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Adolf Bartels (15 November 1862 – 7 March 1945) was a pastor,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

journalist and poet. Known for his '' völkisch'' worldview, he has been seen as a harbinger of

Nazi 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 ...

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

.Roderick Stackelberg, "Bartels, Adolf", in ''Antisemitism : a historical encyclopedia of prejudice and persecution'', edited by Richard S. Levy. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, 2005, (p. 59-60). Bartels was born at

Wesselburen Wesselburen () is a small town in the district of Dithmarschen in the German Federal State of Schleswig-Holstein. It is situated near the North Sea coast, approximately west of Heide. Wesselburen is part of the ''Amt'' ("collective municipality ...

, in

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

, and educated at

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

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 constitu ...

. An artisan's son, Bartels studied literature. After 1895 a free-lance journalist in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

, he gained a reputation as a Hebbel scholar. In 1897 he wrote a history of German literature that was marked by racist evaluations and rabid antisemitism; it became a pioneering work for National Socialist literary reviews. According to Bartels, even authors whose names sounded Jewish, who wrote for the "Jewish press", or who were friendly with Jews were "contaminated with Jewishness". The noblest task of ''völkisch'' cultural policy would therefore be a radical de-Jewing of the arts, and thus the "salvation of National Socialist Germany" (german: National-sozialistisches Deutschlands Rettung; 1924). Bartels led a successful campaign to prevent the unveiling of a statue of

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was a German poet, writer and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of '' Lied ...

in 1906. After World War One, Bartels' work experienced an upsurge in popularity, with his followers forming the ''Bartelsbund'' (Bartels Society) to promote his ideas; the Bartelsbund later merged with

Erich Ludendorff Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1865 – 20 December 1937) was a German general, politician and military theorist. He achieved fame during World War I for his central role in the German victories at Liège and Tannenberg in 1914. ...

Tannenbergbund The ''Tannenbergbund'' (, Tannenberg Union, TB) was a nationalist German political society formed in September 1925 at the instigation of Konstantin Hierl under the patronage of the former German Army general Erich Ludendorff. Part of the Völkis ...

group. Bartels' work achieved "quasi-official" status in Nazi Germany, and Hitler personally awarded Bartels the Adlerschild medal, Nazi Germany's highest civilian honour, in 1937. Bartels died in Weimar on 7 March 1945. Bartels's further literary productions included ''Die Dithmarscher'' (1898), a historical novel based on his native region advocating ruralism, which sold over 200,000 copies by the 1920s, Richard J. Evans, ''

The Coming of the Third Reich ''The Third Reich'' Trilogy is a series of three narrative history books by British historian Richard J. Evans, covering the rise and collapse of Nazi Germany in detail, with a focus on the internal politics and the decision-making process. The th ...

''. 2004, Penguin Books, London. (p. 122). and ''

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

'' (1903).

Works

Poetic and dramatic works

* ''Gedichte (1889) * ''Dichterleben'' (1890) * ''Aus der meerumschlungenen Heimat'' (1895) * ''Der dumme Teufel'', a mock epic (1896) * ''

'', a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wor ...

(1903)

Criticism and literary history

* ''Friedrich Gessler'' (1892) * ''Die deutsche Dichtung der Gegenwart'' (1897) * ''Geschichte der deutschen Litteratur'' (two volumes, 1901-02) * '' Adolf Stern'' (1905) * ''

'' (1906) * ''

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He rece ...

'' (1906) * ''Deutsche Literatur. Einsichten und Aussichten'' (1907) * ''Deutsches Schrifttum'' (1911)

Notes

References

* Fuller, Steven Nyole. ''Nazis' Literary Grandfather: Adolf Bartels and Cultural Extremism, 1871-1945'', Peter Lang Pub Inc, 1996 (). * Rees, Philip. '' Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'', 1991, (). * Christian Zentner, Friedemann Bedürftig (1991). ''

The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is a two-volume text edited by and , first published in German in 1985. ''The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich'' is leading source material for information about Nazi Germany and the reign of Adolf Hitler a ...

''. Macmillan, New York. *

External links

* 1862 births 1945 deaths People from Wesselburen People from the Duchy of Holstein Nazi Party members German poets Writers from Schleswig-Holstein German male journalists German journalists German male poets {{Germany-journalist-stub