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Picturing Jews: Iconography and Racial Science

Mitchell Hart

in Studies in Contemporary Jewry: XI: Values, Interests, and Identity: Jews and Politics in a Changing World

This chapter examines the role of visual images of Jews in social scientific texts produced by Jewish and non-Jewish writers, and illuminates the continuities and discontinuities in approaches to the ... More

This chapter examines the role of visual images of Jews in social scientific texts produced by Jewish and non-Jewish writers, and illuminates the continuities and discontinuities in approaches to the question of race and collective identity. It focuses on the way in which Zionists employed iconography and racial science as one means of providing what they viewed as scientific justification for Jewish nationalist efforts. Jewish social science was far from monolithic; it encompassed liberal integrationists as well as nationalists. However, Zionists did take a particularly intense interest in the science of race, and they appeared comfortable embracing it. The racial identification of Jewry, in their view, was a scientific confirmation of the assertion that Jews constituted a distinct Volk, or nation. The interpretative strategy analyzed in this chapter looked to iconography, among other things, to help establish an essential identity or sameness among Jews, despite temporal and geographic differences.Less

Antisemitism

Ritchie Robertson

in The ‘Jewish Question’ in German Literature 1749–1939: Emancipation and its Discontents

Turning to antisemitism as an external obstacle to Jewish integration, this chapter investigates the diversity of antisemitism, and looks at the representation of Jews in selected texts by Gentile ... More

Turning to antisemitism as an external obstacle to Jewish integration, this chapter investigates the diversity of antisemitism, and looks at the representation of Jews in selected texts by Gentile writers. It seeks to distinguish an antisemitism based on the nationalistic concept of the ‘Volk’ from a subsequent antisemitism based on the quasi-scientific concept of ‘race’. It also sketches an ‘anti-modern mentality’ in which antisemitism was one component, and draws attention to a little-noticed variety of antisemitism, the ‘cultural antisemitism’ of the 1920s.Less

Young People and Old Mountains: Commercialism and Conservationism Tangle in the Alps

Tait Keller

in Apostles of the Alps: Mountaineering and Nation Building in Germany and Austria, 1860-1939

Chapter three moves the narrative forward to the early twentieth century when fears about mountaineering’s environmental impact revealed the inherent conflicts of nature tourism. Two divergent trends ... More

Chapter three moves the narrative forward to the early twentieth century when fears about mountaineering’s environmental impact revealed the inherent conflicts of nature tourism. Two divergent trends developed within climbing circles: Alpine populism and mountaineering elitism. Both animated emerging youth movements and nature conservation groups in Germany and Austria during the years before the First World War. Meanwhile, the growing popularity of downhill skiing and motorcars commercialized the Alps and threatened traditional mountaineering norms. Mathias Zdarsky popularized downhill skiing when he published his training manual in 1896. When the Wendelsteinbahn opened in 1912, the first cogwheel train in the Eastern Alps, even more people swarmed the mountains. Some believed that the only way for climbers to secure the future was through youth education and nature preservation, while they emphasized the importance of the Alps to the strengthening of Germans and Austrians, the Volk. These developments were not innocuous.Less

Moses und Aron: Some General Remarks and Analytic Notes for Act I, Scene 1

David Lewin

in Studies in Music with Text

The dramatic idea of Arnold Schoenberg's opera hinges on the paradoxical nature of God: the Unvorstellbares that commands itself to be vorgestellt. The musical metaphor that reflects (or better ... More

The dramatic idea of Arnold Schoenberg's opera hinges on the paradoxical nature of God: the Unvorstellbares that commands itself to be vorgestellt. The musical metaphor that reflects (or better defines) the dramatic idea is the nature of the 12-tone row and system as “musical idea” in Schoenberg's terminology. The multiple proportion—God : Moses : Aron : Volk equals “the idea” (row) : composer (Schoenberg) : performer : audience—is suggestive. If the triple-play combination of God to Moses to Aron to Volk has broken down between Moses and Aron, and if the Moses–Aron link cannot be repaired, then the catastrophe of the philosophical tragedy has occurred in Act II and the drama is over. By opening the opera with the bush scene, Schoenberg first presents the singing and/or speaking vocal ensemble as the voice of God. The effect is to bind God and the Volk together in a special way which, so to speak, includes both Aron (singing) and Moses (speaking).Less

For a Tentative Spatial Theory of the Third Reich

Paolo Giaccaria and Claudio Minca

in Hitler's Geographies: The Spatialities of the Third Reich

The ‘deep’ spatialities of the Nazi project, while acknowledged in many historical accounts, remain largely unexplored in their complex genealogies and architectures. In particular, what is ... More

The ‘deep’ spatialities of the Nazi project, while acknowledged in many historical accounts, remain largely unexplored in their complex genealogies and architectures. In particular, what is distinctive about the Third Reich real and imagined geographies is the close relationship between theory and practice, a unique combination of spatial fantasies and related interventions ‘in space’. A specific biological/racial imagination (centered on the notions of Rasse and Volk) and an equally specific spatial/geopolitical vision (related to the concepts of Lebensraum and Grossraum) lie at the core of Nazi ideology. The aim of this introductory chapter to Hitler’s Geographies is to discuss how these questions may be examined from a geographical perspective – and through a set of geographical theories and conceptualizations.Less

On Relevant Events, Then and Now

Tracy B. Strong

in Reading Heidegger's Black Notebooks 1931-1941

What difference might the political, social and economic contexts in which Heidegger’s Black Notebooks were written make to our understanding of them? Why in particular was Heidegger, even when ... More

What difference might the political, social and economic contexts in which Heidegger’s Black Notebooks were written make to our understanding of them? Why in particular was Heidegger, even when pressed by friends, unable to find a way to dissociate himself from his choice to side with (at least his version of) National Socialism? Philosophy, for Heidegger, had as its mission to change how one lived, a change that should also happen in the context of a people. (Many others have held this position, including Alexander Hamilton). Heidegger hoped (against all that should have been evidence) to “lead the leaders.” His remarks on “world-historical Judaism” need to be understood in the context of Germany in the thirties and the worries and hopes he has for National Socialism. This in no way excuses them, though it does not make them categorically irrational.Less

Philosophy, Science, and Politics in the Black Notebooks

Andrew Bowie

in Reading Heidegger's Black Notebooks 1931-1941

The Black Notebooks were written for publication. They need, however, to be read in the context of their writing. A careful reading shows that events of the first third of the twentieth century do ... More

The Black Notebooks were written for publication. They need, however, to be read in the context of their writing. A careful reading shows that events of the first third of the twentieth century do not make it irrational to think that there was something like a ‘world-historical Judaism’, although Heidegger shows no sign of complexity here. If Heidegger’s thought opens a path to the choices he made (to join the Party, to actively urge support for the regime), what did he understand to be down that path, and what permitted him to think that National Socialism was along that path? The Notebooks thus raise the following questions for us: (1) What are the uses and abuses of the idea of a “people”? (2) Is the conception of a people essentialist? If so, what does one make of that? (3) Is Heidegger’s conception of Geschick essentialist? If so, what do we make of it? If not, what is it? (4) What is the proper relation of philosophical thought to its actualization? The Black Notebooks, contrary to what many have said, leave me with more to do, as they should for us all.Less

Heidegger on Art and Ontology

Janae Sholtz

in The Invention of a People: Heidegger and Deleuze on Art and the Political

Chapter Three presents Heidegger’s imperatives of transformational thinking and fundamental ontology. It begins with an elucidation of Heidegger’s diagnosis of the state of modernity as technological ... More

Chapter Three presents Heidegger’s imperatives of transformational thinking and fundamental ontology. It begins with an elucidation of Heidegger’s diagnosis of the state of modernity as technological thinking, showing that the way out of this particular mode of thought is through the essence of technology itself, characterized as a “bringing forth” that technology shares with art. Having established the precedent for a reflection on art, the chapter proceeds to explain how art accomplishes the necessary transformation in awareness. Then the connection between Being and logos is elaborated, along with the crucial position of Hölderlin, who opens a clearing for the happening of Truth. The last section explains how these elements come together to form the structure for Heidegger’s conception of a people. The chapter ends with an imaginative comparison of Heidegger and Deleuze through the work of Paul Klee.Less

The Religiopolitical Background of National Socialism

in Totalitarianism and Political Religion: An Intellectual History

This chapter discusses the philosophical components of Richard Wagner's belief system. Wagner, who sought nationalism in the Volk, argued that it was the very essence of a nation. The Volk is a ... More

This chapter discusses the philosophical components of Richard Wagner's belief system. Wagner, who sought nationalism in the Volk, argued that it was the very essence of a nation. The Volk is a spiritual community of individuals united by common sentiments, common speech, and mutual history. In his essays “Art and Revolution” and “The Art Work of the Future,” both written in 1849, Wagner attacked Roman Catholic Christianity as an internationalism that corrupted the rich North European heritage of Germans.Less

“Among Foreign Peoples”: Racial Studies of POWs during World War I

in Anthropology at War: World War I and the Science of Race in Germany

This chapter investigates the major anthropological project of the war years: the study of foreign soldiers in German prisoner-of-war (POW) camps. The particular setting of the POW camps combined ... More

This chapter investigates the major anthropological project of the war years: the study of foreign soldiers in German prisoner-of-war (POW) camps. The particular setting of the POW camps combined with the increasingly nationalist directions of the scientists working there to facilitate the racialization of the enemy, particularly the European foes of the Central Powers. As anthropologists in the camps implicitly carved out a specialized racial space for Germans in central Europe, they also blurred the distinctions between the liberal categories of race, nation, and Volk.Less

Conclusion

in Anthropology at War: World War I and the Science of Race in Germany

This chapter presents some final thoughts from the author. The 1920s saw the rise of Rassenkunde as the dominant paradigm—a virulently racist brand of anthropology based on the acceptance of völkisch ... More

This chapter presents some final thoughts from the author. The 1920s saw the rise of Rassenkunde as the dominant paradigm—a virulently racist brand of anthropology based on the acceptance of völkisch racial theories and the exploration of the connections between race, nation, and Volk. The ideological and conceptual shifts of the war years aided in creating an intellectual atmosphere in which liberal distinctions no longer held sway. The youngest generation in German anthropology now felt freer to determine the links between physical makeup and cultural or psychological qualities, and also focused obsessively on the racial makeup of Germans, especially in relation to other European groups. In this atmosphere, a racialized version of eugenics now became the norm within anthropological circles. By the mid- to late 1920s, the conceptual remnants of the liberal tradition had all but disappeared. In German anthropology, as in so many other areas of German life, the Great War proved to be a critical turning point. The story of the discipline's engagement with World War I and its transformation in the aftermath can be read as a cautionary tale about the relationship between science and politics, and the dangers embedded therein.Less

A Museum for the Empire: The Problem of Style

Can Bilsel

in Antiquity on Display: Regimes of the Authentic in Berlin's Pergamon Museum

This chapter focuses on the history of the construction of the Pergamon Museum. The museum was a collaboration of architect Alfred Messel and art historian and museum director Wilhelm Von Bode. The ... More

This chapter focuses on the history of the construction of the Pergamon Museum. The museum was a collaboration of architect Alfred Messel and art historian and museum director Wilhelm Von Bode. The contrast between ‘Antiquity’ and ‘Near-Eastern’ museums has always been clear as they can be attributed to the German academic divisions of classical and oriental philology. However, the distinction was clouded here due to the surge of various archaeological expeditions, prompting museum curators to revise the traditional categories. This chapter shows that the establishment of the Pergamon Museum was't entirely flawless, evident in the fact that Bode's incorporation of outside cultures into the museum brought about political risks. Furthermore, it achieved additional negative commentary in that it failed to communicate the feelings of German Volk, as it aspired to accommodate a worldwide viewership. Julius Langbehn is cited as the most famous advocate of this critic as evidenced in his book, Rembrandt als Erzieher.Less

Ultramontanism and Its Discontents: The “Peculiarities” of Munich’s Prewar Catholic Tradition

Derek Hastings

in Catholicism and the Roots of Nazism: Religious Identity and National Socialism

This chapter examines the distinctiveness of Munich's Catholic tradition by focusing on important Catholic trends, including the Christian Social movement and Reform Catholic movement, before World ... More

This chapter examines the distinctiveness of Munich's Catholic tradition by focusing on important Catholic trends, including the Christian Social movement and Reform Catholic movement, before World War I. It considers such trends in relation to the twin “evils” of ultramontanism and political Catholicism, along with the ideal of Positive Christianity. The chapter first looks at the tradition of Catholic opposition to ultramontanism and political Catholicism in Munich before assessing the influence of Munich's relative distinctiveness in the prewar era on the local environment within which Nazism was born after World War I. It also discusses the attempt to overcome internal divisions within the German Volk under the aegis of Positive Christianity and concludes with an analysis of the cultivation of an irenic yet distinctly Catholic-oriented form of völkisch nationalism.Less

The Debate about the Rechtsstaat in Nazi Germany, 1933–1936

Jens Meierhenrich

in The Remnants of the Rechtsstaat: An Ethnography of Nazi Law

This chapter provides the legal and historical context necessary for appreciating the contribution of Fraenkel’s ethnography of Nazi law. I begin with a brief history of the idea of the Rechtsstaat ... More

This chapter provides the legal and historical context necessary for appreciating the contribution of Fraenkel’s ethnography of Nazi law. I begin with a brief history of the idea of the Rechtsstaat in Germany. I trace the term’s evolution from its emergence in the early nineteenth century until 1933. In the second section I overview the most important Nazi critiques of the liberal Rechtsstaat, with a particular focus on the theoretical study of public law. The focus is on the major intellectual faultlines in the legal subfield of Staatsrechtslehre, from which Jewish protagonists were purged. In the third section, I focus on intellectual efforts inside the Nazi academy to “racialize” the Rechtsstaat, to bring it in line with the racial imaginary. The final section explains why, and when, the concept of Rechtsstaat was abandoned by legal theorists in the “Third Reich,” and the consequences for the practice of law.Less

Anthropology and the Critique of Metaphysics in the Early Herder

Marion Heinz

in Herder: Philosophy and Anthropology

Herder’s early philosophy is widely seen as a project of destroying metaphysics and replacing it with anthropology. Through an analysis of two early texts, this chapter investigates the relationship ... More

Herder’s early philosophy is widely seen as a project of destroying metaphysics and replacing it with anthropology. Through an analysis of two early texts, this chapter investigates the relationship of metaphysics and anthropology in the early Herder. It explains his attempt to in fact transform, and not destroy, metaphysics such that psychology, and no longer ontology, becomes the foundational discipline in philosophy. Metaphysics still possesses priority over anthropology, but only on condition that metaphysics be revised into a form of psychology that provides the basic concept of the human being and from which are to be borrowed the principles for a new philosophy of the education of the people. Only through reflection on the whole human being and on the cultural and historical ways of its realization can the deficiencies of philosophy be named and plans for its improvement worked out.Less

Conclusion: A History of Remembering and Forgetting

Mark Hewitson

in Absolute War: Violence and Mass Warfare in the German Lands, 1792-1820

The Conclusion outlines the extent to which this study differs from much of the recent historiography. It shows how contemporaries’ attitudes to war were frequently separable from their support for a ... More

The Conclusion outlines the extent to which this study differs from much of the recent historiography. It shows how contemporaries’ attitudes to war were frequently separable from their support for a German nation. At the same time, it argues that subjects’ linkage of patriotism, nationalism, and warfare (or myths of war), when it did occur, was often of secondary importance and was rarely perceived to be problematic. What was of greater significance was the fact that wars had become more threatening, lasting longer and entailing greater financial and human cost, and they had become participatory in nature (or an affair of the Volk), requiring conscription or levées en masse. In these circumstances, the most obvious question—which differs from those posed by recent studies—is why there was so little resistance to war in the German lands after the cataclysm of the years of conflict between 1792 and 1815.Less

The Development of Volk

George Faithful

in Mothering the Fatherland: A Protestant Sisterhood Repents for the Holocaust

Concepts of a German people (Volk) long predated Germany as a nation-state. Because of the centrality of Volk in Schlink’s vision, this chapter uses conceptual history to trace the development of the ... More

Concepts of a German people (Volk) long predated Germany as a nation-state. Because of the centrality of Volk in Schlink’s vision, this chapter uses conceptual history to trace the development of the term and explore its various contemporary meanings. During the Protestant Reformation, the idea of the German people was primarily in linguistic terms, as the result of Luther’s Bible translation. Despite diversity of citizenship among them, German speakers developed a common culture by the Romantic era, in which many thought of themselves as possessing a shared spirit and destiny. This idea intensified in the German nationalism that erupted during the German Empire. Increasingly during the Weimar Republic and especially during the Third Reich, some saw Germans not merely as an ethnicity but also as a race, embracing racism as a dominant ideology. By the midtwentieth century, Volk could denote racial, ethnic, or national identity, or any combination thereof.Less

Schlink’s Pseudo-Judaic, Germanic Vision of Nationhood

George Faithful

in Mothering the Fatherland: A Protestant Sisterhood Repents for the Holocaust

According to Schlink, the German people (Volk) possessed collective guilt and was in need of national repentance. Without overt racial connotations, Schlink used the word Volk to refer to ethnic and ... More

According to Schlink, the German people (Volk) possessed collective guilt and was in need of national repentance. Without overt racial connotations, Schlink used the word Volk to refer to ethnic and national Germans. Because Schlink spoke of the sins of the German people against the Jews, it is clear she defined “Germans” as German Gentiles, although many Jews were German citizens. Schlink pointed to the Hebrew Bible as her source of ideas of collective national identity, but a compatible and equally plausible explanation is that she acquired such notions from German nationalism, which she inverted. Many German political leaders and intellectuals in the immediately preceding generations had claimed Germany’s superiority among all the nations, but Schlink claimed that title for Israel. For her, the State of Israel, the biblical Israelites, and contemporary Jews were synonymous. Germans, not Jews, were guilty for betraying Germany and for harming God’s people.Less