Georg Blumenthal (writer)
Georg Blumenthal (born October 29, 1872 in Hermsdorf, Heiligenbeil district in East Prussia , † June 27, 1929 in Berlin ) was a German writer , editor of several magazines, co-founder of the German Physiocratic Movement and employee of Silvio Gesell .
Life
Georg Blumenthal was of East Prussian origin. He spent his youth in East Prussia and Berlin. He learned the carpentry trade and after completing his apprenticeship initially worked for the Deutsche Reichspost . In addition, he attended courses at the workers' education association .
As a young craftsman he was already involved in the left-wing scene and worked as a pamphlet distributor for anarchist and independent socialist circles. Through the workers' education association, he also came into contact with the ideas of liberal socialism and the land reform movement around Adolf Damaschke . Here he came across the money reform ideas of the German-Argentinian businessman Silvio Gesell. A close personal relationship soon developed with him.
Anarchist, physiocrat and free host
In 1906 Gesell helped him become self-employed as a businessman and bookseller. Gesell's Books Realizing the Right to Full Labor and Did Moses Know the Powder? were the first fonts that Blumenthal brought onto the German market - albeit with only moderate success.
At the same time, Blumenthal developed extensive lecturing activities. Here he combined Gesell's land law and money reforms with the ideas of the Physiocrats François Quesnay and Henry George .
Blumenthal first tried to bring this idea into the circle of Berlin individual anarchists , which split the group. He started another attempt with a series of lectures at the Berlin anarcho-syndicalists . In both cases he won followers for his Gesell-influenced physiocratic ideas.
In 1909 Georg Blumenthal founded the Association for Physiocratic Politics . This association had its seat in Berlin-Lichterfelde and in Hamburg. The founding members included Christian trade unionists , land reformers and the aforementioned individual anarchists and anarcho-syndicalists. Silvio Gesell also joined this association from Argentina and transferred 200 Reichsmarks to Blumenthal in order to build up his own publishing house with this start-up capital.
The Physiokratischen Verlag was founded as early as 1910. The first book that appeared in this publishing house was the Natural Economic Order written by Silvio Gesell , the fundamental work of the free economy movement . Other works by Gesell were also offered: Active Currency Policy (co-author: Ernst Frankfurter ) and New Doctrine of Interest and Money (1911). In May 1912 the magazine Der Physiokrat was published for the first time , through which further supporters of Gesell's teaching were won, including the doctor and mathematician Theophil Christen .
After Silvio Gesell had moved from Argentina to the fruit growing settlement of Eden near Oranienburg for almost three years, Blumenthal became his closest colleague.
In 1913, Blumenthal founded the Physiocratic Association with the aim of winning over proletarian target groups for social reform ideas.
War and post-war period
The First World War brought a deep break in Blumenthal's publishing work. The magazine Der Physiokrat appeared only five times between 1914 and 1916 - in the form of sporadic emergency editions. In 1916 its publication had to be stopped completely due to the war censorship. Georg Blumenthal was called up for military service.
After the war, Blumenthal followed the November Revolution from Berlin and tried to exert influence through his writings. A change in the terminology he now uses is striking: Physiocracy becomes free economy and reform money becomes free money . From now on, the land reform ideas are outlined using the keyword open land .
In 1919, while Silvio Gesell was in custody after his seven-day term as finance minister of the former Munich Soviet republic , prepared the physiocrat's reappearance . It was published with the subtitle Socio-Economic Combat Journal for the Working People - Against Marxist Ideas, State Capitalism and Military Dictatorship . Another magazine, Der Befreier , appeared from 1922, but had to cease its publication after seven issues due to financial difficulties.
In 1924 the Physiocratic Movement founded by Blumenthal and called the Fysiocratic Combat League after the war disintegrated . Blumenthal's last work, Individuals and Generalities , appeared in 1925 , after Blumenthal had already left active participation in the free trade movement.
He died in 1929 of severe heart disease. Silvio Gesell gave his eulogy.
Works
- The land and money reform as a modern physiocracy , in: Der Volkserzieher, 11, 9, pp. 70–72, 1907; available online at the edocs of the Frankfurt University Library ; accessed on January 8, 2016.
- Principles of the Physiocracy , 1912.
- The liberation from the money and interest economy. A New Path to Overcoming Capitalism (Synopsis of Silvio Gesell's currency-theoretical studies) , Erfurt 1917, Berlin 1919, Bern 1922.
- Socialization of the monetary system or absolute currency? , Berlin-Lichterfelde, 1920.
- Liberation from the rule of money and interest. A new way to overcome capitalism. (Synopsis of Silvio Gesell's currency-theoretical studies) , reviewed and expanded 5th edition, Erfurt 1922; Reproduction of the 1st edition, Berlin 1916, available online on a user page of the Free University of Berlin (PDF; 536 kB); Accessed May 25, 2010.
- What is the full labor yield? , in: Battle and Enlightenment Writings to Overcome Capitalism, Berlin-Bern, undated [1924?].
- Individual and generality , in: Struggle and Enlightenment Writings to Overcome Capitalism Berlin - Bern 1925.
- New revolutionary tactics: 1. To the workers. 2. The strike tactic. 3. The money strike . Stirn-Verlag, Hochheim near Erfurt ( tristan-abromeit.de [PDF] no year around 1929).
literature
- Silvio Gesell: Am Grabe Blumenthal (PDF file; 16 kB), funeral speech, published in the magazine DIE FREIWIRTSCHAFT , July 1929.
- Werner Schmid: Silvio Gesell - The life story of a pioneer , Genossenschaft Verlag Freiwirtschaftlicher Schriften, Bern 1954, p. 86 ff.
- Maria Magdalena Rapp-Blumenthal: Memories of Silvio Gesell and Georg Blumenthal. INWO 1990. ( PDF online )
- Günter Bartsch : The NWO movement Silvio Gesells. Historical outline 1891 - 1992/93 , Gauke Verlag Lütjenburg 1994, ISBN 3-87998-481-6 , p. 22 ff.
- Günter Bartsch: Socialization or Personalization? - Attempt of a portrait of Georg Blumenthal , edited by Blumenthal's grandson Anselm Rapp, Munich 1994 ( PDF; 0.4 MB )
See also
- Wära (circulation secured medium of exchange)
Web links
- Commemorative speech by Silvio Gesell at Georg Blumenthal's grave (July 2, 1929) (PDF; 16 kB); accessed on November 8, 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Occasionally, also in literature, wrong years of birth are mentioned. The date and place of birth are officially certified in certificate no. 714 of his marriage to Jenny Führer on August 22, 1898 in Berlin. (Archive copy of the Berlin State Archives from P Rep. 523 No. 276 of August 10, 2015.)
- ^ Short biography Blumenthals ( Memento of February 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ); accessed on February 1, 2015.
- ^ Günter Bartsch: The NWO movement Silvio Gesells. Geschichtlicher Grundriss 1891 - 1992/93 , Volume 1 of the series Studies on the Natural Economic Order, Lütjenburg 1994, ISBN 3-87998-481-6 , p. 22 f.
- ^ Günter Bartsch: The NWO movement Silvio Gesells. Historical ground plan 1891–1992 / 93 . Lütjenburg 1994. pp. 23f
- ↑ Gesell's funeral speech (PDF; 16 kB); accessed on November 8, 2011
- ↑ burial on the cemetery Matthäi in Berlin-Schoneberg, Department O, row 8, grave no. 27; today 4th municipal cemetery on Priesterweg , grave has been abandoned.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Blumenthal, Georg |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German writer and editor of several magazines |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 29, 1872 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hermsdorf, East Prussia |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 27, 1929 |
| Place of death | Berlin |