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Karl Theodor Richard Lessing (8 February 1872 – 31 August 1933) was a German philosopher. He is known for opposing the rise of Hindenburg as president of 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 for his classic on Jewish self-hatred (''Der jüdische Selbsthaß''), a book which he published in 1930, three years before
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
came to power, in which he tried to explain the
phenomenon A phenomenon ( phenomena), sometimes spelled phaenomenon, is an observable Event (philosophy), event. The term came into its modern Philosophy, philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be ...
of Jewish
intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and Human self-reflection, reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the wor ...
s who incited
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
against the
Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
and who regarded
Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
as the source of evil in the world. Lessing's political ideals, as well as his
Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...
made him a very controversial person during the rise of
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. He fled to
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
where he lived in Marienbad in the villa of a local social democratic politician. On the night of 30 August 1933, he was
assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...
by Sudeten German
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
sympathizers. Lessing was shot through a window of the villa where he lived. His assassins were German Nazis from Sudetenland, Rudolf Max Eckert, Rudolf Zischka and Karl Hönl. They fled to Nazi Germany after the assassination. Lessing's philosophical views were influenced by
Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...
and Afrikan Spir. According to Theodore Ziolkowski in Lessing's ''Geschichte als Sinngebung des Sinnlosen'' (''History as Giving Meaning to the Meaningless''), "writing in the tradition of Nietzsche, argued that history, having no objective validity, amounts to a mythic construct imposed on an unknowable reality, in order to give it some semblance of meaning."


Life


Early life

Lessing was born into an upper-middle-class assimilated
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family. His father was a doctor in Hanover, and his mother was the daughter of a banker. He remembered his schooldays as unhappy; he was a mediocre student and graduated from Ratsgymnasium Hannover only with great difficulty. In his memoirs he wrote: "This humanistic German gymnasium specialising in patriotism,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, and Greek... this institute for the furtherance of stupidification, half of it built on white-collar boundering, the other half on mendacious, platitudinous German nationalism, was not just incredibly irresponsible, it was utterly boring... Nothing, nothing could ever make up for what those fifteen years destroyed in me. Even now, almost every night I dream of the tortures of my schooldays." At the time he was friendly with Ludwig Klages, but this friendship came to an end in 1899 (although whether anti-Semitism was a factor is unclear). Each later maintained that his own adult views had been determined by this shared background. After his graduation he began studying medicine in
Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...
,
Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
, and finally
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, where, in greater conformity with his real interests, he turned to literature, philosophy, and psychology. He concluded his study of philosophy with a dissertation on the work of the Russian logician Afrikan Spir. His plans of
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
at the University of Dresden were abandoned in the face of continuing public outrage over the influence in academia of Jews,
socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...
, and
feminists Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...
. The next few years he spent as a substitute teacher and lecturer. In 1906 he travelled to Göttingen in order to obtain a
habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
under
Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...
. This plan also came to nothing, but resulted briefly in a position as theatre critic for the '' Göttinger Zeitung''; his critical notes were later collected in book form as ''Nachtkritiken''.


Growing renown

In 1907 he returned to Hanover, where he lectured on philosophy at the ''Technische Hochschule'', founding the first German anti-noise (noise abatement) society. In January 1910 he created a literary scandal with a vicious attack on the critic Samuel Lublinski and his ''Bilanz der Moderne'' (1904), in a piece published in ''Die Schaubühne'' filled with "Jewish jokes" and gibes about Lublinski's appearance; it drew strong condemnation from
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
, who returned the insults by calling Lessing a "disgraceful dwarf who should consider himself lucky that the sun shines on him, too." On the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Lessing volunteered for medical service. At this time he wrote his famous essay ''Geschichte als Sinngebung des Sinnlosen'' ("History as Making Sense of the Senseless"). Its publication was delayed by the censor until 1919 on account of its uncompromising anti-war position. After the war he returned to lecturing in Hanover and established the Volkshochschule Hannover-Linden with the help of his second wife, Ada Lessing.


Fame and anti-nationalist polemics

From 1923 he was highly active in public life, publishing articles and essays in '' Prager Tagblatt'' and '' Dortmunder Generalanzeiger'', and quickly became one of the best-known political writers of
Weimar Germany 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 ...
. In 1925 he drew attention to the fact that the serial killer
Fritz Haarmann Friedrich Heinrich Karl "Fritz" Haarmann (25 October 1879 – 15 April 1925) was a German serial rapist and serial killer, known as the Butcher of Hanover, the Vampire of Hanover and the Wolf Man, who committed the sexual assault, murder, mutil ...
had been a spy for the Hanover police, and this resulted in him being excluded from covering the trial. In the same year he wrote an unflattering piece on
Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919� ...
, describing him as an intellectually vacuous man who was being used as a front by sinister political forces: :It was
Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born  BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
's view that the leaders of men should be philosophers. No philosopher ascends the throne in Hindenburg. Only a representative symbol, a question mark, a zero. One might say "Better a zero than a
Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
." Sadly, history shows that behind every zero lurks a future Nero. This article earned him the enmity of nationalists, and his lectures were soon disrupted by anti-Semitic protestors. Lessing received only limited support from the public, and even his colleagues argued that he had gone too far. A six-month leave of absence failed to calm the situation. On 7 June nearly a thousand students threatened to move their studies to the
Technische Universität Braunschweig TU Braunschweig (, unofficially ''University of Braunschweig – Institute of Technology'') is the oldest ' (comparable to an institute of technology in the American system) in Germany. It was founded in 1745 as Collegium Carolinum and is a membe ...
unless he was removed, and on 18 June 1926 the Prussian minister Carl Heinrich Becker bowed to public pressure by putting Lessing on indefinite leave on a reduced salary.


Escape from the Nazis and assassination

On 30 January 1933, the Nazi Party entered government and in February, after the suppression of the ''Das Freie Wort'' congress, Lessing prepared to leave. On 1 March he and his wife fled to Marienbad in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
, where he continued to write for German-language newspapers abroad. But in June it was reported in Sudeten newspapers that a reward had been announced for his capture. A similar reward was offered for the assassination of
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
, who spent some weeks in England protected by armed guards. On 30 August 1933, Lessing was working in his study on the first floor at the Villa Edelweiss (today at Třebízského 33) when he was shot through the window by assassins. He died the next day at the hospital in Marienbad.


Works

* ''African Spirs Erkenntnislehre'', Gießen, Münchow, 1900
Lessing's dissertation at Erlangen. * ''Geschichte als Sinngebung des Sinnlosen''. (Beck) 1919 bzw. Leipzig: Reinicke Verlag 1927 . Neu: München: Matthes & Seitz 1983. * ''Haarmann. Die Geschichte eines Werwolfs''. 1925 * ''Meine Tiere''. 1926 * ''Blumen''. 1928 * ''Der jüdische Selbsthaß''. 1930
''Jewish Self-Hate'', translated and annotated by Peter C. Applebaum, Introduction by Sander L. Gilman, Afterword by Paul Reitter, Edited by Benton Arnovitz.
Berghahn Books Berghahn Books is a New York and Oxford–based publisher of scholarly books and academic journals in the humanities and social sciences, with a special focus on social and cultural anthropology, European history, politics, and film and media ...
2021. * ''Einmal und nie wieder''. Erinnerungen, aus dem Nachlass herausgegeben 1935 * ''Die verfluchte Kultur''. Matthes & Seitz 1981. * Jörg Wollenberg (Hrsg.): ''Theodor Lessing – Ausgewählte Schriften''. Donat Verlag Bremen ** Band 1: ''Theodor Lessing: 'Bildung ist Schönheit' – Autobiographische Zeugnisse und Schriften zur Bildungsreform''. Bremen 1995 ** Band 2: ''Theodor Lessing: 'Wir machen nicht mit!' – Schriften gegen den Nationalismus und zur Judenfrage''. Bremen 1997 ** Band 3: ''Theodor Lessing: 'Theaterseele' und 'Tomi melkt die Moralkuh' – Schriften zu Theater und Literatur''. Bremen 2003 * ''"Geschichte als Sinngebung des Sinnlosen". Zum Leben und Werk des Kulturkritikers Theodor Lessing (1872-1933)'', hrsg. von Elke-Vera Kotowski, Hildesheim 2006


Notes


References

* August Messer, ''Der Fall Lessing, eine objektive Darstellung und kritische Würdigung'', Bielefeld 1926 * Ekkehard Hieronimus, ''Theodor Lessing, Otto Meyerhof, Leonard Nelson. Bedeutende Juden in Niedersachsen'', hrsg. von der Niedersächsischen Landeszentrale für Politische Bildung, Hannover 1964 * Lawrence Baron, ''Theodor Lessing: Between Jewish Self-Hatred and Zionism'', in: Year Book XXVI Leo Baeck Inst. 1981 * ''Ich warf eine Flaschenpost ins Eismeer der Geschichte''. Sammelband mit
Essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...
s und
Feuilleton A ''feuilleton'' (; a diminutive of , the leaf of a book) was originally a kind of supplement attached to the political portion of French newspapers, consisting chiefly of non-political news and gossip, literature and art criticism, a chronicle ...
s, herausgegeben und eingeleitet von R. Marwedel, Luchterhand Literaturverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1986 * Rainer Marwedel: ''Theodor Lessing 1872-1933. Eine Biographie''. Luchterhand Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1987 * Michael Kühntopf-Gentz, ''Der im Judentum ignorierte Gott: Theodor Lessings religiöse Philosophie'', in: ''Zeitschrift für Religions- und Geistesgeschichte'' (ZRGG), Jahrgang 41, 1989 * Helmut Heiber: ''Universität unterm Hakenkreuz.'' Teil 1: ''Der Professor im Dritten Reich. Bilder aus der akademischen Provinz.'' K.G. Saur, München 1991, S. 54–67, Anm. 514, S. 186ff. * Maja I. Siegrist: ''Theodor Lessing – Die entropische Philosophie – Freilegung und Rekonstruktion eines verdrängten Denkers''. Peter Lang Verlag, Bern 1995 * Julius H. Schoeps: ''Der ungeliebte Außenseiter. Zum Leben und Werk des Philosophen und Schriftstellers Th. L.'', in: ''Der Exodus aus Nazideutschland und die Folgen. Jüdische Wissenschaftler im Exil'' Hg. Marianne Hassler, Attempto, Tübingen 1997, * Elke-Vera Kotowski: ''Feindliche Dioskuren – Theodor Lessing und Ludwig Klages – Das Scheitern einer Freundschaft''. Jüdische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 2000 * Lessing und Ludwig Klages – ''Das Scheitern einer Freundschaft'', Jüdische Verlagsanstalt, Berlin 2000 * ''"Ich warf eine Flaschenpost in das unermessliche Dunkel". Theodor Lessing 1872-1933'', hrsg. von Elke-Vera Kotowski (Katalog zur gleichnamigen Wanderausstellung), Hildesheim 2008


External links

*
''Hindenburg'' (1925)



Personality of the Week – Lessing
at www.bh.org.il
Der jüdische Selbsthaß, Berlin 1930, Jüdischer Verlag, Theodor Lessing
on the
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
.
English translation of Lessing's essay on "Otto Weininger"
at
Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lessing, Theodor 1872 births 1933 deaths 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers 19th-century German philosophers 20th-century German male writers 20th-century German philosophers Anti-nationalists Assassinated German people Assassinated Jews Deaths by firearm in Czechoslovakia German people murdered abroad German Zionists German Jews who died in the Holocaust Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany Jewish philosophers People from the Province of Hanover People murdered in Czechoslovakia Writers from Hanover People assassinated in the 20th century