Kurt Riezler
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Kurt Riezler (February 11, 1882 – September 5, 1955) was a German
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...
. A top-level cabinet adviser in the
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
and the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
, he negotiated Germany's underwriting of Russia's
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
and authored the 1914 September Program which outlined German war aims during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The posthumous publication of his secret notes and diaries played a role in the "
Fischer Fischer is a German occupational surname, meaning fisherman. The name Fischer is the fourth most common German surname. The English version is Fisher. People with the surname A * Abraham Fischer (1850–1913) South African public official * Ad ...
Controversy" among German historians in the early 1960s.


Early life

Riezler was born in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
in 1882 to a prominent Catholic family; his grandfather had co-founded the Bayerische Hypotheken- und Wechselbank (now
HypoVereinsbank UniCredit Bank AG, better known under its brand name HypoVereinsbank (HVB), is the fifth-largest of the German financial institutions, ranked according to its total assets, and the fourth-largest bank in Germany according to the number of its e ...
,
UniCredit UniCredit S.p.A. is an international banking group headquartered in Milan. It is Italy's only systemically important bank (according to the list provided by the Financial Stability Board in 2022) and the world's 34th largest by assets. It was for ...
Group). He studied
classics Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...
at the
University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
and was granted his doctorate in economic history with highest honors in 1905. His prize-winning thesis on the ''Oikonomika,'' a classical Greek treatise once attributed to
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of phil ...
, was soon published. After working as a journalist for the '' Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung,'' a semi-official newspaper, he joined the press section of the
German Foreign Office , logo = DEgov-AA-Logo en.svg , logo_width = 260 px , image = Auswaertiges Amt Berlin Eingang.jpg , picture_width = 300px , image_caption = Entrance to the Foreign Office building , headquarters = Werderscher Mark ...
in 1907 and attracted the attention of
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...
. When
Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was the chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry into World War I. According to biog ...
became chancellor of Germany in 1909, Riezler became his chief adviser and confidant.


Political career

Riezler's duties in the chancellor's office concerned primarily, but not exclusively, foreign policy. In 1914 he authored the September Program which proposed as possible German war aims limited annexations, a hard peace for France, and a Belgian
vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
. In October 1917 he was posted to the German embassy in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
to arrange a cease-fire on the Eastern Front, and then to
Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
as the top aide to Germany's ambassador to Russia, Count Wilhelm von Mirbach. Riezler was an eyewitness to Mirbach's assassination by the
Left Socialist-Revolutionaries The Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries (russian: Партия левых социалистов-революционеров-интернационалистов) was a revolutionary socialist political party formed during the Russian Revol ...
on 9 July 1918, having unwittingly ushered the gunman
Yakov Blumkin Yakov Grigoryevich Blumkin (russian: Я́ков Григо́рьевич Блю́мкин; 12 March 1900 – 3 November 1929) was a Left Socialist-Revolutionary, a Bolshevik, and an agent of the Cheka and the Joint State Political Directorat ...
into Mirbach's presence. During this period, Riezler served as the conduit for German subsidies to the
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
s and personally negotiated these with
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 19 ...
's representatives
Karl Radek Karl Berngardovich Radek (russian: Карл Бернгардович Радек; 31 October 1885 – 19 May 1939) was a Russian revolutionary and a Marxist active in the Polish and German social democratic movements before World War I and a C ...
and
Alexander Parvus Alexander Lvovich Parvus, born Israel Lazarevich Gelfand (8 September 1867 – 12 December 1924) and sometimes called Helphand in the literature on the Russian Revolution, was a Marxist theoretician, publicist, and controversial activist in the ...
. Riezler later claimed privately that it had been his own idea to transport Lenin in the famous "sealed train" from Zurich through Germany to Russia in April 1917. Following the war, Riezler became a staunch supporter of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is al ...
. He joined the
German Democratic Party The German Democratic Party (, or DDP) was a center-left liberal party in the Weimar Republic. Along with the German People's Party (, or DVP), it represented political liberalism in Germany between 1918 and 1933. It was formed in 1918 from the ...
, contributed regularly to the pro-Weimar newspaper ''
Die Deutsche Nation Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life. Die may also refer to: Games * Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers Manufacturing * Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...
,'' and served as the Foreign Office's representative during the drafting of the
Weimar Constitution The Constitution of the German Reich (german: Die Verfassung des Deutschen Reichs), usually known as the Weimar Constitution (''Weimarer Verfassung''), was the constitution that governed Germany during the Weimar Republic era (1919–1933). The c ...
. From November 1919 until April 1920 he was chief of cabinet to President
Friedrich Ebert Friedrich Ebert (; 4 February 187128 February 1925) was a German politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and the first President of Germany (1919–1945), president of Germany from 1919 until his death in office in 1925. Eber ...
and played a central role in suppressing the
Bavarian Soviet Republic The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...
and the
Kapp Putsch The Kapp Putsch (), also known as the Kapp–Lüttwitz Putsch (), was an attempted coup against the German national government in Berlin on 13 March 1920. Named after its leaders Wolfgang Kapp and Walther von Lüttwitz, its goal was to undo the ...
.


Academic career

In 1927 he was named '' Kurator'' of the University of Frankfurt, to which he attracted a distinguished faculty that included
Ernst Kantorowicz Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz (May 3, 1895 – September 9, 1963) was a German historian of medieval political and intellectual history and art, known for his 1927 book '' Kaiser Friedrich der Zweite'' on Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and ''The Kin ...
,
Adolph Lowe Adolph Lowe (born ''Adolf Löwe''; 4 March 1893 – 3 June 1995) was a German sociologist and economist. His best known student was Robert Heilbroner. He was born in Stuttgart and died in Wolfenbüttel. Major publications of Adolph Lowe * ...
,
Karl Mannheim Karl Mannheim (born Károly Manheim, 27 March 1893 – 9 January 1947) was an influential Hungarian sociologist during the first half of the 20th century. He is a key figure in classical sociology, as well as one of the founders of the sociolo ...
,
Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian who is widely regarded as one of the most influential theologi ...
, and
Max Wertheimer Max Wertheimer (April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was an Austro-Hungarian psychologist who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. He is known for his book, ''Productive Thinking'', and f ...
. Riezler consequently played a crucial role in the 1930 inception of the
Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...
; for example, it was Riezler who recommended
Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...
to
Max Horkheimer Max Horkheimer (; ; 14 February 1895 – 7 July 1973) was a German philosopher and sociologist who was famous for his work in critical theory as a member of the Frankfurt School of social research. Horkheimer addressed authoritarianism, militari ...
. Because of his concurrent appointment to the philosophy faculty, Riezler was also prominent in German philosophical circles. In 1929 Riezler sided with
Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; ; 26 September 188926 May 1976) was a German philosopher who is best known for contributions to phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. He is among the most important and influential philosophers of the 20th centur ...
during the famous "Davos encounter" with
Ernst Cassirer Ernst Alfred Cassirer ( , ; July 28, 1874 – April 13, 1945) was a German philosopher. Trained within the Neo-Kantian Marburg School, he initially followed his mentor Hermann Cohen in attempting to supply an idealistic philosophy of science. Aft ...
and wrote an eyewitness account of this event, "Davoser Hochschulkurse 1929," for the ''
Neue Zürcher Zeitung The ''Neue Zürcher Zeitung'' (''NZZ''; "New Journal of Zürich") is a Swiss, German-language daily newspaper, published by NZZ Mediengruppe in Zürich. The paper was founded in 1780. It was described as having a reputation as a high-quality ne ...
.'' Riezler was forced out of the university in April 1933 by the
Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
but, having been allowed by them to draw his pension, remained in Germany for the next five years, publishing books on
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed thr ...
and
Parmenides Parmenides of Elea (; grc-gre, Παρμενίδης ὁ Ἐλεάτης; ) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Elea in Magna Graecia. Parmenides was born in the Greek colony of Elea, from a wealthy and illustrious family. His dates a ...
.


Emigration

In late 1938 he contacted the
Kreisau Circle The Kreisau Circle (German: ''Kreisauer Kreis'', ) (1940–1944) was a group of about twenty-five German dissidents in Nazi Germany led by Helmuth James von Moltke, who met at his estate in the rural town of Kreisau, Silesia. The circle was com ...
, an aristocratic anti-Nazi faction, and soon emigrated to the United States to accept a professorship in philosophy at the
New School for Social Research The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSSR ...
. He was to remain at that institution until his retirement, interspersed with visiting professorships at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
and the
University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
. During this period he became a close friend and colleague of the political philosopher
Leo Strauss Leo Strauss (, ; September 20, 1899 – October 18, 1973) was a German-American political philosopher who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States. ...
, who devoted the final chapter of his book ''What is Political Philosophy?'' to Riezler. Noting that Riezler's philosophy was "shaped by both the influence of Heidegger and the reaction to him," Strauss concludes that it "was ultimately because he grasped the meaning of shame and awe that Riezler was a liberal, a lover of privacy." Kurt Riezler returned to Europe in 1954, lived for some time in Rome and died in Munich in 1955. He was preceded in death by his wife Käthe (1885-1952), daughter of the German impressionist painter
Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...
. His survivors included their daughter Maria, wife of Howard B. White (1912-1974), a New School professor of political philosophy who had been Leo Strauss's first graduate student; and his brother Walter Riezler (1878-1965), a prominent musicologist, art historian and associate of the
Deutscher Werkbund The Deutscher Werkbund (English: "German Association of Craftsmen"; ) is a German association of artists, architects, designers and industrialists established in 1907. The Werkbund became an important element in the development of modern arch ...
.


Selected works

*1906. ''Das zweite Buch der Pseudoaristotelischen Ökonomik.'' Berlin: Norddeutsche Buchdruckerei und Verlagsanstalt. *1907. ''Über Finanzen und Monopole im alten Griechenland.'' Berlin: Puttkammer & Mühlbrecht. *1913. ''Die Erforderlichkeit des Unmöglichen: Prolegomena zu einer Theorie der Politik und zu anderen Theorien.'' München: G. Müller Verlag *1914. ''Grundzüge der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart'' (pseudonym J. J. Ruedorffer). Stuttgart & Berlin: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt
Grundzüge der Weltpolitik in der Gegenwart (1914)Grundzüge
*1920. ''Die drei Krisen; eine Untersuchung über den gegenwärtigen politischen Weltzustand'' (pseudonym J. J. Ruedorffer). Stuttgart & Berlin: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt. *1924. ''Gestalt und Gesetz; Entwurf einer Metaphysik der Freiheit.'' München: Musarion Verlag. *1928. "Die Krise der `Wirklichkeit`." ''Die Naturwissenschaften,'' 16 *1929. ''Über Gebundenheit und Freiheit des gegenwärtigen Zeitalters.'' Bonn: F. Cohen. *1934. ''Parmenides.'' Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann. *1935. ''Traktat vom Schönen. Zur Ontologie der Kunst.'' Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann. *1936. "The Homeric Simile and the Beginning of Philosophy". ''The St. John's Review'': 71–80. *1940. ''Physics and Reality; Lectures of Aristotle on Modern Physics at an International Congress of Science.'' New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Complete text here: Kurt Riezler'
"Physics and Reality" 1940
*1941. "Play and Seriousness." ''Journal of Philosophy,'' Vol. 38, No. 19 *1943. "Comment on the Social Psychology of Shame." ''American Journal of Sociology,'' Vol. 48, No. 4 *1943. "Homer's Contribution to the Meaning of Truth." ''Philosophy and Phenomenological Research,'' Vol. 3, No. 3 *1943. "On the Psychology of Modern Revolution." ''Social Research,'' Vol. 10 *1944. "The Social Psychology of Fear." ''American Journal of Sociology,'' Vol. 49, No. 6 *1944. "What Is Public Opinion?" ''Social Research,'' Vol. 11 *1944. "Forward" to
Max Wertheimer Max Wertheimer (April 15, 1880 – October 12, 1943) was an Austro-Hungarian psychologist who was one of the three founders of Gestalt psychology, along with Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler. He is known for his book, ''Productive Thinking'', and f ...
, "Gestalt Theory." ''Social Research,'' Vol. 11 *1948. "The Historian and Truth." ''Journal of Philosophy,'' Vol. 45, No. 14 *1949. "Reflections on Human Rights." ''Human Rights, Comments and Interpretations,'' UNESCO. *1951. ''Man, Mutable and Immutable: The Fundamental Structure of Social Life.'' Chicago: Regnery. *1954
"Political Decisions in Modern Society." ''Ethics,'' Vol. 64, No. 2


References


Further reading

* ; Neuausgabe 2008. * * * * *


External links


Guide to the Letters of Kurt Riezler
at the
Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Riezler, Kurt 1882 births 1955 deaths Causes of World War I German diplomats 20th-century German philosophers German political philosophers Germany–Soviet Union relations Writers from Munich People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Philosophers of science The New School faculty German male writers