The Berlin movement was an

anti-Semitic 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 ...

intellectual and political movement 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 ...

in the 1880s. The movement was a collection of unassociated individuals and organizations. The movement developed in the aftermath of the

Panic of 1873 The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...

that led to a recession in the United States and parts of the western European economy. It assailed Jews and capitalism; along with this critique it opposed liberalism and it represented a fear of

social democracy Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

. Finally, the movement came out of a racial conception of national identity on the part of the German

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

. The movement had several leaders. The journalist and author Otto Glagau led a journal, ''Der Kulturkämpfer,'' he Culture Warriorthat propagated these ideas. The Lutheran theologian and politician,

Adolf Stoecker Adolf Stoecker (December 11, 1835 – February 2, 1909) was a German court chaplain to Kaiser Wilhelm I, a politician, leading antisemite, and a Lutheran theologian who founded the Christian Social Party to lure members away from the S ...

, led the Christian Social Party. He was the only elected representative of the party in the Reichstag. The movement lost strength after the CSP's losses in the 1887 elections. Additionally, the Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

distanced himself from the party. The significance of the movement laid in its being the first anti-Semitic movement in modern Germany.

References

* Max Schön: ''Die Geschichte der Berliner Bewegung.'' Oberdörffer, Leipzig 1889 * Wanda Kampmann: ''Adolf Stoecker und die Berliner Bewegung.'' In: Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht Jg. 13 (1962), S. 558-579 (Auch als Sonderdr. 1962) * Günter Brakelmann, Martin Greschat, Werner Jochmann: ''Protestantismus und Politik. Werk und Wirkung Adolf Stoeckers''. Christians, Hamburg 1982 (Hamburger Beiträge zur Sozial- und Zeitgeschichte, Bd. 17) . * Hans Engelmann: ''Kirche am Abgrund. Adolf Stoecker und seine antijüdische Bewegung''. Selbstverlag Institut Kirche und Judentum, Berlin 1984 (Studien zu jüdischem Volk und christlicher Gemeinde, Bd. 5) . * John C. G. Röhl: ''Kaiser Wilhelm II. und der deutsche Antisemitismus''. In: Wolfgang Benz, Werner Bergmann (eds.): ''Vorurteil und Völkermord. Entwicklungslinien des Antisemitismus''. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 1997, S. 252-285, .

See also

References

Further reading