"Voelkisch" Writers and National Socialism

This book provides a view of literary life under the Nazis, highlighting the ambiguities, rivalries and conflicts that determined the cultural climate of that period and beyond. Focusing on a group of writers in particular, Hans Grimm, Erwin Guido Kolbenheyer, Wilhelm Schfer, Emil Strau, Brries Freiherr von Mnchhausen and Rudolf Binding it examines the continuities in vlkisch-nationalist thought in Germany from c. 1890 into the post-war period and the ways in which vlkisch-nationalists identified themselves in opposition to four successive German regimes: the Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the Federal Republic. Although their work predated Hitlers National Socialist movement, their contribution to preparing the cultural climate for the rise of Nazism ensured them continued prominence in the Third Reich. Those who survived into the post-war era continued to represent the vlkisch-nationalist worldview in the West German public sphere, opposing both the Soviet and liberal-democratic models for Germanys future. While not uncontroversial, they were able to achieve significant publishing success, suggesting that a demand existed for their works among the German public, stimulating debate about the nature of the recent past and its effect on Germanys cultural and political identity and position in the world.