''Die Tat'' (''The Deed'' or ''The Action'') was a German monthly publication of politics and culture. It was founded in April 1909 and its publisher (from 1912 on) was

Eugen Diederichs Eugen Diederichs (June 22, 1867 – September 10, 1930) was a German publisher born in Löbitz, in the Prussian Province of Saxony. Diederichs started his publishing company in Florence, Italy, in 1896. He moved on to Leipzig, where he publish ...

from

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

. From 1939 until 1944 ''Die Tat'' was continued as ''Das XX. Jahrhundert''.

1909–1912

The magazine was founded by the

freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

Ernst Horneffer. It had the subtitle ''Wege zu freiem Menschentum'', which in this case would be that of a

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...

-man.

1912–1928

In October 1912 Eugen Diederichs took control of the magazine, which at that point had only a distribution of about 1,000. The content would change, and from now on it would sport the subtitle ''Eine sozial-religiöse Monatsschrift'', later changed to ''Sozial-religiöse Monatsschrift für deutsche Kultur''. Again, in 1921 Diederichs would change the title of ''Die Tat'', implying another change of viewership and ideology: ''Die Tat. Monatsschrift für die Zukunft deutscher Kultur''.

1928–1929

In 1928 Diederichs transferred editorial control of ''Die Tat'' to the writer

Adam Kuckhoff Adam Kuckhoff (, 30 August 1887 – 5 August 1943) was a German writer, journalist, and German resistance member of the anti-fascist resistance group that was later called the Red Orchestra by the Gestapo. Life Adam Kuckhoff published a popula ...

(who was later executed by the Nazis). This would only last shortly. The magazine would be restyled however, getting the subtitle ''Monatsschrift zur Gestaltung neuer Wirklichkeit''.

1929–1933

Hans Zehrer Hans Zehrer ( pseud. Hans Thomas; 22 June 1899 – 23 August 1966) was a German philosopher and journalist. He edited a leading right-wing journal, ''Die Tat'', and founded the ''Tat'' Circle. Biography Zehrer was born in Berlin to a postal offi ...

would become (unofficial) chief editor of ''Die Tate'' in September 1929 (now subtitled as ''Unabhängig Monatsschrift zur Gestaltung neuer Wirklichkeit''), and would together with

Ernst Wilhelm Eschmann Ernst Wilhelm Eschmann ( pseud. Leopold Dingräve, Von Severus, 1904 - 1987) was a German writer, sociologist and playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from ...

, Ferdinand Fried and Giselher Wirsing make ''Die Tate'' into an influential promoter of the Tatkreis and the

Conservative Revolutionary movement The Conservative Revolution (german: Konservative Revolution), also known as the German neoconservative movement or new nationalism, was a German national-conservative movement prominent during the Weimar Republic, in the years 1918–1933 (betw ...

. In a short time the circulation of the magazine would rise to 30,000, attracting mostly a middle-class populace, and becoming a front-runner of the

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 ...

propaganda machine with the magazine's stress on

autarky Autarky is the characteristic of self-sufficiency, usually applied to societies, communities, states, and their economic systems. Autarky as an ideal or method has been embraced by a wide range of political ideologies and movements, especiall ...

, nationalism, and anti-capitalistic tendencies. It also provided a front for

Kurt von Schleicher Kurt Ferdinand Friedrich Hermann von Schleicher (; 7 April 1882 – 30 June 1934) was a German general and the last chancellor of Germany (before Adolf Hitler) during the Weimar Republic. A rival for power with Hitler, Schleicher was murdered by ...

, when ''Die Tate'' took control of the

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 ...

paper ''Tägliche Rundschau'' in 1932.

1933–1939

In 1933 the Nazis took control of the publication and Giselher Wirsing would become its main editor, changing the subtitle of the magazine to ''Unabhängige Monatsschrift'' in 1934. The last subtitle change of the magazine occurred in 1936, fittingly it was now to be named the ''Deutsche Monatsschrift''.

References

* Hans Brunzel: ''Die „Tat“ 1918–1933'', Diss. phil., Bonn 1952 * Irmgard Heidler, ''Der Verleger Eugen Diederichs und seine Welt. (1896–1930)'' (= Mainzer Studien zur Buchwissenschaft, Bd. 8), Wiesbaden 1998. * Hans Henneke: ''„ Ulrich Unfried" und der Tat-Kreis'' in: Criticón 182/183, 2004, S. 43–46 * Edith Hanke & Gangolf Hübinger: ''Von der "Tat"-Gemeinde zum "Tat"-Kreis''. Die Entwicklung einer Kulturzeitschrift, in: Gangolf Hübinger (ed.): ''Versammlungsort moderner Geister''. Der Eugen Diederichs Verlag – Aufbruch ins Jahrhundert der Extreme, München 1996, S. 299–334 * Klaus Fritzsche: Politische Romantik und Gegenrevolution. Fluchtwege in der Krise der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft: Das Beispiel des Tat-Kreises. Frankfurt a. M. 1976 *

Kurt Sontheimer Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

: Der Tatkreis, in:

Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte The Institute of Contemporary History (''Institut für Zeitgeschichte'') in Munich was conceived in 1947 under the name ''Deutsches Institut für Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Zeit'' ("German Institute of the History of the National Sociali ...

7, Heft 3, 1959, S. 229–26
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*

Siegfried Kracauer Siegfried Kracauer (; ; February 8, 1889 – November 26, 1966) was a German writer, journalist, sociologist, cultural critic, and film theorist. He has sometimes been associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. He is notable for a ...

: ''Aufruhr der Mittelschichten''. Eine Auseinandersetzung mit dem "Tat"-Kreis (1931), in: Derselbe: ''Schriften'', Bd. 5.2, Frankfurt/Main 1990, S. 405–424 * Stefan Breuer: ''Anatomie der Konservativen Revolution'' Darmstadt 1993 *

Alfred Weber Alfred Weber (; 30 July 1868 – 2 May 1958) was a German economist, geographer, sociologist and theoretician of culture whose work was influential in the development of modern economic geography. Life Alfred Weber, younger brother of the ...

: Ausgewählte Briefwechsel, (Alfred Weber Gesamtausgabe), ed. Eberhard Demm und Hartmut Soell. Marburg, 2003. *

: Leben und Werk. Ausgewählte Briefe und Aufzeichnungen, ed.

Lulu von Strauß und Torney Lulu von Strauss und Torney (1873–1956) was a German poet and writer. Best remembered for her ballads, she also wrote historical fiction with rural settings in northwest Germany. Life Lulu von Strauss und Torney was born in 1873 in Bückeburg. S ...

. Jena: Diederichs, 1936. * Marino Pulliero: Une modernité explosive. La revue ''Die Tat'' dans les renouveaux religieux, culturels et politiques de l’Allemagne d’avant 1914–1918. Genf 2008 Zum Lebensgefühl der Zwischenkriegsjugend: *

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann, with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship, and Golo ...

, ''Der Wendepunkt.'' Frankfurt a.M. 1956. *

Areti Georgiadou ''Arete'' (Greek: ) is a concept in ancient Greek thought that, in its most basic sense, refers to 'excellence' of any kind Liddell, H.G. & Scott, R. ''A Greek–English Lexicon'', 9th ed. (Oxford, 1940), s.v.br>—especially a person or thin ...

: ''Das Leben zerfetzt sich mir in tausend Stücke.'' Frankfurt a.M. 1996. German-language magazines Conservative Revolutionary movement Defunct political magazines published in Germany Magazines established in 1909 Magazines disestablished in 1939 Mass media in Jena {{italic title