Rudolf Bahro
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Rudolf Bahro (18 November 1935 – 5 December 1997) was a dissident from
East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
who, since his death, has been recognised as a philosopher, political figure and author. Bahro was a leader of the
West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
party
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' *Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina *Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *Gree ...
, but became disenchanted with its political organization, left the party and explored spiritual approaches to sustainability.


Early life and education

Bahro was the eldest of three children of Max Bahro, a livestock-industry consultant, and Irmgard Bahro (née Conrad). Until 1945, the family lived in
Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
: first in the spa town of Bad Flinsberg and then in neighboring Gerlachsheim, where Bahro attended the village school. Towards the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
Max Bahro was drafted into the
Volkssturm The (; "people's storm") was a levée en masse national militia established by Nazi Germany during the last months of World War II. It was not set up by the German Army, the ground component of the combined German ''Wehrmacht'' armed forces, ...
, and, after his capture, detained as a Polish prisoner. As the Eastern Front approached, the family was evacuated and Bahro was separated from his mother and siblings during the flight (the rest of Bahro's family, with the exception of his father, died of
typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...
soon afterwards). Bahro lived with an aunt in Austria and Hesse, spending several months in each location and eventually reuniting with his father, who was managing a widow's farm in Rießen (now part of Siehdichum). From 1950 to 1954, Bahro attended high school in Fürstenberg (now part of
Eisenhüttenstadt Eisenhüttenstadt (literally "ironworks city" in German; , dsb, Pśibrjog) is a town in the Oder-Spree district of the state of Brandenburg, Germany, on the border with Poland. East Germany founded the city in 1950. It was known as Stalinstadt ( ...
). Since it was assumed that all high-school students would join the Free German Youth (FDJ), Bahro reluctantly joined in 1950. This was, as he later commented, the only time he did something against his will under pressure. In 1952 he applied for membership in the Socialist Unity Party (SED), which he joined in 1954. Bahro was regarded as intelligent, and graduated from high school with honors. He attended
Humboldt University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiati ...
in Berlin from 1954 to 1959 and studied philosophy. Among his teachers were
Kurt Hager Kurt Hager (24 July 1912 – 18 September 1998) was an East German statesman, a member of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany who was known as the chief ideologist of the party and decided many cultural and educational policies in the German ...
(who later became the philosopher of the SED),
Georg Klaus Georg Klaus (28 December 1912, Nuremberg – 29 July 1974, Berlin) was a German philosopher, cybernetician, chess master, and functionary. In 1928, he started his chess career in Nuremberg, playing at ''Arbeiterschachklub Nürnberg'', then ''Nürnb ...
and
Wolfgang Heise Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...
. The topic of his thesis was " Johannes R. Becher and the relationship of the German working class and its party to the national question of our people". Until 1956, Bahro was an admirer of
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 1 ...
and
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
; Khrushchev's leaked "
secret speech "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences" (russian: «О культе личности и его последствиях», «''O kul'te lichnosti i yego posledstviyakh''»), popularly known as the "Secret Speech" (russian: секре ...
" in February 1956 changed his views. He followed the
Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...
and the Hungarian Revolution with great interest, expressed his solidarity with the insurgents in a
wall newspaper A wall newspaper or placard newspaper is a hand-lettered or printed newspaper designed to be displayed and read in public places both indoors and outdoors, utilizing vertical surfaces such as walls, boards, and fences. The practice dates back to ...
and openly criticized the restricted-information policy of the GDR leadership. As a result of his views, national security spied on him for two years.


Party work

After passing the government licensing examination, the SED sent Bahro to Sachsendorf (a part of Lindendorf). He edited a local newspaper, ''Die Linie'' (''The Line'') and encouraged the area's farmers to join the LPG agricultural cooperative. In 1959 Bahro married Gundula Lambke, a Russian language teacher. The couple had two daughters (one of whom died at birth) and a son, in addition to Gundula's daughter. In 1960 Bahro was appointed to the party leadership of the
University of Greifswald The University of Greifswald (; german: Universität Greifswald), formerly also known as “Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald“, is a public research university located in Greifswald, Germany, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pom ...
, where he founded the ''Unsere Universität'' ("Our University") newspaper and served as editor-in-chief. The same year saw the publication of his first book, a collection of poems entitled ''In dieser Richtung'' (''In This Direction''). Beginning in 1962, Bahro worked as a consultant for the Corporate Executive Committee of the Union of Science (one of the divisions of the
Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation (german: Freier Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 and 1990. As a mass organis ...
) in Berlin; in 1965 he was appointed deputy chief of the Freie Deutsche Jugend (FDJ) student magazine, ''Forum''. During Bahro's tenure with the FDJ he was hampered by conflict with the increasingly restrictive policies of the SED, which made him a target of criticism. Due to the unauthorized publication of an article by
Volker Braun Volker Braun (born 7 May 1939 in Dresden) is a German writer. His works include ''Provokation für mich'' (''Provocation for me'') – a collection of poems written between 1959 and 1964 and published in 1965, a play, ''Die Kipper'' (''The Dumpers ...
, Bahro was dismissed as deputy chief in 1967.


Evolution of ideas

From 1967 to 1977 Bahro worked for a number of companies in the rubber and plastics industry as an
organization development Organization development (OD) is the study and implementation of practices, systems, and techniques that affect organizational change, the goal of which is to modify an organization's performance and/or culture. The organizational changes are ...
specialist. Seeing conditions in the factories soon brought him to the conclusion that the East German economy was in a crisis and the primary reason for this was that workers had little voice in the workplace. He expressed this view in a December 1967 letter to the Chairman of the State Council,
Walter Ulbricht Walter Ernst Paul Ulbricht (; 30 June 18931 August 1973) was a German communist politician. Ulbricht played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (after spending the years of Nazi rule in ...
, proposing a transfer of workplace responsibility to the workers with
grassroots democracy Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization. Grassroots organizations can have a va ...
. A few weeks later, the Prague Spring began; Bahro took a lively interest, supported the movement. In May 1968 he was interviewed by a member of the Central Committee, who made it clear that his solidarity with the "counter-revolution" was no longer tolerated. This led Bahro to develop his ideas systematically, and to publish them. His decision was reinforced by the
Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia The Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia refers to the events of 20–21 August 1968, when the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Rep ...
on 21 August. This was, as Bahro later said, "the blackest day" of his life and the reason for his final break with the SED. He decided not to make the break publicly, to protect his book project. In 1972 Bahro began part-time work on his dissertation on development conditions of high-school and technical-college groups in the VEBs (state-owned enterprises of the GDR). At the same time, he secretly wrote a thematically broader manuscript which later became ''The Alternative''. In 1973, Gundula filed for divorce; both spouses said later this was as a precautionary measure to protect the children against government reprisals. However, in 1974 Gundula informed state security about the secret book project and handed over a copy of the manuscript; after that, Bahro was under surveillance. In 1975 Bahro submitted his dissertation at the
Technical University Leuna-Merseburg Technical University Leuna-Merseburg (German: Technische Hochschule „Carl Schorlemmer“ Leuna-Merseburg, abbreviated: THLM) was an institution of tertiary education in the city of Merseburg in today's Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded on 1 S ...
, which was evaluated favorably by three reviewers. The Stasi intervened, engineering two opposing reviews. His work on ''The Alternative'' was unhindered, but Bahro was convinced that he would be unable to disseminate his book to the GDR citizenry. In December 1976 he learned that one of his
samizdat Samizdat (russian: самиздат, lit=self-publishing, links=no) was a form of dissident activity across the Eastern Bloc in which individuals reproduced censored and underground makeshift publications, often by hand, and passed the document ...
s had fallen into Stasi hands, which prompted him to finish his work quickly. Intermediaries arranged a contract with Europäische Verlagsanstalt, a West German publisher. Swiss musicologist
Harry Goldschmidt Harry Goldschmidt (17 June 1910 in Basel – 19 November 1986) was a Swiss musicologist. Life 1910–1949: Basel, Weimar Republic, France, West Africa, Switzerland Goldschmidt was born in Basel on 17 June 1910, the second child of Siegfried ...
smuggled the finished manuscript into West Berlin, and copies of the manuscript reached individuals in the GDR by mail. Later in West Germany, Bahro said that the theoretical bases for ''The Alternative'' were
Karl August Wittfogel Karl August Wittfogel (6 September 1896 – 25 May 1988) was a German-American playwright, historian, and sinologist. He was originally a Marxist and an active member of the Communist Party of Germany, but after the Second World War, he was an e ...
's 1957 '' Oriental Despotism: A Comparative Study of Total Power'' and earlier Marxist works. He was unable to cite Wittfogel because of the latter's anticommunism. Wittfogel also influenced Bahro's later ecological work.


''The Alternative''

''The Alternative'' is divided into three parts: # The non-capitalist path to an industrial society # Anatomy of socialism # Strategy for a communist alternative The introduction begins with the premise that the communist society, Communist movement did not lead to the theoretically expected situation, but instead continued on the capitalist path with only superficial changes. " Alienation and the subaltern mentality of the working masses continue on a new level." The book analyzes the reasons for this, and offers solutions. The first part is a historical analysis of the development of
socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
in the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
. Bahro concludes that in the Soviet Union (and, consequently, also in countries such as the GDR) not the theoretically expected socialism but a form of proto-socialism had emerged. For the reason, he posits that at the time of the
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 mome ...
the Soviet Union was far from the stage of development presumed in
Marx's theory of history Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...
. Nevertheless, the path chosen by Lenin was correct. Bahro regards Stalin's subsequent massive industrialization as a necessary development, justifying the party purge as inevitable. In the second part, Bahro analyzes the existing
social system In sociology, a social system is the patterned network of relationships constituting a coherent whole that exist between individuals, groups, and institutions. It is the formal structure of role and status that can form in a small, stable group. A ...
, which he believes was incorrectly called "
real socialism Real socialism, better known as actually existing socialism or developed socialism (), was an ideological catchphrase popularized during the Brezhnev era in the Eastern Bloc countries and the Soviet Union.
" when in reality it was still a
class society A social class is a grouping of people into a set of hierarchical social categories, the most common being the upper, middle and lower classes. Membership in a social class can for example be dependent on education, wealth, occupation, inco ...
. He detailed how this society worked, and argues that this provided the rationale for the observed economic stagnation. In the third part, he developed solutions, including a call for a new revolution which would transform not only the social circumstances but the people. Its intention is to overcome the subaltern mentality, the "form of existence and way of thinking of ordinary people." He demanded the abolition of the division of labor; all should participate in science, art and menial work.


Response

On 22 August 1977, the West German magazine '' Der Spiegel'' published an extract from ''The Alternative'' and an interview with Bahro, during which he admitted writing the book. The next day, Bahro was arrested and taken to the Berlin-Hohenschönhausen prison. That evening, West German television stations ARD and ZDF broadcast Bahro's interview. In early September, the book went on sale. The first edition was sold out before delivery, and was translated into other languages. ''The Alternative'' sparked debate in the West European left about the nature of socialism. For Herbert Marcuse, Bahro's book was "the most important contribution to Marxist theory and practice that has appeared in recent decades"; a similar view was expressed by the
Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
Ernest Mandel Ernest Ezra Mandel (; also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter (5 April 1923 – 20 July 1995), was a Belgian Marxian economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist, and Holocaust survivor. He f ...
. To Lawrence Krader, Bahro was the "conscience of the revolution, the strength of the truth".
Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf "Rudi" Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the West German Socialist Stu ...
was critical, classifying Bahro as detached from Leninism with too little respect for human rights and calling his suggestions "totally unrealistic". These analyses were accompanied by a broad wave of publicly expressed solidarity with Bahro, climaxing in a letter by
Heinrich Böll Heinrich Theodor Böll (; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll is a recipient of the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972). ...
and Günter Grass in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' on 1 February 1978 which was also signed by
Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...
,
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...
, Carol Stern,
Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...
and other celebrities. In the GDR, however, Bahro's recognition was suppressed and he was told nothing of the reaction to his book and subsequent arrest. About half of the copies of ''The Alternative'' which Bahro had posted shortly before his arrest in the GDR were intercepted by the authorities. His influence of East German students was limited. To write and publish a book was, in itself, legal in the GDR; however, Bahro was accused of working for the West German intelligence service (from whom he was thought to have obtained his information). On 30 June 1978, Bahro was convicted ''in camera'' of treason and betraying state secrets, and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. Evidence indicates a
kangaroo court A kangaroo court is a court that ignores recognized standards of law or justice, carries little or no official standing in the territory within which it resides, and is typically convened ad hoc. A kangaroo court may ignore due process and come ...
, with a predetermined verdict; an appeal to the Supreme Court of the GDR filed by defense attorney Gregor Gysi was summarily rejected as unfounded. The verdict immediately sparked violent protests and expressions of solidarity in the West. The Committee for the Release of Rudolf Bahro organized an international conference, held 16 to 19 November 1978 in
West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
and attended by over 2,000 participants. The depth of solidarity is illustrated by an appeal to the State Council of the GDR in the '' Frankfurter Rundschau'' of 11 May 1979, organized by Bahro Committee in 12 countries and signed by a number of celebrities. Bahro was awarded the
Carl von Ossietzky Medal The (ILMR) has awarded the Carl von Ossietzky Medal since 1962. The league has honored personalities, initiatives or organizations who have worked with civil courage and outstanding commitment to the realization of human rights annually since 1962 ...
by the International League for Human Rights (Berlin) and made a member of the Swedish and Danish chapters of
PEN International 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 Internatio ...
. On 11 October 1979, the 30th anniversary of the founding of the GDR, Bahro was granted amnesty. On 17 October he was deported with his former wife, their two children and his partner Ursula Beneke to the Federal Republic of Germany, in accordance with his July request.


West German work

In West Germany Bahro soon joined the nascent Greens party, making a commitment to unite socialist and values-based coservatism currents in the new party since compromise was a necessity. A 1980 book formulated elements of a new policy: the relationship between
ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...
and socialism. Breaking from his position in ''The Alternative'', Bahro now felt that classical Marxism was no longer appropriate. Another new motif in Bahro's thinking was religion. While in custody he had studied the Bible, and when he moved to the west he noticed unhappiness in spite of material prosperity. He interpreted this as a lack of introspection and transcendence, rejecting the traditionally materialistic outlook of socialism. The goal of human emancipation was represented (in different ways) by Karl Marx and Jesus Christ. In this context, Bahro referred to early Christianity and
liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...
. At the beginning of 1980, Bahro studied with
Oskar Negt Oskar Reinhard Negt (; born 1 August 1934 in Kapkeim, East Prussia) is a philosopher and critical social theorist. He is an emeritus professor of sociology at Leibniz University Hannover, and one of Germany's most prominent social scientists. ...
at the Leibniz University Hannover. His thesis appeared as a book, ''A Plea for Creative Initiative''. In 1983, he earned his habilitation in social philosophy. In 1982, Bahro adopted a more radical position due to the contemporary economic crisis. He advocated a restructuring of society in economic, environmental and social-policy terms, which should be linked to a broad retreat from the world market and a move away from capitalist industry. Bahro also became involved in the
peace movement A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals, such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world peac ...
, advocating a nuclear-free Europe. Bahro's Dare Commune was an alternative community during the early days of the Greens. He believed that the transformation of society must begin on a small scale, requiring a change in the people themselves and a rediscovery of spirituality. Bahro was influenced by the Congregation of the
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...
s and the mystical experience of God. In 1981 Bahro visited the
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
, where he was received as a guest of the state. He saw this as his most important trip, to a state he admired with a system "to satisfy all the basic requirements of security". As part of a lecture tour of the United States in summer 1983, Bahro enjoyed several weeks at
Rajneeshpuram Rajneeshpuram was a religious intentional community in the northwest United States, located in Wasco County, Oregon. Incorporated as a city between 1981 and 1988, its population consisted entirely of Rajneeshees, followers of the spiritual tea ...
with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho). After the Green Party entered the
Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Common ...
for the first time in March 1983, the question arose whether they would join a coalition with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (the SPD) or remain in opposition. Bahro strongly favored the latter option (which placed him in opposition to
Joschka Fischer Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer (born 12 April 1948) is a German retired politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens. He served as the foreign minister and as the vice-chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 2005. Fi ...
), and believed in renewal rather than reform. In his December 1984 "Hamburg speech", Bahro made a comparison with the political and social situation in 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 ...
: At that time, there had also been a broad movement in society which was dissatisfied with prevailing conditions and wanted change. What mattered now was to prevent the errors and political disasters of the past. In the Weimar Republic, the "brown" pole of the political spectrum (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 ...
s) overpowered the left with "nationalist mythology in disguise; therefore, resistance to capitalist development" could not begin. Bahro's "popular uprising" could occur this time without violence, but it was important that the Greens "are not lost" in the system. Bahro also called for the conquest of the right-left divide; to escape its minority position, the Greens should also "penetrate the territory of the Bavarian CSU". Bahro's Hamburg speech ended with the allegation that Joschka Fischer's supporters had a lust for power, a situation that could lead to civil war and subsequent dictatorship. During the summer of 1985 Bahro left the Greens and focused on his new book, which was published in 1987 as ''Logic of Salvation''. In it he described a "logic of self-extermination" and its consequences for humanity at present, presenting a "logic of life" requiring a "leap in consciousness" and a withdrawal from the industrial "mega-machine". It was important to implement a "rescue policy", before the worsening environmental crisis leads to an emergency government. Bahro called for long-term goals, the elimination of short-term tactics and government decentralization. He advocated an "invisible church", which would provide the necessary spiritual dimension. As a conservative on the left, he noted common ground with CDU politician and critic Kurt Biedenkopf. Inspired by Mikhail Gorbachev's ''perestroika'', Bahro hoped for a "prince of environmental change" and suggested the establishment of a consensus-oriented body similar to the British
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...
. The book met a mostly negative response, and Bahro's references to a prince and an invisible church were criticized. In 1986, Bahro held "learning workshops" at his home in
Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...
, which featured discussion of his ideas and meditation. He met Beatrice Ingermann, who had been conducting a similar project since 1983 that was also a community in the Eifel. Bahro joined her group; they married in 1988, and had a daughter.


In Berlin after the fall of the Wall

Seeing the rapid decline of the GDR, at the end of 1989 Bahro went to East Berlin to fight against the feared "sellout of the GDR," its absorption by the Federal Republic. He wanted to work to ensure that the regime could keep its autonomy and maintain what he thought was its greatest political achievement: the primacy of politics over economics. On 16 December 1989, Bahro had the opportunity of speaking to the assembled delegates of the extraordinary party conference of the
Socialist Unity Party of Germany The Socialist Unity Party of Germany (german: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands, ; SED, ), often known in English as the East German Communist Party, was the founding and ruling party of the German Democratic Republic (GDR; East German ...
, whose chairman had, a week ago, been his former legal counsel, Gysi. The main item on the agenda was whether the party should continue or be dissolved. What was finally decided was that the party should continue under a new name: Socialist Unity Party of Germany – Party of Democratic Socialism (German: Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands – Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus, abbreviated SED-PDS). Bahro's request to address the conference as a guest speaker found only a slight majority (54%), and he was granted only 30 minutes, not the requested 45 minutes. Bahro was annoyed at this and had to improvise. After reading out the names of all the people who had helped him with his book, ''Die Alternative'', he criticized the previous speaker, Minister President and Deputy Party Chairman Hans Modrow, as well as Karl Marx, Gorbachev and
Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
. He went on to present his vision of a "socio- ecological" restructuring of the GDR. His radical environmental ideas, which were hardly known in the GDR at that time, were far removed from the problems that interested the delegates, and his polemical introduction provoked fierce resentment. Bahro concluded that he no longer had anything in common with this party. In the spring of 1990, he began setting up an "Institute for Social Ecology" at the
Humboldt University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...
. Instead of the usual discussion of the ecological crisis, he wanted this institute to address the issue holistically and, above all, study the deeper social and cultural causes of the crisis and develop practical alternatives. Bahro thus set up his own school of social science that is not to be confused with others that also go by the name of social ecology. On 16 June 1990, again represented by Gysi, Bahro was rehabilitated by the Supreme Court of the GDR. On 15 September, shortly before the end of the GDR, the Minister of Education and Science appointed him associate professor of social ecology at Humboldt University. From the winter semester 1990/1991, Bahro regularly held lectures on issues of the environmental crisis, where he further developed the theories that he had put forward in his book ''Logik der Rettung'' (published in English as ''Avoiding social and ecological disaster: the politics of world transformation: an inquiry into the foundations of spiritual and ecological politics''). The lectures, to which he frequently invited guest speakers, were aimed at students in all years and also attracted an audience from outside the university. In the first years, the main lecture hall (''auditorium maximum'') of the university was consistently full, and this also resulted in increased sales of his book on which the lectures were based. However, the Institute remained a temporary arrangement that could only exist thanks to financial support from the Schweisfurth Foundation. It was not until 1995 that the institute was integrated into the university as a working group of the Faculty of Agriculture and Horticulture. In 1990, there were accusations that Bahro was striving for "eco-dictatorship". This accusation was made particularly aggressively by the ', a right-wing organization founded in Zurich which, in a work entitled ''The Fascism of the New Left'', claimed that Bahro's real goal was an " eco-fascist dictatorship". Bahro indignantly denied this but soon found himself confronted with more accusations of this nature. The accusations were based on quotations from his book ''Logik der Rettung''. In 1992, a former party colleague of his,
Jutta Ditfurth Jutta Gerta Armgard von Ditfurth (born 29 September 1951) is a German sociologist, writer, and radical ecologist politician. Born into the noble house of Ditfurth, members of which had been noble ministeriales invested with hereditary administra ...
joined the debate when, in her book ''Feuer in die Herzen'' utting Fire in the Hearts she accused him of turning to esoteric, authoritarian and nationalist ideas. In addition to his activities in Berlin, until 1991 Bahro also active in the ''Lernwerkstatt'' earning Workshopa non-profit organization in Niederstadtfeld, and he planned similar experiments with new sustainable living and economic systems in the former GDR. A conversation with the
Minister-President of Saxony This article lists the Leaders of the Government (german: Vorsitzende des Gesamtministeriums) in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1831 to 1918 and Minister-presidents (german: Ministerpräsidenten) of the Saxony, Free State of Saxony since 1918. List o ...
, Kurt Biedenkopf, in the summer of 1991 led to the socio-ecological futurology project ''LebensGut'' in the village of Pommritz, near
Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin () is a hill-top town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree river. In 2018 the town's population was 39,087. Until 1868, its German name was ''Budi ...
. There, the socio-ecological research begun at the Humboldt University is also being continued, mainly by Bahro's former associate Maik Hosang. In September 1993, Bahro's wife Beatrice committed suicide following a marital dispute. He was so devastated that he had to cancel a semester of lectures. In the spring of 1994, he also became physically ill, and in the autumn of that year he was diagnosed with
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of hematological malignancy, blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever ...
. Bahro was convinced that his illness was the consequence of traumatic experiences such as the suicide of his wife and resisted conventional therapy, instead trying various alternative methods of diagnosis and therapy and temporarily moving into a monastery. Only after his condition deteriorated dramatically, he agreed to another course of
chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs ( chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...
. In May 1995, on his sickbed, he married his girlfriend and companion Marina Lehnert, who had been caring for his daughter for some time. After a year's break due to illness, in summer 1996 Bahro resumed teaching, but only to a limited extent. He gave his last lecture in July 1997. After that, he caught
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...
and the cancer broke out again. Rudolf Bahro died in Berlin on 5 December 1997 and was buried at the
Dorotheenstadt cemetery The Dorotheenstadt Cemetery, officially the Cemetery of the Dorotheenstadt and Friedrichswerder Parishes, is a landmarked Protestant burial ground located in the Berlin district of Mitte which dates to the late 18th century. The entrance to the ...
in Berlin.


Publications available in English

* ''The Alternative In Eastern Europe'', New Left Books/Verso, 977 (German), 1978 (English)* ''Socialism and Survival'' 980 (German); 1982 (English)* ''From Red To Green''
984 Year 984 ( CMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – German boy-king Otto III (4-years old) is seized by the deposed Henry II ...
* ''Building The Green Movement''
986 Year 986 ( CMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * August 17 – Battle of the Gates of Trajan: Emperor Basil II leads a Byz ...
* ''Avoiding Social & Ecological Disaster: The Politics of World Transformation'' 987 (German), 1994 (English)


Selected publications

* "Rapallo? Why Not? Reply to Gorz". ''TELOS'' 51 (Spring 1982). New York
Telos Press


References


External links





{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahro, Rudolf 1935 births 1997 deaths East German journalists East German writers Ecosocialists German anti-capitalists German communists German male non-fiction writers German Marxists German politicians German socialists People from the Province of Lower Silesia People from Lubań County Deutscher Memorial Prize winners Anti-Stalinist left