Josef Bergenthal (writer)

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Josef Bergenthal (born November 1, 1900 in Oberschledorn , † August 24, 1982 in Münster ) was a national German writer and a supporter of the regime during National Socialism .

Life

Bergenthal attended high school in Paderborn. He later studied law and political science as well as philosophy , history , German and theater studies . After graduating, he worked for a theater magazine in Berlin for a year . He then lived in Münster as a freelance writer and editor. He worked as an editor and wrote for the radio. He was also a reviewer for literature, theater and film.

In the Westphalian Heimatbund , Bergenthal was a critic of modernism. He glorified the agrarian and small-town way of life. Bergenthal was a proponent of racial hygiene . When in 1931 the racial hygienist Wilhelm Muckermann called on the Westphalian Day in Recklinghausen to oppose a perishable increase in the “inferior”, “mentally ill, tuberculous and ethically unreliable families” and to “homeland” for “genetically healthy families”. r] Scholle “, Bergenthal followed him with an essay for Die Westfälische Heimat , the organ of the Westphalian Heimatbund. There he made Muckermann's statements his own and condemned "signs of degeneration".

During the time of National Socialism , Bergenthal was active in various propaganda activities. He joined the NSDAP after the ban on entry in 1937. From 1933 he was a member of the SA and a year later of the Reichsschrifttumskammer . In 1935 he joined the Sauerland Mountain Association, in 1938 he joined the Low German Minster Association and in 1941 the Westphalian Hermann Löns Association, of which he became managing director in 1942. In the Reich Propaganda Office he was a nationality officer and headed the cultural department of the Münster branch. Furthermore, he was chairman ("Gauführer") for Westphalia-North and Friesland in the Reich Association of German Writers and regional director of the Reich Chamber of Literature for Westphalia. From 1934 he was editor-in-chief of the Nazi magazine Heimat und Reich , the central organ of Westphalian cultural and literary policy. Bergenthal was co-initiator of the Westphalian Literature Prize , which was awarded from 1935 to 1943 and awarded to authors who were loyal to the regime. Bergenthal represented the Propaganda Ministry in the jury meetings.

Bergenthal's most successful typeface was Münster, which is full of oddities . It appeared for the first time in 1935. It was published as an official publication by the city of Münster; the foreword came from Karl Wagenfeld . It appeared in several editions with a total of more than 100,000 copies.

In the denazification process in 1949 Bergenthal was judged to be unencumbered. He had "worked against the aspirations of the party". He continued to work as an author. He now mainly wrote about Westphalian subjects. He was hostile to the new state of North Rhine-Westphalia and invoked the independence of Westphalia.

Honors

In 1975 he received the town hall plaque of the city of Münster. In 1980, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, a commemorative publication with bibliography and selected texts was published under the title Josef Bergenthal, a writer in the service of Westphalia, in the series Mitteilungen of the Dortmund City and State Library .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Willi Oberkrome : Deutsche Heimat - National conception and regional practice of nature conservation, landscape design and cultural policy in Westphalia-Lippe and Thuringia (1900–1960) (= research on regional history, vol. 47). Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2004, pp. 87f. ( P. 88 ).
  2. ↑ Josef Bergenthal: To the future of the German people. Muckermann's biological-eugenic ethics. In: Die Westfälische Heimat 13 (1931), pp. 114ff., Cited. based on: Willi Oberkrome: Deutsche Heimat - National conception and regional practice of nature conservation, landscape design and cultural policy in Westphalia-Lippe and Thuringia (1900–1960) (= research on regional history, vol. 47). Schöningh, Paderborn u. a. 2004, pp. 87f.
  3. ↑ All information according to the NRW State Archives, Rhineland Department, based on the denazification file; also: Peter Hansen: The Low German authors and their works, see Josef Bergenthal in the Low German Bibliography and Biography (PBuB).
  4. ↑ a b Josef Bergenthal in the Lexicon of Westphalian Authors
  5. ↑ State archive NRW, Dept. Rhineland, based on the denazification file.
  6. ↑ Oberkrome, p. 459 .
  7. ↑ Publisher's announcement Theaterverlag Karl Mahnke, see: Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / mahnke-verlag.de
  8. ↑ Hedwig Gunnemann (ed.): Josef Bergenthal, a writer in the service for Westphalia. Bibliography and selected texts on his 80th birthday (= messages from the Dortmund City and State Library, New Series, Vol. 15). Dortmund 1980.
personal data
SURNAME Bergenthal, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German author
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Oberschledorn
DATE OF DEATH August 24, 1982
Place of death Muenster