirmed.
  3. ↑ Paul de Lagarde: About the current situation of the German Empire. A report [1875]. In: Paul de Lagarde: Writings for the German people . 2 volumes, Munich 1924, volume 1, pp. 114–194, p. 145, here quoted from Eckhart Grünewald: Ernst Kantorowicz and Stefan George. Contributions to the biography of the historian up to 1938 and to his youth work "Emperor Friedrich the Second" . Wiesbaden 1982, p. 78.
  4. ^ Edith Landmann : Conversations with Stefan George . Helmut Küpper formerly Georg Bondi, Düsseldorf / Munich 1963, p. 50.
  5. ^ Paul de Lagarde: The religion of the future [1878]. In: Paul de Lagarde: Writings for the German people . Volume 1, Munich 1924, pp. 251-286, here p. 279 f. Quoted here from Eckhart Grünewald: Ernst Kantorowicz and Stefan George. Contributions to the biography of the historian up to 1938 and to his youth work "Emperor Friedrich the Second" . Wiesbaden 1982, p. 78, cf. also there, note 95.
  6. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , p. 149
  7. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , pp. 167-183
  8. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , p. 165
  9. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , p. 166
  10. ^ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , p. 170
  11. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch , Roman, German , pp. 369-411
  12. ^ Karl Wolfskehl: The sheets for art and the newest literature . In: Yearbook for Spiritual Movement . Volume 1, Berlin 1910, pp. 1-18, here pp. 14f.
  13. ^ Norbert von Hellingrath: Hölderlin and the Germans. Lecture . In: Norbert von Hellingrath: Hölderlin legacy . Munich 1936, pp. 123–153, here p. 124f. To Thomas Karlauf : Stefan George. The discovery of the charism . Blessing, Munich 2007, p. 409.
  14. ↑ Stefan George: Secret Germany , quoted here from: Stefan George: Die Gedichte. Days and deeds . Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2003, pp. 797–801, here p. 798. For the biographical background of the poem, cf. about Thomas Karlauf: Stefan George. The discovery of the charism . Blessing, Munich 2007, pp. 555f.
  15. ↑ On this Karlauf, Stefan George, p. 557f. with the assumption that Erika Wolters had laid the wreath.
  16. ↑ Ernst Kantorowicz: Emperor Friedrich the Second . Georg Bondi Verlag, Berlin 1927, preliminary remark (unpaginated).
  17. ↑ Printed in: Ernst Kantorowicz: Das Geheime Deutschland , published by Eckhart Grünewald. In: Robert L. Benson , Johannes Fried (ed.): Ernst Kantorowicz. Income from the double conference Institute for Advanced Study, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt . Steiner, Stuttgart 1997, pp. 77-93 (also in: George-Jahrbuch , Volume 3, 2000, pp. 156-175). Cf. Eckhart Grünewald: "Practice murder and richer blooms what blooms!" Ernst Kantorowicz speaks on November 14, 1933 about "Secret Germany" . In: Benson, Fried (ed.): Ernst Kantorowicz . Pp. 57–76 (also in: George-Jahrbuch . Volume 3, 2000, pp. 131–155).
  18. ^ Norman Franke, 'Divina Commedia teutsch'? Ernst H. Kantorowicz: the historian as a politician. In: Historische Zeitschrift (291, 2/2010), pp. 297-330
  19. ↑ Friedrich Glum: The secret Germany: The aristocracy of the democratic mindset. G. Stilke, Berlin 1930.
  20. ↑ Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German, p. 556 ff.
  21. ↑ Norman Franke, Karl Wolfskehl and the von Stauffenberg brothers. Review of 'Secret Germany'. In: Kalonymos. Contributions to German-Jewish history from the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute . (5, 4/2002), pp. 11-16
  22. ↑ Norman Franke, Das 'Geheime Deutschland' as an anarchic republic? On the reception of Ricarda Huch's poetic visions of the empire in Karl Wolfskehl's poetry. In: Germanisch Romanische Monatshefte , (Vol.LXXIV, 2016), pp. 31 - 5
  23. ↑ Norman Franke, Das 'Geheime Deutschland' as an anarchic republic? On the reception of Ricarda Huch's poetic visions of the empire in Karl Wolfskehl's poetry. In: Germanisch Romanische Monatshefte , (Vol.LXXIV, 2016), pp. 31 - 52
  24. ↑ S. Franke, Jüdisch, Roman, German , p. 369 ff.
  25. ↑ https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?cc=mqr;c=mqr;c=mqrarchive;idno=act2080.0051.419;g=mqrg;rgn=main;view = text; xc = 1 #: ~: text = man% 20felt% 20he% 20no% 20longer, on% 2C% 20there% 20is% 20Germany.% E2% 80% 9D
  26. ↑ Norman Franke, Karl Wolfskehl and the von Stauffenberg brothers. Review of 'Secret Germany'. In: Kalonymos. Contributions to German-Jewish history from the Salomon Ludwig Steinheim Institute . (5, 4/2002), pp. 11-16
  27. ↑ Manfred Riedel: Secret Germany. Stefan George and the Stauffenberg brothers . Cologne 2006.