Friedrich Märker (7 March 1893 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

, Bavaria – 27 April 1985 in

Feldafing Feldafing () is a municipality in Starnberg district, Bavaria, Germany, and is located on the west shore of Lake Starnberg, southwest of Munich. History The history of Feldafing begins on the Roseninsel or Rose Island, the only island in Lake ...

, Bavaria) was a German writer, essayist, theatre critic and publicist. His work focused on the physiognomy of the Nordic race (during the time of the Nazi regime), time and cultural criticism. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Alexander Stark, Nicholas Haug and Fyodor Ukrainow.

Biography

After studying philosophy, literature and art history in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

and

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(1913 to 1916) he worked as a playwright and theater director in Falck (near Munich),

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and

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. From 1926 he was a theater critic and arts and community college professor in Berlin. As a theatre critic he also published pieces in the '' Münchner Zeitung''. In 1934, he published his main book on the theory of the

Nordic race The Nordic race was a racial concept which originated in 19th century anthropology. It was considered a race or one of the putative sub-races into which some late-19th to mid-20th century anthropologists divided the Caucasian race, claiming th ...

("Charakterbilder der Rassen") where he tries to prove by the physiognomy of faces that the Nordic race is superior especially to the "ostic" race (Mongoloid looking Europeans). In 1938 his approach might have caused problems with the Nazi regime so that he perhaps was banned from lecturing by the Nazis.The only reference known so far is Munzinger, 00000006630, Friedrich Märker, , in: ''Internationales Biographisches Archiv'' 30/1985 vom 15. Juli 1985 He met novelist Margaret Willinsky in 1939 and they married. In 1944, at 50 years old, he was drafted into the army until he was released in 1945 after being captured by the Americans. After the war he added to his literary career by founding numerous writing organizations and was President of the Protective Association of Writers, founding the literary copyright collecting society for that in 1956. In 1959 he was honored with the

Great Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. From 1952, he was a member of the German

PEN club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

. The Friedrich-Marker-Preis, named in his honor, has awarded prizes for essays since 1986.

Works

*''Lebensgefühl und Weltgefühl'', 1920 *''Typen. Grundlagen der Charakterkunde'', 1930 *''Lavaters Physiognomische Fragmente. Ausgewählt und kommentiert'', 1949 *''Symbolik der Gesichtsformen. Physiognomische und mimische Beobachtungen'', 1933 *''Charakterbilder der Rassen. Bd. 1: Rassenkunde auf physiognomischer und phrenologischer Grundlage'', 1934 *''Die Kunst, aus dem Gesicht zu lesen'', 1971 *''Der grosse Widerspruch'', 1984, * Hörspiele: *:''Der Ackermann und der Tod'', 1946 *:''Die heilige Allianz'', 1953 *:''Abschied in Taganrog'', 1953

References

German public relations people German theatre critics 1893 births 1985 deaths Writers from Augsburg German essayists German theatre directors Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany German male essayists 20th-century essayists {{Germany-writer-stub