Karlheinz Weißmann (born 1959 in Northeim, West
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
) is a German historian, author and intellectual of the
New Right (Neue Rechte). He is co-founder and publisher of New Right magazine "Cato".
Life
Weißmann studied
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
theology, pedagogics and history at the
University of Gottingen and at the Technical University in Braunschweig. In Gottingen and Braunschweig he became member of the Hochschulgilden of
Deutsche Gildenschaft. In 1989 graduated with a Ph.D. from the history department in
Braunschweig
Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( ; from Low German , local dialect: ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...
. Subsequently, he worked as a high school teacher from 1984 until 2020 at a ''Gymnasium'' in
Northeim
Northeim (; ) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, seat of the Northeim (district), district of Northeim, with a population of 30,118 as of 31 December 2023. It lies on the German Half-Timbered House Road.
History
Northeim is first mentioned in ...
, Lower Saxony.
Activism, publications and journalism
Weißmann has published more than twenty books on historical and political subject. Some of his books deal with German and European political and intellectual history in the 19th and 20th century, notably the „
Conservative Revolution
The Conservative Revolution (), also known as the German neoconservative movement (), or new nationalism (),; . was a German national-conservative and ultraconservative movement prominent in Weimar Republic, Germany and First Austrian Republic, ...
“ movement during the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
and National Socialism and related movements. Lately, he has published a book on
Martin Luther
Martin Luther ( ; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, Theology, theologian, author, hymnwriter, professor, and former Order of Saint Augustine, Augustinian friar. Luther was the seminal figure of the Reformation, Pr ...
and a book on what he described as "
culture war
A culture war is a form of cultural conflict (metaphorical " war") between different social groups who struggle to politically impose their own ideology (moral beliefs, humane virtues, and religious practices) upon mainstream society, or upon ...
" since 1968.
In 1994 he took part in a debate with leading conservative German intellectuals under the motto “What’s right?” in the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
The (; ''FAZ''; "Frankfurt General Newspaper") is a German newspaper founded in 1949. It is published daily in Frankfurt and is considered a newspaper of record for Germany. Its Sunday edition is the ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung'' ( ...
. Weißmann’s contribution was entitled “Die Nation denken” (Thinking the Nation) with a subtitle “We are no conspirators”. In the same year he was one of the authors of the book “Die selbstbewußte Nation” (The Selfconscious Nation) which triggered a national debate in Germany.
Since the 1990s he is considered one of the leading, however controversial right-wing authors. He has long sought to help establish a political movement to the right of the Christian Democrats (CDU).
Karlheinz Weißmann and Götz Kubitschek founded the
think tank
A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...
"
Institut für Staatspolitik" in 2000. Later he got odds to Kubitschek about the question, "how revisionistic and how reactionary to be" (
Süddeutsche Zeitung
The ''Süddeutsche Zeitung'' (; ), published in Munich, Bavaria, is one of the largest and most influential daily newspapers in Germany. The tone of ''SZ'' is mainly described as centre-left, liberal, social-liberal, progressive-liberal, and ...
).
Weißmann is a writer for newspaper and journals of the political far-right, mainly the weekly ''
Junge Freiheit''. In 2017 he was co-founder of the bimonthly journal ''Cato,'' an outcast of Junge Freiheit.
He is member of the advisory board of the
Desiderius Erasmus Stiftung, a foundation associated with the
Alternative for Germany
Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right:
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* Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...
party.
Reception
The left liberal daily newspaper ''
Die Tageszeitung
''Die Tageszeitung'' (, "The Daily Newspaper"), stylized as ''die tageszeitung'' and commonly referred to as ''taz'', is a German daily newspaper. It is run as a cooperative – it is administered by its employees and a co-operative of sharehol ...
'' has called Weißmann in 2017 disparagingly “The Uber-Intellectual” of the German right.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weissmann, Karlheinz
20th-century German historians
University of Göttingen alumni
New Right (Europe)
1959 births
Living people
21st-century German historians