Theodor Haecker

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Theodor Haecker (also: Häcker; born June 4, 1879 in Eberbach (Mulfingen) ; † April 9, 1945 in Ustersbach ) was a German writer , cultural critic , translator and philosopher .

Theodor Haecker is one of the most powerful representatives of Catholic existentialism and one of the most radical cultural critics in the Weimar Republic and in the "Third Reich"; the Biographical-Bibliographical Church Lexicon counts him "among the most important Catholic writers between the two world wars".

Portrait of Theodor Haecker by Richard Seewald

Life

Haecker grew up in Esslingen am Neckar , where he initially worked as an employee of the Schreiber-Verlag until he moved to Munich in 1905 to study, where he lived until 1944. In 1941 he became chief editor of the Schreiber-Verlag. Haecker first became known to a broader public as a translator: he transcribed Virgil's eclogues , works and diaries by Søren Kierkegaard and the English cardinal John Henry Newman .

Under Newman's influence, Haecker converted to Catholicism in 1921 and has since published v. a. Catholic-influenced, culture-critical essays in the journals Der Brenner and Hochland . His cultural-philosophical books, among which Virgil, arose from the same attitude . Father of the West was best known in 1931.

Haecker's decidedly Christian stance, which did not allow him to compromise with the emerging National Socialism , and his clear rejection of the fascist 'cultural renewal' led to a ban on speaking in May 1935, which was re-enacted by a circular in Bavaria in January 1936. On the basis of the file situation, however, a writing ban from 1938 onwards cannot be proven, although such a ban may be accepted for independent publications, but not for translations. From 1939 to 1945 Haecker wrote his secret notes, the day and night books , which were published posthumously in 1947. Haecker's notes are among the most important testimonies to the internal emigration of German intellectuals during the Nazi era.

After his apartment in Munich was destroyed in a bomb attack, he spent the last months of his life in Ustersbach , where he died on April 9, 1945 due to a lack of insulin and was buried. Haecker was married and had three children.

Quotes

About the First World War: "There was only one thing noble in this war: stop, stop, stop the dishonorable human slaughter or at least ensure and work that things stop." (An epilogue, Hellerau 1918)

Looking back on his conversion: "... because I was on my way, slowly but stubbornly, and with help from above - in all night there was always a light that is out of this world." (Preface to satire and polemics, Innsbruck 1922, p. 16)

"The way of salvation cannot be the welding together of a mass, but rather its destruction." (Tag- und Nachtbücher, Innsbruck 1989, p. 134, Notat 639 of December 1940)

An impressive description of Haecker's personal charisma has come down to us from Sophie Scholl . After a reading she wrote to her fiancé Fritz Hartnagel : “His words slowly fall like drops that you can see accumulating beforehand, and which fall into this expectation with very special weight. He has a very calm face, a look as if he were looking inward. Nobody has convinced me with his face as much as he. ”(Sophie Scholl to Fritz Hartnagel, February 7, 1943)

“Your fame is without shine. It doesn't glow. People talk about you because you have - and are - the best machines. In this wonder of the world there is no spark of love. And only love gives shine. You consider yourself chosen because you build the best machines, machines of war, and operate them best. You are grotesque and 'in'-human. Another breed! You friends, not these people! Let's create others ... But how? There is only one way to be Christian: conversion, active repentance. ”(Day and Night Books, Innsbruck 1989, p. 165, Notat" An die Deutschen 1941 ")

Effect and appreciation

Theodor Haecker was a prophetic voice of resistance against the demon of the German, National Socialist "Herrgottreligion", as he called it several times. He was a mentor to Hans and Sophie Scholl from the White Rose resistance group . He recited several times from his works and notes from his day and night books .

Already in the first leaflet of the "White Rose" of June 27, 1942, a trend-setting claim was made. It says there: "... prevents this atheistic war machine from continuing before it is too late ..." This style is likely to go back to Theodor Haecker; Hans Scholl probably knew Haecker's notation “To the Germans 1941” (see above quote).

The strong motivic similarity between Haecker's notes and the leaflets is still evident in the indignation against evil and in the demand for repentance. The third leaflet says: “But our 'state' today is the dictatorship of evil. (...) Because with every day that you still hesitate, because you do not resist this spawn of hell, your guilt grows higher and higher like a parabolic curve. "The apocalyptic style of the fourth leaflet is also obvious:" Who but still doubts the real existence of the demonic powers today, has by no means understood the metaphysical background of this war. ”The fourth leaflet speaks explicitly of the prophets who“ urged the people to repent ”.

Haecker's books were reprinted several times after the end of the Second World War , and especially the day and night books were widely known; so did Heinrich Boell the quote contained therein "Where were you, Adam," the title of his novel of the same. Nevertheless, Haecker is one of the almost forgotten authors today. In 1995 the city ​​of Esslingen am Neckar donated the Theodor Haecker Prize in his memory .

After the war, friends are said to have put up a plaque with the inscription on one of his childhood homes in Esslingen: “Theodor Haecker, a dedicated Christian, a genuine thinker, a master of the word.” At the entrance to the cemetery in Ustersbach (near Augsburg), where Haecker is buried, this appreciation can be found by TS Eliot : "He was a truly great person, scholar, thinker and poet at the same time." There are Theodor-Haecker-Strasse in Cologne, Mulfingen and Ustersbach, as well as the Haeckerstrasse in Vaihingen (Stuttgart) (since 1946). In his place of work in Munich nothing reminds of Theodor Haecker. In Laupheim near Ulm there is a “Theodor Häcker Brunnen” built for a private individual by the sculptor Gerold Jäggle (Ertingen) with the writer's bust.

Works (selection)

  • An epilogue , Hellerau 1918 (Extended epilogue from his translation The Concept of the Chosen One )
  • Satire and polemics 1914-1920 , Innsbruck 1922
  • Christianity and Culture , Munich 1927
  • Virgil, Father of the West , Leipzig 1931
  • what is the human? , Leipzig 1933
  • Creator and Creation , Leipzig 1934
  • The Christian and History , Leipzig 1935
  • Beauty. An attempt , Leipzig 1936
  • The spirit of man and the truth , Leipzig 1922
  • The temptations of Christ , Berlin 1946
  • Kierkegaard's hump , Zurich 1947
  • Day and night books. 1939–1945 , Munich, Kempten, 1st edition 1947. First complete and annotated edition, published by Hinrich Siefken, Innsbruck 1989
  • Opuscula (anthology), Munich 1949
  • Metaphysics of feeling. An abandoned font , Munich 1950

Translations

Of the numerous translations by Kierkegaard and Newman, only a few are mentioned.

  • Søren Kierkegaard: At the foot of the altar. Christian speeches , Innsbruck 1914
  • Ders .: The concept of the chosen one , Hellerau 1917 (2nd edition 1926)
  • Ders .: The diaries. In two volumes , Innsbruck 1923
  • John Henry Newman: Philosophy of Faith , Munich 1921
  • Ders .: The Church and the World , Leipzig 1938
  • Ders .: The Mystery of the Trinity and the Incarnation , Leipzig 1940
  • Publius Vergilius Maro: Bucolica (Shepherd Poems) , Berlin 1923
  • Hilaire Belloc : Die Juden , Munich 1927 (with an afterword by Haecker)

literature

Web links

Wikiquote: Theodor Haecker  - Quotes

References and comments

  1. ↑ Hinrich Siefken: Totalitarian experiences from the perspective of a Christian essayist: Theodor Haecker in the Third Reich , in: Frank-Lothar Kroll (Ed.): The totalitarian experience: German literature and Third Reich , Berlin 2003, p. 120
  2. ↑ Hinrich Siefken 2003, p. 124
  3. ↑ Several new editions; last 1959 without ISBN, 1989 ISBN 3-85218-054-6
  4. ^ Jürgen Klöckler: Abendland - Alpenland - Alemannien. France and the reorganization discussion in southwest Germany 1945–1947 . Oldenbourg, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-486-56345-9 , p. 129
  5. ↑ Quoted from Jakob Knab : “Such a wonderful day and I should go” - Sophie Scholl: Search for meaning and commitment to resistance , in: Detlef Bald (ed.): “Against the war machine”, war experiences and motifs of the “White Rose “, Essen 2005, pp. 130–143, here p. 142
  6. ^ Günter Biemer : Who was Theodor Haecker? , in: Internationale Cardinal-Newman Studies, Vol. 16, 1998, pp. 129f
personal data
SURNAME Haecker, Theodor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hacker, Theodor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Writer, cultural critic, translator
DATE OF BIRTH June 4, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Eberbach
DATE OF DEATH April 9, 1945
Place of death Ustersbach near Augsburg