From the German Republic

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
First single print, S. Fischer 1923

About the German Republic is the title of a speech that Thomas Mann gave on October 13, 1922 in Berlin on the occasion of Gerhart Hauptmann's 60th birthday . Based on the popular character of Gerhart Hauptmann and dealing with the poetry of Novalis and Walt Whitman , Thomas Mann made a commitment to the Weimar Republic . The speech is considered a counterpoint to the conservative-national “ considerations of an apolitical ” of 1918.

Thomas Mann explained that democracy - contrary to what its opponents claimed - fit better with German culture and tradition than Wilhelminism and “sentimental obscurantism”. In particular, the friendly and modest public appearance of Reich President Friedrich Ebert convinced him that democracy was a more German thing than an “imperial gala opera”. The intention of the speech was to encourage especially the student youth to give up their resistance against the republic. Even if the speech was anchored in national-conservative thinking, Thomas Mann underscored his commitment to anti - ethnic anti-Semitic activities and for humanity, for “German humanity”.

Thomas Mann's commitment to the republic was not the result of an internal change of heart, but was due to external reasons. After more than 300 political murders in the past three years, he felt a personal guilt for the widespread public silence in the face of "disgusting and brain-burned murders". Walther Rathenau's murder on June 24, 1922, Mann had described as a "heavy choc".

Whether Thomas Mann had achieved a real political turnaround is still controversial today. The writer himself insisted all his life not to have broken with earlier convictions in 1922.

Mann's old home, the conservative circle around Arthur Moeller van den Bruck , rated the speech as expected as a breach and betrayal, as did Hanns Johst .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Manfred Görtemaker: Thomas Mann and politics. Frankfurt a. M. 2005, p. 51.
  2. ^ Letter to Ernst Bertram dated July 8, 1922, quoted from Görtemaker, p. 51.
  3. Görtemaker, p. 53. See also Frank Fechner: Thomas Mann und die Demokratie. Berlin 1990, p. 291 ff.