The Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft (variously translated from

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 ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

as "vow of most faithful allegiance", "proclamation of loyalty of German writers" or "promise of most loyal obedience") was a declaration by 88 German writers and poets of their loyalty to

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

.88 "writers", from ''Letters of Heinrich and Thomas Mann, 1900-1949, Volume 12 of Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism'', University of California Press 1998
, p. 367-8 It was printed in the ''

Vossische Zeitung The (''Voss's Newspaper'') was a nationally-known Berlin newspaper that represented the interests of the liberal middle class. It was also generally regarded as Germany's national newspaper of record. In the Berlin press it held a special role d ...

'' on 26 October 1933 and publicised by the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...

in Berlin. It was also published in other newspapers, such as the '' Frankfurter Zeitung'', to widen public awareness of the confidence of the signed poets and writers in Hitler as the Chancellor of Germany.

Background

The declaration came towards the end of 1933, in the period of domestic turmoil in Germany following the Reichstag fire on 27 February 1933, the elections that returned Hitler to power on 5 March, and the passing of the

Enabling Act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carr ...

on 23 March 1933 which allowed Hitler bypass the German legislature and pass laws at will. It came shortly after the editor law ('' Schriftleitergesetz'') was passed on 4 October 1933, which sought to bring the press under government control, and the withdrawal of Germany from the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

on 21 October 1933. The editor law regulated journalism, and requiring journalists to be registered on an official list of the Reichspressekammer, under Joseph Goebbels'

Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda The Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (; RMVP), also known simply as the Ministry of Propaganda (), controlled the content of the press, literature, visual arts, film, theater, music and radio in Nazi Germany. The ministry ...

. To join the list, a journalist had to demonstrate one year's professional training, "political reliability", and Aryan descent. Newspaper editors were also regulated and subject to central control. Around 1,300 journalists lost their jobs when the editor law came into force on 1 January 1934. German writer Hanns Martin Elster (1910–1998) complained on 28 October 1933 that writers not listed could be mistakenly thought to lack loyalty to the Führer. However, some writers felt forced to sign to protect themselves or their publishers. The declaration by German writers was echoed by similar declarations by 900 university and high school professors, and by other artists. * Commitment of the professors - Bekenntnis der Professoren an den deutschen Universitäten und Hochschulen zu Adolf Hitler - in November 1933 * Call to the artists - Aufruf der Kulturschaffenden in August 1934

Text of the vow

Signatories

The 88 signatories were: # Friedrich Arenhövel (1886–1954) #

Gottfried Benn Gottfried Benn (2 May 1886 – 7 July 1956) was a German poet, essayist, and physician. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature five times. He was awarded the Georg Büchner Prize in 1951. Biography and work Family and beginnings Go ...

(1886–1956) # Werner Beumelburg (1899–1963) # Rudolf G. Binding (1867–1938) #

Walter Bloem Walter Julius Gustav Bloem (20 June 1868 – 19 August 1951) was a German author. He wrote novels that expressed a German nationalist attitude and made him one of the most widely read authors of his time with a total circulation of two million. ...

(1868–1951) # Hans Friedrich Blunck (1888–1961) # Max Karl Böttcher (1881–1963) # Rolf Brandt (1886–1953) #

Arnolt Bronnen Arnolt Bronnen (19 August 1895 – 12 October 1959) was an Austrian playwright and director. Life and career Bronnen was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of the Austrian-Jewish writer Ferdinand Bronner and his Christian wife Martha Bronner. B ...

(1895–1959) # Otto Brües (1897–1967) # Alfred Brust (1891–1934) # Carl Bulcke (1875–1936) # Hermann Claudius (1878–1980) # Hans Martin Cremer (1890–1953) # Marie Diers (1867–1949) # Peter Dörfler (1878–1955) # Max Dreyer (1862–1946) # Franz Dülberg (1873–1934) # Ferdinand Eckhardt (1902–1995) #

Richard Euringer Richard Euringer (April 4, 1891 – August 29, 1953) was a German writer. Although active starting in the 1920s, he is best known for his later career, in which he was a supporter of the Nazis. His best-known work is probably '' Als Flieger in z ...

(1891–1953) # Ludwig Finckh (1876–1964) #

Otto Flake Otto Flake (29 October 1880, Metz – 10 November 1963) was a German writer. Early life Flake was born on 29 October 1880 in Metz. He attended high school in Colmar and studied German philology, philosophy and art history at the University of St ...

(1880–1963) # Hans Franck (Nazi writer) (1879–1964) #

Gustav Frenssen Gustav Frenssen (19 October 1863 – 11 April 1945) was a German novelist. He wrote patriotically about his native country and promoted ''Heimatkunst'' ( regionalism) in literature. Biography Frenssen was born in the village of Barlt, in the D ...

(1863–1945) # Heinrich von Gleichen (1882–1959) #

Alexander von Gleichen-Rußwurm Alexander von Gleichen-Rußwurm (6 November 1865, Greifenstein Castle, Bad Kissingen - 25 October 1947, Baden-Baden) was a German writer, editor, translator and philosopher. His name in full was Heinrich Adalbert Carl Alexander Konrad Schiller, Fre ...

(1865–1947) #

Friedrich Griese Friedrich Griese (2 October 1890, Lehsten – 1 July 1975) was a German novelist. He was associated with the nationalist literary movement during the Third Reich. Griese wrote mostly about peasant life in northern Germany. His most important bo ...

(1890–1975) # Max Grube (1854–1934) # Johannes von Guenther (1886–1973) # Carl Haensel (1889–1968) # Max Halbe (1865–1944) # Ilse Hamel (1874–1943) # Agnes Harder (1864–1939) # Karl Heinl (1898–1961) # Hans Ludwig Held (1885–1954) # Friedrich W. Herzog (1902–1976) # Rudolf Herzog (1869–1943) # Paul Oskar Höcker (1865–1944) # Rudolf Huch (1862–1943) #

Hans von Hülsen Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi ...

(1890–1968) # Bruno Herbert Jahn (born 1893) #

Hanns Johst Hanns Johst (8 July 1890 – 23 November 1978) was a German poet and playwright, directly aligned with Nazi philosophy, as a member of the officially approved writers’ organisations in the Third Reich. The statement “When I hear the word cult ...

(1890–1978) # Max Jungnickel (1890–1945) # Hans Knudsen (1886–1971) # Ruth Köhler-Irrgang (1900–?) # Gustav Kohne (1879–1961) # Carl Lange (1885–1959) # Johannes von Leers (1902–1965) # Heinrich Lersch (1889–1936) # Heinrich Lilienfein (1879–1952) #

Oskar Loerke Oskar Loerke (13 March 1884, Jungen – 24 February 1941, Berlin) was a German poet, prose writer, literary critic and essayist. Loerke was a prominent representative of Expressionism and magic realism in Germany. Life and career Loerke was ...

(1884–1941) #

Gerhard Menzel Gerhard Menzel (29 September 1894 – 4 May 1966) was a German screenwriter. He wrote for nearly 40 films between 1933 and 1965. He was supportive of Nazism and worked for Nazi propaganda. He was responsible for writing the script of ''Heimk ...

(1894–1966) # Herybert Menzel (1906–1945) #

Alfred Richard Meyer Alfred Meyer (4 August 1882 – 9 January 1956) was a German writer. His work was part of the literature event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also ...

, known as Munkepunke (1892–1956) # Agnes Miegel (1879–1964) # Walter von Molo (1880–1958) # Georg Mühlen-Schulte (1882–1981) # Fritz Müller-Partenkirchen (1875–1942) #

Börries von Münchhausen Börries Albrecht Conon August Heinrich Freiherr von Münchhausen (20 March 1874 – 16 March 1945) was a German poet and Nazi activist. Biography He was born in Hildesheim, the eldest child of Kammerherr Börries von Münchhausen and his ...

(1874–1945) # Eckart von Naso (1888–1976) # Helene von Nostitz-Wallwitz (1878–1944) # Josef Ponten (1883–1940) # Rudolf Presber (1868–1935) # Arthur Rehbein (1867–1952) #

Ilse Reicke Ilse Reicke (4 July 1893 – 14 January 1989) was a German writer, journalist and feminist. Biography Ilse Reicke was born in the Friedenau quarter of Berlin. She came from a family of academics and lawyers. (1863–1923), her father, was a J ...

(1893–1989) # (1889–1941) # Franz Schauwecker (1890–1964) #

Johannes Schlaf Johannes Schlaf (21 June 1862 in Querfurt – 2 February 1941 in Querfurt) was a German playwright, author, and translator and an important exponent of Naturalism. As a translator he was important for exposing the German-speaking world to the wor ...

(1862–1941) # Anton Schnack (1892–1973) # Friedrich Schnack (1888–1977) #

Richard Schneider-Edenkoben Richard Schneider-Edenkoben (1899–1986) was a German screenwriter and film director.Kreimeier p.236 Selected filmography * ''The Big Attraction'' (1931) * ''Signal in the Night ''Signal in the Night'' (German: ''Signal in der Nacht'') is a 193 ...

(1899–1986?) #

Wilhelm von Scholz Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

(1874–1969) #

Lothar Schreyer Lothar Schreyer (1886 in Blasewitz – 1966 in Hamburg) was a German artist, writer, editor, stage designer and gallery owner. He was the first Master of the stagecraft workshop at the Bauhaus art school.Gustav Schröer (1876–1949) # Wilhelm Schussen (1874–1956) #

Ina Seidel Ina Seidel (15 September 1885 – 3 October 1974) was a German lyric poet and novelist. Favourite themes included motherhood and the mysteries of race and heredity. Biography Family provenance Johanna Mathilde "Ina" Seidel was born in Halle, to ...

(1885–1974) # Willy Seidel (1887–1934) # Heinrich Sohnrey (1859–1948) # Dietrich Speckmann (1874–1938) # Heinz Steguweit (1897–1964) #

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. Sh ...

(1873–1956) # Eduard Stucken (1865–1936) #

Will Vesper Will Vesper (11 October 1882 in Barmen, Germany – 14 March 1962 in Gut Triangel bei Gifhorn) was a German author and literary critic who was involved in the Nazi book burnings. Life and work Born into a Protestant farmer family, he read H ...

(1882–1962) #

Josef Magnus Wehner Josef Magnus Wehner (14 November 1891 – 14 December 1973) was a German writer and playwright. Celebrated (locally, in Fulda) as a "great German poet" his reputation is criticized for the militarism displayed in his work and his allegiance to ...

(1891–1973) # Leo Weismantel (1888–1964) # Bruno E. Werner (1896–1964) # Heinrich Zerkaulen (1892–1954) # Hans-Caspar von Zobeltitz (1883–1940)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gelobnis Treuester Gefolgschaft Nazi propaganda 1933 documents Oaths of allegiance Literature controversies 1933 in Germany Nazi culture

Background

Text of the vow

Signatories

See also

References