Rudolf Pannwitz (27 May 1881 in Crossen/Oder,

Province of Brandenburg The Province of Brandenburg (german: Provinz Brandenburg) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1945. Brandenburg was established in 1815 from the Kingdom of Prussia's core territory, comprised the bulk of the historic Margraviate of Brandenburg ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

– 23 March 1969 in

Astano Astano is a municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. History Astano is first mentioned in 1272 as ''Astanum''. The old village center has some architecturally notable buildings, such as the Ca' da Roma. ...

, Ticino,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) was a German writer, poet and philosopher. His thought combined nature philosophy, Nietzsche, an opposition to

nihilism Nihilism (; ) is a philosophy, or family of views within philosophy, that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence, such as objective truth, knowledge, morality, values, or meaning. The term was popularized by Ivan ...

and

pan-European Pan-European can refer to: * Pan-European identity * Pan-European corridors ** Pan-European Corridor X ** Pan-European Corridor Xa * Pan European Game Information * Pan-European Institute * Pan-European nationalism * Pan-European Oil Pipeline ...

internationalism:

Life

Pannwitz was educated at the University of Marburg before moving to

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 ...

to continue studying. Through

Gertrud Kantorowicz Gertrud Kantorowicz (1876-1945) was a German art historian, poet and translator. Life Gertrud Kantorowicz was born 1876 in Poznań. She studied in Berlin, becoming one of the first women in Germany to obtain a humanities PhD. She met Stefan George ...

, a cousin of

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 ...

and friend of

Georg Simmel Georg Simmel (; ; 1 March 1858 – 26 September 1918) was a German sociologist, philosopher, and critic. Simmel was influential in the field of sociology. Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach l ...

, he was introduced to

Sabine Lepsius Sabine Lepsius (15 January 1864 – 22 November 1942) was a German portrait painter. Life She was born in Berlin as the daughter of portrait painter Gustav Graef and Franziska Liebreich (1824–1893), a lithographer. She studied with her fat ...

and the poetry of Stefan George. Pannwitz's poem 'Das Totengedicht' he Poem of the Deadwas published in George's literary magazine, ''Blätter für die Kunst''. George and Nietzsche were lasting influences upon Pannwitz. In 1904 Pannwitz cofounded the periodical ''Charon'' with Otto zur Linde, co-editing it until 1906. His 1917 book ''The Crisis of European Culture'' impressed Hugo von Hofmannsthal, though Hofmannsthal later distanced himself from Pannwitz.Raymond Furness, ''Zarathustra's children: a study of a lost generation of German writers'', pp.17ff. From 1921 to 1948 Pannwitz lived on the small island of

Koločep The island of Koločep (; locally known as Kalamota from it, Calamotta) is one of the three inhabited Elaphiti Islands situated near the city of Dubrovnik with an area of . Koločep is the southernmost inhabited island in Croatia. In the 2011 cen ...

. In 1968 he received the

Gryphius Prize The Andreas-Gryphius Prize is a prestigious literary prize in Germany, named after the German poet Andreas Gryphius (1616–1664). The prize is awarded to authors and translators whose work reflects German culture and history in Central, Eastern ...

.'Pannwitz, Rudolf', in ''The Oxford Companion to German Literature'', ed. Henry & Mary Garland, 3rd ed., 1997, pp.646-7

Works

Prose

* ''Die Erziehung'', 1909 * ''Formenkunde der Kirche'', 1912 * ''Die Krisis der europäischen Kultur'', 1917 * ''Die deutsche Lehre'', 1919 * ''Grundriß einer Geschichte meiner Kultur 1886 bis 1906'', 1921 * ''Kosmos Atheos'', 1926 * ''Die Freiheit der Menschen'', 1926 * ''Logos, Eidos, Bios'', 1930 * ''Der Ursprung und das Wesen der Geschlechter'', 1936 * ''Nietzsche und die Verwandlung des Menschen'', 1940 * ''Weg des Menschen'', 1942 * ''Das Weltalter und die Politik'', 1948 * ''Der Nihilismus und die werdende Welt'', 1951 * ''Nach Siebzig Jahren'', 1951 * ''Beiträge zu einer europäischen Kultur'', 1954

Poetry

* ''Prometheus'', 1902 * ''Dionysische Tragödien'', 1913 * ''Mythen'', 1919-1921, In 9 Parts, including ''Das Kind Aion'', ''Der Elf'', ''Das Lied vom Ehlen'', ''Faustus und Helena'', ''Der Gott'', and ''Logos''. * ''Urblick'', 1926 * ''Hymnen aus Widars Wiederkehr'', 1927 * ''König Laurin'', 1956 * ''Wasser wird sich ballen'', 1963

References

External links