Hitler and Germanentum

Author(s): Bernard Mees

Source: Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 39, No. 2, Understanding Nazi Germany
(Apr., 2004), pp. 255-270
Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3180724
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Journal
Journal
ofof
Contemporary
Contemporary
HistoryHistory
Copyright
Copyright
? 2004 SAGE? Publications,
2004 SAGELondon,
Publications,
ThousandLondon,
Oaks, CA and
Thousand Oaks, CA

New
NewDelhi,
Delhi,
VolVol
39(2),
39(2),
255-270.
255-270.
ISSN 0022-0094.
ISSN 0022-0094.
DOI: 10.1 177/0022009404042131

Bernard Mees

Hitler and Germanentum

If anything is unfolkish, it is this tossing around of old Germanic expressions which ne

fit into the present period nor represent anything definite.... I had to warn again and ag

against those deutschvolkisch wandering scholars . . . [who] rave about old Germanic
heroism, about dim prehistory, stone axes, spear and shield.'

Late Wilhelmine Germany saw a surge of interest in old Germanic antiq

In reflection of the rising nationalist tide, the old Germanic past becam
increasing interest not just to the general book-reading public or to sch

and students in the universities, but especially to many members of the radi
right. Under the influence of national antiquity-enthusing cultural figures su

as Richard Wagner and Felix Dahn, the medieval Nordic and ancient Ger
past became leading themes and motifs of journals of bodies such as The
Fritsch's Reich Hammer Federation,2 groups associated with the Pan-Ger
League3 and Ludwig Woltmann's racialist Political-Anthropological Revi
Symbols of Germanic antiquity such as the swastika and runes achieved

emblematic status among what by Hitler's day had already become

old radical right. In Munich during the Great War, the Thule Society w
established to discuss old Germanic antiquity, race and how the nation ha
be saved from socialism and the pernicious influence of the Jew.5 Taking
name from what appeared to be the classical designation for the old Germ
North, the Thule Society played a fundamental role in the foundation of
Nazi Party. Hess, Rosenberg, Feder, Eckhardt - all were associated with

Thule before they were called to the drum of the new movement. The glorif

1 Adolf Hitler, trans. Ralph Mannheim, Mein Kampf (Boston 1943), 326-7.
2 Hammer: Parteilose Zeitschrift fir nationales Leben/Blatter fur deutschen Sinn (Le
1901-1940), 1-39; cf. Michael Bonisch, 'Die "Hammer"-Bewegung' in Uwe Puschner, W
Schmitz and Justus H. Ulbricht (eds), Handbuch zur 'Volkischen Bewegung' 1871-1918 (M
1996), 341-65.

3 Heimdall: Zeitschrift fir reines Deutschtum und All-Deutschtum/Monatsschrift fir deu

Art (Berlin, then Zeitz, Stade i. H, Einsiedel, Leonberg 1897-1932), 1-37; Odin: Ein Kampf
fur die alldeutsche Bewegung/Kampfblatt fir Alldeutschland (Munich 1899-1901), 1-3; cf.
Puschner, Die volkische Bewegung im wilhelminischen Kaiserreich (Darmstadt 2001), 31ff.
4 Politisch-Anthropologische Revue (Eisenach, then Berlin-Steglitz 1902-14), 1-13; contin
as Politisch-Anthropologische Monatsschrift fir praktische Politik, fir politische Bildun
Erziehung auf biologischer Grundlage (Hamburg 1914-23), 13-21. On Woltmann see Peter
Becker, Wege ins Dritte Reich (2 vols, Stuttgart 1988-90), II, 328ff.

5 Nicholas Goodrick-Clark, The Occult Roots of Nazism (Wellingborough 1985 [New

1992]), 135ff.; Detlev Rose, Die Thule-Gesellschaft (Tiibingen 1994); Hermann Gilbhard

Thule-Gesellschaft (Munich 1994).

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256

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

cation
cationofof
thethe
old old
Germanic
Germanic
past was
past
a leading
was afeature
leading
of feature
volkisch groups
of volkisch
in the groups in th

giddy
giddydays,
days,
as the
as the
ThuleThule
Society's
Society's
Rudolf von
Rudolf
Sebottendorff
von Sebottendorff
was later to style
was later to s
them,
them,'before
'before
Hitler
Hitler
came'.6
came'.6

Despite
Despitethe
the
favouring
favouring
of Germanistic
of Germanistic
trappingstrappings
by many inby
themany
old radical
in the old radi
national
national
movement,
movement,
Hitler's
Hitler's
disdaindisdain
for the 'wandering
for the 'wandering
scholars' whoscholars'
had
who ha
become
becomeattached
attached
to this
to this
early early
manifestation
manifestation
of the volkisch
of the
enterprise
volkisch
seems
enterprise se
clear
clearinin
the
the
passage
passage
quoted
quoted
above from
aboveMein
from
Kampf.
Mein
YetKampf.
a comparative
Yet a percomparative pe
spective
spective
to to
fascism
fascism
calls calls
us to look
us to
again
look
at again
the useat
and
the
understanding
use and understanding
of the
of
old
oldGermanic
Germanic
pastpast
in German
in German
fascism.
fascism.
Not only Not
was romanita
only was
(Romanness)
romanitaa (Romanness
leading
leadingfeature
feature
of the
of imagery
the imagery
of Italian
offascism,7
Italian fascism,7
the contemporary
the contemporary
rise in
ris
interest
interest
in in
Germanentum
Germanentum
(Germanicness)
(Germanicness)
in Germany
in was
Germany
clearly supported
was clearly suppor
by
bysenior
senior
members
members
of the
ofNazi
theParty.
Nazi Rosenberg8
Party. Rosenberg8
and Himmler9
andboth
Himmler9
had a
both ha
special
specialand
and
abiding
abiding
interest
interest
in Germanic
in Germanic
antiquity,antiquity,
as is most clearly
as is most
symbolclearly sym
ized
izedininthe
the
support
support
for antiquarian
for antiquarian
Germanistic
Germanistic
study shown
study
by their
shown
respecby their res
tive
tiveeducational
educational
institutions:
institutions:
Rosenberg's
Rosenberg's
Amt, which
Amt,
had which
evolved out
hadofevolved
the
out of
Kampfbund
Kampfbund
furfur
deutsche
deutsche
KulturKultur
in 193410
inand
193410
the SS-Ahnenerbe,
and the SS-Ahnenerbe,
founded by
founded
Himmler and Darre in 1935.11

Although the researchers accumulated by Rosenberg and Himmler in their

Party research bodies are often treated with scorn today, many were leading
university Germanists. This is especially true of Party-funded archaeology, and

although several mystics and many more antiquarian enthusiasts beside found
their way into the SS, respectable academics were equally amenable to the call
that the respected Indo-Europeanist Hermann Guintert (Dean of the Philosophy Faculty at the University of Heidelberg and sometime editor of the
Ahnenerbe's leading linguistics journal) described in 1938 as 'service to our
people'. 12

Hitler, too, evidently had some sensibility of the old Germanic past. He uses
the image of the Germanic on several occasions in Mein Kampf, most prominently in his emphatic call at the end of the eleventh chapter 'Volk and race'
for 'a Germanic state of the German nation'.13 Previous discussions of Hitler's
notion and use of the image of Germanic antiquity have often focused on his
dismissal of the 'deutschvblkisch wandering scholars', but have ignored, over-

6 Rudolf von Sebottendorff, Bevor Hitler kam (Munich 1933); Reginald H. Phelps, "'Before
Hitler Came": Thule Society and Germanen Orden', Journal of Modern History, 35 (1963),
245-61.

7 Romke Visser, 'Fascist Doctrine and the Cult of Romanita', Journal of Contemporary His
27, 1 (January 1992), 5-22.
8 Robert Cecil, The Myth of the Master Race (London 1972), 1 f.
9 Joseph Ackermann, Heinrich Himmler als Ideologe (Gottingen 1970), 32ff.
10 Properly the 'Beauftragen des Fiihrers fur die Uberwachung der gesamten geistigen u
weltanschaulichen Schulung und Erziehung der NSDAP'; Reinhard Bollmus, Das Amt Rosen
und seine Gegner (Stuttgart 1970).
11 Michael H. Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe' der SS 1935-1945 (Stuttgart 1974).
12 Hermann Gintert, 'Neue Zeit- neues Ziel', Worter und Sachen, 19 [= NF 1] (1938), 1
13 Hitler, trans. Mannheim, Mein Kampf, op. cit., 299.

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

257

simplified
simplifiedoror
even
even
misrepresented
misrepresented
his understanding
his understanding
of the importance
of the importance
of the
of the
old
old Germanic
Germanic
past.14
past.14

In
In German
Germantoday,
today,
as as
in Hitler's
in Hitler's
time,
time,
therethere
is a clear
is adistinction
clear distinction
between betwe
the
the terms
termsGermanic
Germanic
(germanisch)
(germanisch)
and German
and German
(deutsch)
(deutsch)
that is obfuscated
that is obfuscated
by
near
near homonymy
homonymy
in in
contemporary
contemporary
English.
English.
Germanic
Germanic
and Germanicness
and Germanicness
are
to
to German
Germanand
and
Germanness
Germanness
what
what
(classical)
(classical)
RomanRoman
and Romanness
and Romanness
are to
are to
Italian
Italianand
andItalianness.1S
Italianness.1S
TheThe
description
description
germanisch
germanisch
is also used,
is also
however,
used, however,
in
modern
modernGerman
German
sometimes
sometimes
as a as
Latinate
a Latinate
(i.e. grandiose)
(i.e. grandiose)
form ofform
'German',
of 'German
e.g.
e.g. the
theGermanisches
Germanisches
Nationalmuseum
Nationalmuseum
in Nuremberg,
in Nuremberg,
or moreorobviously
more obviously
in
Germanistik,
Germanistik,
university-level
university-level
German
German
studies.
studies.
The term
TheGermanentum
term Germanentum
was a
wa
learned
learnedbuzz
buzzword
word
of of
thethe
1920s
1920s
and 1930s;
and 1930s;
it is not
it is
found
not in
found
Hitler's
in recorded
Hitler's record
speeches
speechesororwritings.
writings.

In
In reflection
reflection
ofof
the
the
general
general
rise rise
of interest
of interest
in thein
oldthe
Germanic
old Germanic
past in the
past in t
twilight
twilightyears
years
ofof
thethe
Kaiserreich,
Kaiserreich,
in the
inearly
the early
years of
years
the twentieth
of the twentieth
century centu
German
Germanacademic
academic
understandings
understandings
of antiquity
of antiquity
had undergone
had undergone
a fundamental
a fundamen
change.
change.Fields
Fields
such
such
as indigenous
as indigenous
archaeology
archaeology
had thrown
had thrown
off their
off
deep
their deep
dependence
dependenceonon
Scandinavian
Scandinavian
antiquarian
antiquarian
scholarship
scholarship
and ushered
and ushered
in a new in
agea new

in
in old
oldGermanic
Germanic
studies.
studies.
TheThe
entire
entire
antiquarian
antiquarian
endeavour
endeavour
in Germany
in German
-

whether
whetherphilological,
philological,
archaeological,
archaeological,
anthropological,
anthropological,
folkloric
folkloric
or linguistic
or linguisti
-

was
was transformed
transformed
in in
thethe
wake
wake
of new
of new
paradigms
paradigms
developed
developed
in Germanic
in German

archaeology
archaeologyand
and
philology
philology
at the
at the
time.time.
The most
The outstanding
most outstanding
figures in
figures
this in th
new
new movement
movement
in in
Germanic
Germanic
studies
studies
were were
both professors
both professors
at the University
at the University
of
Berlin,
Berlin,and
andboth
both
were
were
overtly
overtly
concerned
concerned
with the
with
study
the and
study
promotion
and promotion
of
Germanicness.
Germanicness.
One
One
of of
these
these
figures,
figures,
Gustaf
Gustaf
Kossinna
Kossinna
(1858-1931),
(1858-1931),
who heldwho he
the
the inaugural
inaugural
Berlin
Berlin
chair
chair
in German
in German
archaeology,
archaeology,
was a major
was aproducer
major producer
of
Germanen-Biicher
Germanen-Biicher
- those
- those
popularizations
popularizations
of theof
Germanic
the Germanic
past that
past
inspired
that inspir
various
variousradical
radical
right-wing
right-wing
groups.16
groups.16
The other,
The other,
Andreas
Andreas
Heusler Heusler
(1865-1940),
(1865-194
son
son of
ofthe
thelike-named
like-named
Swiss
Swiss
legallegal
historian,
historian,
held the
held
corresponding
the corresponding
inauguralinaugu

chair
chairin
inNordic
Nordic
studies
studies
at Berlin.
at Berlin.
Heusler
Heusler
was the
was
creator
the creator
of the new
of the
concept
newof
concept of

Germanicness,
Germanicness,
and
and
is often
is often
celebrated
celebrated
by philologists
by philologists
today as
today
if he as
were
if the
he were t

third
thirdbrother
brother
Grimm.17
Grimm.17

14
14 Frank-Lothar
Frank-Lothar
Kroll,
Kroll,
Utopie
Utopie
als Ideologie
als Ideologie
(Paderborn
(Paderborn
1998), 72ff.
1998), 72ff.
15
15 An
Anolder
olderdesignation
designation
forfor
Germanic
Germanic
in English
in English
is Teutonic
is Teutonic
(earlier still
(earlier
Gothonic),
still Gothonic),
but under but un

the
the influence
influence
ofof
linguistics,
linguistics,
and and
in cognizance
in cognizance
of theof
cheapened
the cheapened
use of the
use
term
of the
(similar
term
to (similar
Gallic
to Gal
for
for 'French'),
'French'),
it it
is is
usually
usually
avoided
avoided
by Anglophonic
by Anglophonic
antiquarians
antiquarians
today: hence
today:
Malcolm
henceTodd,
Malcolm
The Todd, T

Early
EarlyGermans
Germans
(London
(London
1992).
1992).
16
16 Rudolf
RudolfStampfuss,
Stampfuss,
Gustaf
Gustaf
Kossinna
Kossinna
(Leipzig
(Leipzig
1935); 1935);
Hans-Jiirgen
Hans-Jiirgen
Eggers, Einfuhrung
Eggers, Einfuhrung
in die
in
Vorgeschichte
Vorgeschichte
(2nd
(2nd
edn,
edn,
Munich
Munich
1974),
1974),
199ff.;
199ff.;
Suzanne
Suzanne
L. Marchand,
L. Marchand,
Down from
Down
Olympus
from Olymp
(Princeton,
(Princeton,NJ
NJ
1996),
1996),
180ff.;
180ff.;
Ulrich
Ulrich
Veit,Veit,
'Gustaf
'Gustaf
Kossinna
Kossinna
and his and
Concept
his of
Concept
a National
of aIdeoNational Ide

logy'
logy' in
inHeinrich
Heinrich
Hirke
Hirke
(ed.),
(ed.),
Archaeology,
Archaeology,
Ideology
Ideology
and Society
and Society
(Frankfurt
(Frankfurt
a. M. 2000),
a. 40-64.
M. 2000), 40-6
17
17 Heinrich
HeinrichBeck,
Beck,
'Andreas
'Andreas
Heuslers
Heuslers
Begriff
Begriff
des "Altgermanischen"'
des "Altgermanischen"'
in idem (ed.),
in idem
Germanen(ed.), Germane
probleme
problemeininheutiger
heutiger
Sicht
Sicht
(Berlin
(Berlin
1986),
1986),
396-412;
396-412;
idem, 'Andreas
idem, 'Andreas
Heusler (1865-1940)'
Heusler (1865-1940)'
in Helen
in Hel

Damico
Damico(ed.),
(ed.),Medieval
Medieval
Scholarship
Scholarship
II (New
II (New
York York
1998), 1998),
283-96; 283-96;
idem, 'Heusler,
idem, 'Heusler,
Andreas' in
Andreas'

Johannes
JohannesHoops,
Hoops,
Reallexikon
Reallexikon
der der
Germanischen
Germanischen
Altertumskunde
Altertumskunde
XIV (2ndXIV
edn,(2nd
Berlin
edn,
1999),
Berlin 1999
533-43.

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258

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

In
In 1938,
1938,a acollaborative
collaborative
academic
academic
work
work
on Germanic
on Germanic
antiquity
antiquity
was pubwas published
lished that
thatisisheld
held
upup
byby
antiquarian
antiquarian
Germanists
Germanists
todaytoday
as a sober
as a representasober representative
tive of
ofthe
thebest
bestofof
the
the
Germanistic
Germanistic
scholarship
scholarship
of the
ofdictatorship.'8
the dictatorship.'8
Its editor,
Its editor,

the
the philologist
philologistHermann
Hermann
Schneider
Schneider
(the(the
postwar
postwar
rector
rector
of theof
University
the University
of
of
Tiibingen)
Tiibingen)reflected
reflected
in in
De De
Gruyter's
Gruyter's
popularizing
popularizing
German
German
academic
academic
journal,journal,
Research
Researchand
andProgress,
Progress,
at at
thethe
beginning
beginning
of 1939:
of 1939:
The
The year
year1933
1933witnessed
witnessed
thethe
victory
victory
of an
ofattitude
an attitude
towards
towards
the history
the history
of the culture
of the of
culture of
Germany
Germanywhich
whichgave
gave
thethe
Germanic
Germanic
element
element
of allof
that
all is
that
German
is German
a significance
a significance
previously
previously
unthought
unthoughtof.
of.'The
'The
best
best
of of
what
what
is German',
is German',
it was
it declared,
was declared,
'is Germanic
'is Germanic
and must
and
be must
foundbe found
in
in purer
purerform
forminin
early
early
Germanic
Germanic
times.'19
times.'19

Yet
Yet Germanophonic
Germanophonic
academics
academics
seemed
seemed
to have
to have
recognized
recognized
that 'the
that
best
'the
ofbest of
what
what isisGerman
Germanis is
Germanic'
Germanic'
long
long
before
before
1933.1933.
In 1926,
In 1926,
for example,
for example,
a simi- a similar
lar survey
surveywas
wasproduced
produced
in in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg
under
under
the editorship
the editorship
of Hermann
of Hermann
Nollau.
Nollau.Its
Itstitle
titlewas
was
Germanic
Germanic
Resurgence,
Resurgence,
it was
it published
was published
by theby
local
the
(Carl
local (Carl

Winter's)
Winter's)university
university
press
press
andand
it was
it was
subtitled
subtitled
'a work
'a work
on theon
Germanic
the Germanic
foundations
foundationsofofour
our
culture'.20
culture'.20
Clearly,
Clearly,
withwith
Nollau's
Nollau's
Resurgence
Resurgence
the renewalthe renewalistic
istic or
or'palingenetic'21
'palingenetic'21
aspect
aspect
of v6lkisch
of v6lkisch
thought
thought
had penetrated
had penetrated
GermanGerman
academia well before 1933.

These Germanistic scholars unabashedly worked in the spirit of Heusler and

Kossinna, and within the new concept of Germanicness. The term Germanentum existed before their time, but previously it had been an irregular description used mainly in contrastive expressions. Mirroring the distinction between

Roman and Germanic elements stressed by German legal historians at the

time, Germanentum was seen as the non-Roman element of medieval

Germany for some nineteenth-century historians.22 Hence in 1870 the military

analyst Johann Woldemar Streubel used Germanentum to describe the nonHungarian forces in the Hapsburg empire.23 By the late 1870s the term was
being used in opposition to Jewishness by populist bigots like Wilhelm Marr.24
18 Hermann Schneider (ed.), Germanische Altertumskunde (Munich 1938 [1951]); Heinrich
Beck, 'Germanen, Germania, Germanische Altertumskunde, V. Germanische Altertumskunde' in

Johannes Hoops, Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, XI (2nd edn, Berlin 1998),
429f.

19 Hermann Schneider, 'Die germanische Altertumskunde zwischen 1933 und 1938',

Forschungen und Fortschritte, 15 (1939), 1 [= idem, 'The Study of Germanic Antiquity in the Years

1933-1938', Research and Progress, 5 (1939), 135].

20 Hermann Nollau (ed.), Germanische Wiedererstehung: Ein Werk iiber die germanischen
Grundlagen unserer Gesittung (Heidelberg 1926).
21 Roger Griffin, The Nature of Fascism (London 1991), 26; cf. idem, 'The Primacy of Culture:
The Current Growth (or Manufacture) of Consensus within Fascist Studies', Journal of Contemporary History, 37, 1 (January 2002), 21-43.
22 Heinz Gollwitzer, 'Zum politischen Germanismus des 19. Jahrhunderts' in Josef Fleckenstein, Sabine Kriuger and Rudolf Vierhaus (eds), Festschrift fur Hermann Heimpel zum 70.
Geburtstag (3 vols, Gottingen 1971-72), I, 282-356.
23 Arkolay [Johann Woldemar Streubel], Das Germanenthum und Osterreich (Darmstadt 1870).
24 Wilhelm Marr, Der Sieg des Judenthums iiuber das Germanenthum (Berlin 1879).

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

259

But it was not until Heusler rescued the term in the new century that it began
to feature more regularly in Germanistic or indeed general discourse.

In 1887 the literary Germanist Leo Berg had described the positive German
reception of the works of the Norwegian playwright Ibsen as deriving from a
shared spirit of Germanentum.2s Heusler, grappling for a term to describe the
cultural genius he saw in the Old Norse sagas, subsequently adopted the term
to apply to the heroic mentalite he saw exemplified in the Old Germanic past.
In 1908 in an address occasioning his induction into the Prussian Academy of
Sciences, Heusler spelled out precisely what he meant by Germanicness, and
soon the word spread throughout the academic antiquarian community.26
The launch of Heusler's Germanicness signalled an explosion in publications on the old Germanic past. His own publications concentrated mainly on
interpretations of medieval literature and he soon became a significant figure
in popularizations of antiquarian Germanistic study, perhaps most prominently in the Thule series of translations of medieval Scandinavian literature,

which by 1933 had sold some 98,000 copies.27 Kossinna and his students

quickly took up the new expression as part of their Germanomaniacal 'settlement archaeology'. Heusler's wider influence did not end there, however. In
1934 a collection of his essays was published under the title Germanentum,
and quickly went through several editions.28 Reviewed widely, Heusler's book
popularized the term so thoroughly that by the late 1930s Germanentum had
even come to feature as a category in nazi political literature. The concept of
Germanicness is clearly enunciated in official German educational literature
from the late 1930s and early 1940s, and its appearance was even remarked
upon by foreign critics of the educational policies of the nazi regime. For
example, Wilhelm Frick required that 15 basic points of German history were
to be stressed under the nazis. Of these points, cited disparagingly in 1944 in
an Allied survey of higher education in Germany, over half refer to the old
Germanic past.29 The compiler of this work, the English science historian

Abraham Wolf, also mentions an old Germanic chronicle, the Ura-Linda

Book (properly the Dutch/Frisian Oera Linda Book, a Germanomaniacal

25 Leo Berg, Henrik Ibsen und das Germanenthum in den modernen Literatur (Berlin 1887).
26 Andreas Heusler, 'Antrittsrede in der PreuRischen Akademie der Wissenschaften', Sitzungsberichte der Preuf/ischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Phil.-Hist. Klasse (1908), 712-14 [=
Kleine Schriften, ed. Helga Reuschel and Stefan Sonderegger (2 vols, Berlin 1942-69), II, 14-15].
27 Felix Niedner (ed.), Thule (24 vols, Jena 1911-30); Gary D. Stark, Entrepreneurs of Ideology
(Chapel Hill, NC 1981), 94; cf. also Julia Zernack, Geschichten aus Thule (Berlin 1994); idem,
'Anschauungen vom Norden im deutschen Kaiserreich' in Puschner et al. (eds), Handbuch zur
'Volkischen Bewegung', op. cit., 504ff.

28 Andreas Heusler, Germanentum (Heidelberg 1934, 4th edn 1943).

29 Abraham Wolf, Higher Education in Nazi Germany (London 1944), 79-81. For a (preMolotov-Ribbentrop pact) Soviet perspective see Evgenii Georgievic Kagarov, 'Fal'sifikacja istorii
rannegermanskogo obscestva fasistskimi lieucenymi' in Filipp Iosifovic Notovic et al. (eds), Protiv
fagistskoj fal'sifikacii istorii (Moscow 1939), 83-103, a reference for which I am grateful to Neile

A. Kirk.

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260

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

forgery
forgeryfrom
fromthe
the
nineteenth
nineteenth
century)3?0
century)3?0
in the
insame
the breath
same breath
as the Protocols
as the Protocols
of
of

the
the Elders
EldersofofZion,
Zion,
thethe
infamous
infamous
antisemitic
antisemitic
'warrant
'warrant
for genocide'
for genocide'
as it wasas it was
described
describedby
byNorman
Norman
Cohn.31
Cohn.31
Indeed,
Indeed,
1937's
1937's
history
history
primerprimer
for thefor
Hitler
the Hitler
Youth
Youth(which
(whichwas
was
translated
translated
intointo
English
English
in 1938
in 1938
by an by
American
an American
politicalpolitical
scientist),
scientist),contains
contains
maps
maps
of of
thethe
empires
empires
of the
ofglorious
the glorious
old Germanic
old Germanic
past thatpast that

are
are taken
takendirectly
directly
from
from
thethe
Germanen-Biicher
Germanen-Biicher
of Kossinna
of Kossinna
and hisand
students,
his students,
and
and similar
similarmaps
maps
also
also
appeared
appeared
in contemporary
in contemporary
educational
educational
literature
literature
for
for
adults
adultssuch
suchasasthat
that
published
published
by the
by the
SS.32SS.32
The radical
The radical
archaeology
archaeology
of Kossinna
of Kossinna
and
and his
hispupils
pupilscalled
called
forfor
a reassessment
a reassessment
of allofGermanic
all Germanic
civilization
civilization
based onbased
a
on a
rejection
rejectionofofthe
theclassicism
classicism
of the
of the
Kulturnation.
Kulturnation.
In Kossinna's
In Kossinna's
works all
works
sortsall
of sorts of

expressions
expressionslinked
linked
in in
thethe
pastpast
to Graeco-Roman
to Graeco-Roman
influence
influence
or origin,
or origin,
from from
building
buildingand
andartistic
artistic
styles
styles
andand
eveneven
to the
to invention
the invention
of writing,
of writing,
were reinterwere reinter-

preted
pretedand
andrecast
recast
in in
a Germanomaniacal
a Germanomaniacal
mode.mode.
In 1944
In the
1944
nazi
the
political
nazi political
scientist Friedrich Alfred Beck summarized the Germanentum consciousness

of his day in this manner: 'German Germanicness is a metaphysical form of

character, derived from a Nordic racial essence, which reveals itself in a
creative power based on a heroic attitude located in the personality as the
unique representation of the volkisch organic existence.'33

Beck's 'Nordic racial essence' is plainly that of Hans (Rassen-) Giinther.34

Gunther's publisher, the Pan-Germanist entrepreneur Julius Lehmann, encour-

aged academic speculation on the role of racial questions in historical

problems, and in the 1920s academics such as Kossinna became involved in
many of the new radical racialist academic publications of the day.35 The
notion of a Nordic racial type had been wedded to Heusler's Germanicness
by young Nordicists influenced by this neo-conservative meeting of minds,
30 Jan Geraldus Ottema (ed.), Thet Oera Linda Bok (Leeuwarden 1872) [= trans. William R.
Sandbach, The Oera Linda Book (London 1876)]; Herman F. Wirth (ed.), Die Ura Linda Chronik

(Leipzig 1933); Murk de Jong Hendrikszoon, Het Oera-Lind-Boek in Duitschland en hier

(Bolsward 1939); Wolf, Higher Education in Nazi Germany, op. cit., 81.

31 Norman Cohn, Warrant for Genocide (London 1967).

32 Anon., 'Germanisches Schicksal durch die Jahrtausende: Volk ohne Raum', Das schwarze
Korps, 2, 34 (28 August 1936), 18; B. Patzke, 'Die deutsche Wiederbesiedlung des Ostens', SSLeitheft, 3, 8 (1937), 55-6; Fritz Brennecke, Handbuch fur die Schulungsarbeit in der HJ: Vom
deutschen Volk und seinem Lebensraum (Munich 1937) [= trans. Harwood L. Childs, The Nazi
Primer (New York 1938)].
33 Friedrich Alfred Beck, Der Aufgang des germanischen Weltalters (Bochum 1944), 44-5 [=
trans. apud W.J. McCann, '"Volk und Germanentum": The Presentation of the Past in Nazi
Germany' in Peter Gathercole and David Lowenthal (eds), The Politics of the Past (London 1990),
74]. On Beck see Leon Poliakov and Joseph Wulf (eds), Das Dritte Reich und seine Denker (Berlin
1959 [Frankfurt a. M. 1983]), 44.

34 Hans F.K. Gunther, Rassenkunde des deutschen Volkes (Munich 1922, 16th edn 1933);
Hans-Jiirgen Lutzhoft, Der Nordische Gedanke in Deutschland 1920-1940 (Stuttgart 1971),

28ff.

35 E.g. Die Sonne: Volksdeutsche Monatsschrift (Monatsschrift fur nordische Weltanschauung

und Lebensgestaltung/Monatsschrift fur Rasse, Glauben und Volkstum), 1, 1-16, 4-6 (Weimar,
then Leipzig 1924-39); Volk und Rasse: Illustrierte Monatsschrift fiir Volkstum, Rassenkunde,

Rassenplege, 1, 1-19, 4-6 (Munich 1926-44).

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

261

probably most notably in the writings of the sometime Amt Rosenberg

Nordic-studies specialist Bernhard Kummer (a member of the SA since 1928
and later a professor of Old Norse at Jena).36 The old notion of Germanicness
as everything not Roman had been refashioned by a new heroic, Heuslerian,

often blatantly Germanomaniacal Germanentum that was theorized and

refined by nazi educationalists, antiquarian Germanists and even what now
passed for political scientists too.37

Party organs such as the SS also became involved in the new antiquity
enthusiasm. Himmler's Ahnenerbe was founded to support amateur notions
of Germanicness, most obviously Detmold's Extern Stones theorists (the
self-styled Freunde germanischer Vorgeschichte, led by the amateur 'astroarchaeologist' Wilhelm Teudt)38 and the wild Atlantid39 runomania of the Berlin-

based folklorist and musicologist Herman Wirth.40 Himmler also encouraged

some outright fantasists, of course, most notably the unbalanced Austrian
obscurantist Karl Maria Wiligut/Weisthor.41 But serious scholars were as much
involved in SS antiquarianism as were the patent fantasists. For every Wirth or

Weisthor, there were two 'respectable' SS scholars, whether they be academic

archaeologists such as Hans Schleif or Herbert Jankuhn, Romanists like Franz
Altheim or Rudolf Till, or philologists and linguists such as Walter Wuist or
Wolfgang Krause. Moreover, the SS were concerned with promoting Germanic
antiquarianism, through their journals such as the Detmold Friends-founded
Germanien,42 archaeology exhibitions (often in collaboration with Rosenberg's
prehistorians),43 the creation of 'archaeology parks' (e.g. for the Extern Stones,

or at Negova, Slovenia, where the earliest linguistically Germanic inscription

36 Bernhard Kummer, Midgards Untergang (Leipzig 1927); idem, Germanenkunde im Kulturkampf (Leipzig 1935); Wolfgang Schumann, 'Die Universitat Jena in der Zeit des deutschen
Faschismus (1933 bis 1945)' in Max Steinmetz (ed.), Geschichte der Universitat Jena 1548/581958 (2 vols, Jena 1958), I, 615-70.
37 Johannes Biihler, 'Germanentum und Deutschtum', Geistige Arbeit, 1, 3 (1934), 7-8.
38 Wilhelm Teudt, Germanische Heiligtiimer (Jena 1929); Rudolf Biinte (ed.), Wilhelm Teudt
im Kampf um Germanenehre: Auswahl von Teudts Schriften (Bielefeld 1940); John Michell, A
Little History of Astro-Archaeology (London 1977), 58-65; Martin Schmidt and Uta Halle, 'On
the Folklore of the Externsteine: Or a Centre for Germanomaniacs' in Amy Gazin-Schwartz and
Cornelius Holtorf (eds), Archaeology and Folklore (London 1999), 158-74.
39 For the development of the genre of Atlantid thought in Germany see Georg Biedenkapp,
Der Nordpol als Volkerheimat (Jena 1906); Karl Georg Zschaetzsch, Atlantis: Die Urheimat der
Arier (Berlin 1922, 4th edn 1937); Franz Wegener, Das atlantidische Weltbild (Gladbeck 2000).
40 Herman Wirth, Der Aufgang der Menschheit (Jena 1928); Ingo Wiwjorra, 'Herman Wirth
Ein gescheiterter Ideologe zwischen "Ahnenerbe" und Atlantis' in Barbara Danckwott, Thorsten

Querg and Claudia Schoningh (eds), Historische Rassismusforschung (Hamburg 1995), 91-112.
41 Hans-Jiirgen Lange, Weisthor (Engerd 1998).
42 Germanien: Bldtter fur Freunde germanischer Vorgeschichte, 1-4 (Bielefeld 1929-32); there-

after Germanien: Monatshefte fur Vorgeschichte zur Erkenntnis deutschen Wesens (zur
Germanenkunde), 5-10 and 11-14 [= NF 1-4] (Leipzig 1933-43).

43 Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe' der SS, op. cit., 80ff.; Michael Burleigh, Germany Turns Eastwards

(Cambridge 1988), 242; Allan A. Lund, Germanenideologie und Nationalsozialismus (Tiibingen

1995), 80f. (and fig. 9); Henning Hautemann, 'Archaeology in the "Third Reich"' in Harke (ed.),

Archaeology, Ideology, and Society, op. cit., 101, 1 10f.

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262

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

was found)44 and ultimately the organized looting of Eastern European antiquarian collections by SS-Sonderkommando led by academic prehistorians with
archaeological shopping lists.45 Some of Himmler's musings on archaeology,
such as his 1937 attack on Slavic scholars who (apparently) misrepresented and
covered over ancient Germanic remains, represent a sophisticated understanding of an archaeological controversy that had been inaugurated by Kossinna in
1912 and continued by his students.46 Similarly, Darre's wild theories on
German agriculture were clearly informed by antiquarian scholarship and not
just the obscurantistic, anti-Christian and racialized type which he encountered

in groups such as the Nordischer Ring.47 He and his followers cite learned
examinations of medieval Scandinavian law codes in their works, a link that is
epitomized in Odal, Darre's politico-cultural journal which took its description
from a type of ancient Scandinavian legal tenure that also happened to be the
name of the runic letter o (R).48 Darre's focus on the Old Germanic past also fed

straight into his conceptualization of Lebensraum - after all, Kossinna was not
the only academic to consider that ancient Germanic settlements in Eastern
Europe validated German claims for sovereignty over Slav-populated regions.49

Indeed, by the early 1940s ancient Germanic expansion in Eastern Europe was
being used in nazi literature to justify Hitler's war aims of the (then) present day
44 T.L. Markey, 'A Tale of Two Helmets: The Negau A and B Inscriptions', Journal of IndoEuropean Studies. 29 (2001), 76.
45 Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe' der SS, op. cit., 147ff.; Haugmann, 'Archaeology in the "Third
Reich"', op. cit., 107; Anja Heuss, Kunst- und Kulturgutraub (Heidelberg 2000). The activities of
Jankuhn, the archaeological looter of the Ukraine, are often still treated defensively by his former

students; see Heiko Steuer, 'Herbert Jankuhn und seine Darstellung zur Germanen- und
Wikingerzeit' in idem (ed.), Eine hervorragend nationale Wissenschaft (Berlin 2001), 417ff.

46 Gustaf Kossinna, 'Zur alteren Bronzezeit Mitteleuropas', Mannus, 4 (1912), 184; idem, Die
deutsche Ostmark (Kattowitz 1919); J6zef Kostrzewski, Wielkopolska w czasach przedhistorycznych (Poznan 1914); Heinrich Himmler, Document 1992(A)-PS, from 'National Political
Studies for the Armed Forces' (January 1937) in International Military Tribunal, Trial of the
Major War Criminals, XXIX (Nuremberg 1948), 225-6 [= trans. apud Benjamin C. Sax and
Dieter Kuntz (eds), Inside Hitler's Germany (Lexington, MA 1992), 376]; Eggers, Einfiihrung in
die Vorgeschichte, op. cit., 202ff.; Leo S. Klejn, 'Kossinna im Abstand von vierzig Jahren',
Jahresschrift far mitteldeutsche Vorgeschichte, 58 (1974), 29ff.; cf. Burleigh, Germany Turns
Eastwards, op. cit., 23f., 52, 241ff.

47 Anne Bramwell, Blood and Soil (Bourne End 1985), 46ff.

48 Deutsche Agrarpolitik: Monatsschrift far deutsches Bauerntum, 1, 1-2, 3 (Berlin 1932-33);
thereafter Odal: Monatsschrift far Blut und Boden 2, 4-11 (Berlin, then Goslar 1933-42); thereafter Deutsche Agrarpolitik, NF 1, 1-3, 12 (Berlin 1942-44); Knut Robberstad, Magnus Mar
Larusson and Gerhard Hafstrom, 'Odelsrett' in Johannes Brondsted et al. (eds), Kulturhistorisk
leksikon for nordisk middelalder, XII (Copenhagen 1967), 493-503; Gabriele von Olberg, 'Odal'
in Adalbert Erler and Ekkehard Kaufmann (eds), Handw6rterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, II (Berlin 1982), 1178-84; Andrea d'Onofrio, Ruralismo e storia nel Terzo Reich: II
caso 'Odal' (Naples 1997).
49 Kossinna, Die deutsche Ostmark, op. cit. and cf. Burleigh, Germany Turns Eastwards, op.
cit., 52, 242-3. This remarkable book, which was retitled Das Weichselland, ein uralter Heimatboden der Germanen in later editions, was especially written to attempt to influence the outcome
of the Versailles peace conference; see Eggers, Einfahrung in die Vorgeschichte, op. cit., 236; Veit,
'Gustaf Kossinna and his Concept of a National Ideology', op. cit., 47.

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

263

in a manner quite independent

independent of
of contemporary
contemporary German
German Ostforschung.s?
Ostforschung.s? It
It was
was

this fascination with antiquity

antiquity that,
that, no
no doubt,
doubt, also
also led
led Himmler
Himmler to
to bring
bring an
an
SS-archaeologist (Alexander
(Alexander Langsdorff,
Langsdorff, then
then curator
curator of
of the
the Berlin
Berlin Museum
Museum
fur Vor- und Friihgeschichte
Friihgeschichte and
and 'Kulturpolitischer
'Kulturpolitischer Referant'
Referant' in
in Himmler's
Himmler's
personal staff) with him
him to
to the
the Italian-German
Italian-German police-chiefs
police-chiefs meeting
meeting in
in Rome
Rome in
in
October 1936.51

The antiquarian activities of the SS were even mirrored in the promotion of

folk culture by the Kraft durch Freude. The first leader of the KdF's folkculture arm, the Reichsbund Volkstum und Heimat, was Werner Haverbeck, a
young folklorist protege of Hess. The Reichsbund was a youth-oriented body
that organized folk festivals and performances of traditional songs. Yet by

1934 members of the Reichsbund had come under suspicion of being

Strasserites. After the Night of the Long Knives, the Reichsbund was purged
and eventually subsumed by Rosenberg's folklore foundation; protected by
Hess, Haverbeck, a disciple of Wirth's runomaniacal theories, instead found a
home within the SS.52 But it was clear that Haverbeck and similar academic
expressions such as the Wald und Baum project supported by G6ring's Reichsforstamt, whose remit was to study all manner of 'Aryan-Germanic' traditions

concerning woodlands, were inspired by the Germanicness consciousness that

had come to pervade understandings of German ethnology and folklore since

the 1920s.53

The promotion of Germanentum came to be seen as the creative, positive

foil to the otherwise almost overwhelming negativity of National Socialist
thought. The project of national rebirth had a negative and a positive facet. As

Haverbeck's radical right-wing biographer has noted,54 the pessimism of a

neo-conservative Untergang des Abendlandes (Decline of the West)55 seemed
partnered by an optimistic, neo-romantic Aufgang der Menschheit (Rise of
Humanity).56 Virulent Party antisemites like Johann von Leers might take
at least as much time focusing their energies on investigations of the old
Germanic heritage as they did railing against Jewish perfidy.57 The demonizing

50 E.g. anon., 'Und wieder reiten die Goten . . . Unser Kampf im Osten - unsere Pflicht vor
Geschichte und Reich', SS-Leitheft, 7, 9 (1941), 1-2.
51 Anon., 'Besuch in Rom', Das schwarze Korps, 2, 44 (29 October 1936), 3; Helmut Heiber,
Walter Frank und sein Reichsinstitut fir Geschichte des neuen Deutschlands (Stuttgart 1966),
246; Bollmus, Das Amt Rosenberg, op. cit., 167ff.; Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe' der SS, op. cit., 20ff.

52 Hannjost Lixfeld, Folklore and Fascism (Bloomington, IN 1994), 78; Andreas Ferch,
Viermal Deutschland in einem Menschenleben (Dresden 2000), 24ff.
53 Kater, Das 'Ahnenerbe' der SS, op. cit., 76ff.
54 Ferch, Viermal Deutschland in einem Menschenleben, op. cit., 21.
55 Oswald Spengler, Der Untergang des Abendlandes (Munich 1923).

56 Wirth, Der Aufgang der Menschheit, op. cit.; cf. also Josef Strzygowski, Aufgang des
Nordens (Leipzig 1936).
57 Cf. e.g. Johann von Leers, Juden sehen dich an (Berlin-Sch6neberg 1933, 6th edn 1936);
idem, Das alte Wissen und der neue Glaube (Hamburg 1935); idem, Odal (Goslar 1935, 3rd edn
1939); idem, Wie kam der Jude zum Geld? (Berlin 1939); idem, Die Verbrechernatur der Juden
(Berlin 1944).

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264

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

and extermination of Jewishness had almost come to be seen as concomitant

with the glorifying and nurturing of the rediscovered spirit of Germanentum.

Yet at the same time as Germanicness was being actively supported by

members of the Party 6lite, Hitler seemed to be working against them. When
Rosenberg had moved to co-ordinate all German archaeology in his Reich
Institute for German Prehistory (led by Hans Reinerth, a former student of
Kossinna), Hitler had at first sided with the classicist establishment of the
German Archaeological Institute whose crowning monument was Berlin's
audacious Pergamon museum (Kossinna had dismissed the classicists as unpatriotic Romlinge).58 In 1938 the dictator had publicly attacked those who
wanted to turn National Socialism into a (neo-pagan) cult, an admonishment
that was taken up by the Propaganda Ministry which subsequently moved to
suppress obscurantistic leanings in the press.59 Speer records Hitler criticizing
Himmler for promoting mysticism in the SS, though the dictator evidently was
not sufficiently concerned to move against his Reichsfiihrer-SS.60 On the other

hand, Eugen Diederichs Verlag, the neo-romantic publishing house most obviously associated with the promotion of Germanentum consciousness, lost its
publishing licence in 1939, in stark contrast to other volkisch publishing firms

which generally continued operating unhampered - some were still publishing as late as 1944. Moreover, many Germanicist obscurantists came under
attack in the late 1930s,61 including Jorg Lanz von Liebenfels and his Order of

the New Templars (Ordo Novi Templi), seemingly using as a scapegoat the
Viennese racial fantasist some have seen as 'the man who gave Hitler his
ideas'.62

The Germanic past had been promoted by academic antiquarians as a

golden age of Germanic heroism. Much of the racialism of German fascism
was ultimately predicated, also, on the testimony of the chief antiquarian
source for Germany, the Roman historian Tacitus who (Germania 2 and 4)

had described the ancient Germans as racially 'uncontaminated' - unlike

most other European peoples.63 This image of the ancient Germans as the
racial saviours of Europe featured as a prominent theme in Chamberlain's
Foundations. Hitler, however, did not grant such importance to the Jew-free
Germanic golden age as did those such as Rosenberg and Himmler. There was
clearly a continuum of identities in racialist thinking: from Germanness

58 Bollmus, Das Amt Rosenberg, op. cit., 162ff.

59 Rudolf Glunk, 'Erfolg und MiIgerfolg der nationalsozialistischen Sprachlenkung', Zeitschrift

fur deutsche Sprache, 26 (1970), 90-1; cf. Cornelia Berning, 'Die Sprache des Nationalsozialismus', Zeitschrift fur deutsche Wortforschung, 18 (1962), 166-7; Rainer Zitelmann, trans.
Helmut Bogler, Hitler (London 1999), 331ff.
60 Albert Speer, trans. Richard and Clara Winston, Inside the Third Reich (London 1971), 94.

61 Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism, op. cit., 160-1; Stephen E. Flowers, 'Introduction' in Guido von List, trans. Stephen E. Flowers, The Secret of the Runes (Rochester, VT
1988), 33-4.
62 Wilfred Daim, Der Mann der Hitler die Ideen gab (3rd edn Vienna 1994).
63 Leon Poliakov, trans. Edmund Howard, The Aryan Myth (London 1974), 20, 54, 80.

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

265

through
throughGermanicness
Germanicness
to Aryanness
to Aryanness
(or Indo-Germanicness).
(or Indo-Germanicness).
Yet Hitler
Yet Hitler
focused
focusedmostly
mostly
onon
thethe
Aryans
Aryans
- a racialist
- a racialist
reification
reification
of the timeless
of the timeless
notion of notion of

European
Europeansuperiority,
superiority,
as much
as much
Graeco-Roman
Graeco-Roman
as it was
as it
Germanic
was Germanic
- not the- not the
ancient
ancientGermans
Germans
andand
Germany
Germany
of Arminius
of Arminius
(Hermann),
(Hermann),
Wotan and
Wotan
the runes.
and the runes.
While
WhileRassen-Giinther
Rassen-Giinther
waswas
preparing
preparing
his glorification
his glorification
of the Nordic
of therace
Nordic
in race in
German,
German,Germanic
Germanic
andand
Aryan
Aryan
times,
times,
and while
and while
these distinctions
these distinctions
are clearly
are clearly
evident
evidentininnazi
nazi
educational
educational
literature
literature
of the
oflate
the1930s,
late 1930s,
Hitler seemed
Hitler mostly
seemed mostly
uninterested
uninterestedinin
thethe
Germanic
Germanic
pedigree
pedigree
in Germanness.
in Germanness.

There
Thereare
aresome
some
indications,
indications,
however,
however,
that this
thatwas
this
not
was
always
not the
always
case in
the case in
Hitler's
Hitler'sthinking,
thinking,
andand
thatthat
the the
absence
absence
of an of
explicit
an explicit
Germanentum
Germanentum
conscious-consciousness
ness in
inhis
hiswritings
writings
hadhad
a definable
a definable
origin.
origin.
Apart Apart
from the
from
'Germanic
the 'Germanic
nation of nation of

the
the German
Germanpeople',
people',
Hitler
Hitler
also also
wrote
wrote
of 'Germanic
of 'Germanic
democracy'
democracy'
- a 'true' - a 'true'

German
Germandemocratic
democratic
ideal
ideal
which
which
is mentioned
is mentioned
three times
threein
times
most in
editions
most of
editions of
Mein
MeinKampf.64
Kampf.64
YetYet
a fourth
a fourth
is preserved
is preserved
in Mannheim's
in Mannheim's
translation
translation
from thefrom the
first
firstedition,
edition,
one
one
that
that
most
most
laterlater
editions
editions
omit; omit;
and it may
and it
be may
no accident
be no that
accident that

this
this ephemeral
ephemeral
passage
passage
closely
closely
precedes
precedes
Hitler's
Hitler's
denunciation
denunciation
of the 'deutschof the 'deutschvolkisch
volkischwandering
wandering
scholars'.65
scholars'.65
The passage
The passage
was substantially
was substantially
altered after
altered
the after the
reorganization
reorganization
ofof
thethe
Party
Party
in 1928
in 1928
in order
in order
to emphasize
to emphasize
the control
the of
control of
Munich's
Munich'sBrown
Brown
House
House
over
over
other
other
branches
branches
and it and
appears
it appears
that, given
that,
this
given this
opportunity,
opportunity,the
the
Germanic
Germanic
aspect
aspect
to democracy
to democracy
on thison
occasion
this occasion
was 'im- was 'improved'
proved'away
awayatat
thethe
same
same
timetime
too.66
too.66

Although
Althoughhis
hisdescription
description
'Germanic
'Germanic
state state
of theof
German
the German
nation' is
nation'
obviously
is obviously

modelled
modelledononthat
that
of of
thethe
Holy
Holy
Roman
Roman
Empire,
Empire,
Hitler Hitler
had used
had
theused
termthe term
germanisch
germanischbefore
before
hishis
stint
stint
in the
in Landsberg
the Landsberg
prison prison
in whatin
was
what
clearly
wasa clearly
racial a racial

formulation.
formulation.Given
Given
that
that
the the
chapter
chapter
with with
whichwhich
this quotation
this quotation
finishes deals
finishes deals
with
withthe
thequestion
question
of of
Volk
Volk
and and
race,race,
the term
the term
Germanic
Germanic
would seem
would
to refer
seem to
to refer to

aa racial
racialidentity.
identity.
OnOn
New
New
Year's
Year's
Day 1921
Day 1921
HitlerHitler
contrasted
contrasted
Germanic
Germanic
and
and
semitic
semiticininthe
the
same
same
manner
manner
as heashad
he contrasted
had contrasted
GermanGerman
and Jewish
and in
Jewish
an
in an
article
articleininthe
the
Volkischer
Volkischer
Beobachter:
Beobachter:
'. . . the
'. . entire
. the entire
inner structure
inner structure
of our state
of our state

is
is more
moresemitic
semitic
than
than
Germanic
Germanic
. . . our
. . . entire
our entire
commercial
commercial
sector ...sector
is more... is more
Jewish
Jewishthan
thanit it
is is
German'.67
German'.67
His notion
His notion
of a Germanic
of a Germanic
state ofstate
the German
of the German
nation
nationthus
thusseems
seems
to to
refer
refer
to the
to oppositional,
the oppositional,
pre-Heuslerian
pre-Heuslerian
definition
definition
of
of
Germanicness,
Germanicness,
one
one
that
that
hadhad
often
often
been been
conceptualized
conceptualized
as one of
as volkisch
one of volkisch
culculture
ture and
andracial
racial
essence
essence
in opposition
in opposition
to foreign
to foreign
influences:
influences:
Roman, Roman,
HungarianHungarian
or Jewish.

Hitler's notion of Germanic democracy, however, refers directly to an anti-

quarian practice: the old Germanic principle of election to kingship, one

referred to in Tacitus (Germania 7) as well as sundry early medieval sources. It

is also remarkable that Hitler uses the description Ger for 'spear' in the open64 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf (44th edn, Munich 1933), 95, 99, 100.
65 Hitler, trans. Mannheim, Mein Kampf, op. cit., 312.
66 Werner Maser, trans. R.H. Barry, Hitler's Mein Kampf (London 1970), 50, 54, 56-7.

67 Adolf Hitler, 'Der volkische Gedanke und die Partei', Volkischer Beobachter, 35, 1 (1

January 1921), 1 [= idem, Sdmtliche Aufzeichnungen 1905-1924, ed. Eberhard Jackel with Axel
Kuhn (Stuttgart 1980), 279].

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266

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

ing
ing passage
passage quoted
quotedhere
herefrom
fromMein
Mein
Kampf,
Kampf,
as Ger
as Ger
is aisrevived
a revived
medieval
medieval
German
German term:
term:the
theusual
usualword
wordfor
for
'spear'
'spear'
in in
German
German
is Speer
is Speer
- Ger
- Ger
signifies
signifies
the
the spear
spear of
ofthe
theancient
ancientGermanic
Germanic
tribes.
tribes.
Hence
Hence
at the
at the
same
same
timetime
thatthat
he ishe is
ridiculing
ridiculing antiquity
antiquityenthusiasts
enthusiasts
among
among
thethe
oldold
right,
right,
he is
heusing
is using
their
their
veryvery
language.
language. In
Incontrast,
contrast,when
whenHitler
Hitler
opined
opined
against
against
Himmler
Himmler
and and
his enthusiasm
his enthusiasm
for
for archaeology
archaeologyininhis
histable-talk,
table-talk,
the
the
dictator,
dictator,
although
although
understanding
understanding
the the
essential
essential Germanomania
Germanomaniainherent
inherent
inin
the
the
new
new
post-classicist
post-classicist
archaeology,
archaeology,
did did
not use technical terms similar to Ger: 'At a time when our forebears were

producing the stone troughs and clay vessels about which our archaeologists
have made such a to-do, the Greeks were building the Acropolis.'68 In fact,
his young friend Kubizek notes that Hitler had a fascination for Germanic
antiquity in his youth and his love for Wagner is well known.69 In a speech in

1934, Hitler is recorded saying that 'a thousand years before Rome was
founded, the Germanic tribes had already reached a high cultural level' - a

statement reminiscent of the Kossinna school-inspired deliberations of

Himmler70 - and like Himmler, Hitler visited archaeological digs such as

those at the Kyffhiiuser.71 Indeed, by 1942 the dictator is recorded as having
formed an opinion on Detmold's Extern Stones: he was willing to believe that
they were important to the ancient Germanic tribes, but despite the wild astro-

archaeological theories of Teudt and the similarly Germanomaniacal musings

of Himmler's academic prehistorians, they were 'clearly not a cultic site, but
rather a place of refuge'.72 Hitler certainly had a sensibility for antiquarian
concerns beyond his pronounced Graecophilia - he even seems to have react-

ed positively toward Wirth and his Germanomaniacal gnostic 'Sinnbildforschung'.73 The dictator's negative comments about those who wallowed in a
Germanomania more abject than his own require contextualization, given his
informed understanding of the old Germanic past.
Hitler's attitude to Germanicness is explained by his dislike of Wotanists or
their latter-day racialist equivalents who styled themselves 'Ariosophists'.
Hitler was such a myth-maker in matters such as antisemitism and equally
68 Hitler, 7 July 1942, apud Henry Picker, Hitlers Tischgespriiche im Fiihrer Hauptquartier
(3rd edn, Stuttgart 1976), 426 [= trans. apud Werner Maser, trans. Peter and Betty Ross, Hitler
(London 1973), 138-9]. Cf. also, Speer, Inside the Third Reich, op. cit., 94f.
69 Birgitte Hamann, trans. Thomas Thornton, Hitler's Vienna (New York 1999), 210.

70 Hitler, 5 December 1934, apud Lund, Germanenideologie, op. cit., 103-4; cf. Himmler,
Document 1992(A)-PS, op. cit.
71 Haugmann, 'Archaeology in the "Third Reich"', op. cit., 70 (with a photograph from Hitler's
visit).

72 Hitler, 4 February 1942, apud Picker, Hitlers Tischgespriiche, op. cit., 101.

73 Hermann Rauschning, Hitler Speaks (London 1939), 225; Rauschning is a controversial

source, but his recollection here appears to be independently supported by Wirth's own statements: see Poliakov and Wulf (eds), Das Dritte Reich und seine Denker, op. cit., 243 and Martin
Broszat, 'Enthiillung? Die Rauschning Kontroverse', Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 20 September 1985 [= idem, Nach Hitler, ed. Hermann Graml and Klaus-Dieter Henke (2nd edn, Munich
1987), 249-511. In fact an inscribed copy of one of Wirth's books (Was hei/ft deutsch? [Jena
1931]) is to be found in the remains of Hitler's library in the Library of Congress, Washington (LC
CB213).

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

267

such an avid consumer of Wagner, that it would otherwise seem strange that
he did not make the idealizing of Germanic antiquity one of his concerns. But
he had little time for patent Germanomaniacal fantasies. Rauchning has Hitler
say in 1933: 'These professors and mystery-men who want to found Nordic
religions merely get in my way.'74 So, similarly, in Mein Kampf Hitler attacks

'so-called religious reformers' who wanted to return German religiosity to 'an

old Germanic basis'.75 This passage seems to be a reference directly aimed not
at the German Christianity of Lagarde, the Deutsche Christen and J. Wilhelm
Hauer's Deutsche Glaubensbewegung, however, but at Ariosophists like Lanz
von Liebenfels and his German counterparts. The old Austrian radical-right
enjoyed a strong obscurantistic connection: Schonerer, for example, had been
a Wotanist and an associate of the Ariosophical founder Guido (von) List.76
The Thule Society, too, was dominated by Ariosophical concerns; its very
symbol - a burning swastika imposed on a Bronze Age dagger - fairly reeks
of the mystical. Brigitte Hamann's linkage of Hitler with the writings of List
seems misinformed, however: her connection of List's Secret of the Runes to
an illustrated book seen carried by Hitler in his youth seems a bad guess, as
List's work has only one page of illustration.77 Hitler's vegetarianism also
appears to be a reflection of his relationship to the gnostic far-right - like
Wagner, many of the old Viennese right had promoted this radical aspect of
life reform, as did several of the German obscurantists who had been drawn to

National Socialism.78 Mysticists in the 1920s certainly counted Hitler as one of

their number.79 But it is evident that the one-time drummer had little time for
the more extreme Germanicist religionists.
The only mention of Wotanists and Ariosophists in Mein Kampf is this brief

dismissal found immediately after Hitler's similar attack on the 'deutschvolkisch wandering scholars'. His ambivalence to Germanic antiquity seems to
stem from a rejection of the mystical nationalism of these groups as well as a
desire to mark out the 'young movement' from the failed, impotent, often
Germanomaniacal, antiquarian-enthusing old right. Where a member of the
pre-war radical-right might have stressed Germanicness, in Mein Kampf
instead we find Aryans.

Hitler's repeated stress on the Aryan (and even the 'German-Aryan') seems

74 Rauschning, Hitler Speaks, op. cit., 59.

75 Hitler, trans. Mannheim, Mein Kampf, op. cit., 328.
76 Andrew G. Whiteside, The Socialism of Fools (Berkeley, CA 1975), 8ff.
77 Guido von List, Das Geheimnis der Runen (Gross Lichterfelde [1907]); Hamann, Hitler's
Vienna, op. cit.

78 Hitler cited Wagner's dietary ideal to justify his vegetarianism, but his doctors report that he
ascribed his herbivorous diet to positive effects on his bodily functions, ones which seem quite
unlike those typically experienced by vegetarians today. His complete conversion is often connected with the death of his niece, Geli, but this is also obviously the time that he was introduced

to the ideas of vegetarian obscurantists such as Wirth. Robert G.L. Waite, The Psychopathic God

(New York 1979), 75-6; Ian Kershaw, Hitler: 1889-1936: Hubris (London 1998), 703, n. 186.
79 Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism, op. cit., 192ff.

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268

Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

to indicate that he had come to reject the Germanicness consciousness of the

old radical-right and replaced the Germanic identity with another of even
greater German antiquity. By the 1910s, the Aryan, far from being merely an
anthropological formulation, was also being promoted as a cultural identity
by some German and Austrian writers. These academics, pseudo-scholarly
enthusiasts and even utter fantasists belonged to an Aryanist Grub Street outright mysticists like List and his followers were merely the most colourful
of these radical interpreters of antiquity.80 Much as with the racial Germanicness of nineteenth-century historians, under the influence of philology the

Aryan described by anthropologists had been joined by a new cultural

construction. The cultural Aryan, ostensibly rooted in comparative IndoEuropean studies, represented a marriage of traditional German cultural
Hellenism and the emergent Germanicism first hailed by figures like Wagner
and Dahn.81 Moreover, the Hellenic and the Germanic were symbolically
linked by the swastika, the ancient sun symbol first found in a Greek context

by Schliemann at Troy and since recognized also on all manner of northern

European archaeological finds.82 As Hitler opined in 1920: 'We know that all
these peoples [of Nordic origin] had a symbol in common: the symbol of the
sun . . . the swastika'; and furthermore, reflecting the most extreme of the
propositions of the Aryanist Grub Street, that 'Egypt reached its high cultural

level on account of the Aryans, as did Persia and Greece'.83 This Aryanism
subsumed and transcended both Germanicness and Hellenism, and could
embrace a significant part of the cultural genius of Egypt and Persia too.

Hitler's repeated attacks on those who would overtly mystify 'the movement' seem to represent his status as a sober man of facts. But given his acceptance even of many of the wildest delusions of antisemitism, his rejection of the
creative Germanentum-enthusing aspect of the discourse of the old right must

also be seen in light of his conceptualization of the Party as a 'movement' that

rejected the old conspiratorial approach epitomized by groups like the Thule
Society.84 In fact, Rauschning does not appear too far from the truth when he

has the dictator say (in reference to Darre's rural anti-Christianity): 'The old
beliefs will be brought back to honour again', although 'it will not be done in
the old way, running riot in colourful costumes and dreaming of a departed,
romantic age. The peasant will be told what the Church has destroyed for
him.'85 But Hitler had less need for a specifically Germanic identity as long as

80 Suzanne L. Marchand, 'The Rhetoric of Artifacts and the Decline of Classical Humanism:
The Case of Josef Strzygowski', History and Theory, suppl. 33 (1994), 106ff.
81 Poliakov, The Aryan Myth, op. cit., 255ff.; Marchand, Down from Olympus, op. cit., 348 et
seq.; cf. Puschner, Die v6lkische Bewegung, op. cit., 66ff.

82 Karlheinz Weitfmann, Schwarze Fahnen, Runenzeichen (Dusseldorf 1991), 58-73; Malcolm

Quinn, The Swastika (London 1994), 22ff.
83 Hitler, 13 August 1920, apud Jackel (ed.), Samtliche Aufzeichnungen, op. cit., 186-7.
84 Cf. Goodrick-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism, op. cit., 151.
85 Rauschning, Hitler Speaks, op. cit., 62-3.

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Mees: Hitler and Germanentum

269

he could reconcile the emergent Germanicness consciousness and traditional

German Graecophilia within the new racial and cultural identity of the Aryan.

Hitler's apparent ambivalence to Germanentum is explained by the often

unreliable, though still consistent evidence that he had once been influenced by
the more obscurantistic side of the volkisch movement, one that had developed

out of the Germanentum-conscious tradition of Goths, Rhine maidens and

runes, and evidence of his deliberate distancing of himself from that same
tradition. Although Lanz and List had both also been enthusiastic supporters
of the concept of the Aryan, the obvious obscurantism of the old Munich
radical-right was overtly bound up in an enthusiasm for Germanic antiquity.
Hitler ridiculed those 'folkish comedians' 'who brandish scholarly imitations
of old German tin swords'.86 Relics of his movement away from the Germanic,

however, of his one-time regard for the Germanic link between German and
Aryan, can be found in his writings, speeches and the records of his conversa-

tions. Yet clearly, although Hitler himself gradually came to reject some
aspects of Germanentum, like romanita in Mussolini's Italy the image of the
golden age of ancient Germany still became an important feature in German
fascism in the often, but not exclusively unofficial world that lay between
'working toward the Fiihrer' and the revolution in the conceptualization of

what it was to be German itself.

The image of Germanentum refined and promoted by figures like Heusler

and Kossinna seemed substantial and sober when contrasted with the more
fantastic elements of volkisch thought. Based in archaeological and traditional
literary-philological studies, the discourse of Germanicness did not envision a
Teutonic messiah or millenarian Reich, less still a nihilistic Gdtterddmmerung
or even a pagan revival. Germanentum was a narrative that treasured and
hoped to revive the best of the legacy of ancient Germany, one which held that

a return to old Germanic values would renew a cultural Germany that had
been corrupted by the ills of modernity. Pared by academic Germanists of the

more gnostic aspects represented by both Wagner and List, it dovetailed only
too well with other emerging discourses of German reaction, perhaps most
evidently with the Nordic racialism of Rassen-Giinther and the imperialistic
deliberations of the new experts on the East. The glorified picture of Germanic

antiquity promoted in academic theatres and halls, in the offerings of the

Aryan Grub Street, and after 1933, increasingly with the imprimatur of the
state as well, for some seemed to provide a legitimizing intellectual foundation
for many of the often grimmer discourses which grew up about the project of

volkisch renewal. Overtly supported by Rosenberg and Himmler, the memory

of the more ridiculous antics of the old radical right tempered Hitler's enthusiasm for the revival of the spirit of Germanentum, much as some of the more
gnostic aspects of the volkisch tradition, in response to the Fuhrer's public
criticisms, were officially discouraged in the German racial state.

86 Hitler, trans. Mannheim, Mein Kampf, op. cit., 327, 328.

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270 Journal of Contemporary History Vol 39 No 2

Bernard Mees

is a Fellow in the History Department at the University of

Melbourne. He is the author of many articles on both old Germanic

philology and modern German history and is currently working on a
study of the influence of German exiles in the Middle East in the
1950s and 1960s.

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