more photos (1)

Oswald Spengler’s Followers (616)

Add New
Videos

The Metaphysics of The Decline of the West

Add a comment

Oswald Spengler

Born

in Blankenburg, Germany

May 29, 1880

Died

May 08, 1936

Genre

History, Philosophy, Art

Influences

Friedrich Nietzsche, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Arthur Schopenhauer, ...more

edit data

Oswald Spengler was born in 1880 in Blankenburg (then in the Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire) at the foot of the Harz mountains, the eldest of four children, and the only boy. His family was conservative German of the petite bourgeoisie. His father, originally a mining technician, who came from a long line of mineworkers, was a post office bureaucrat. His childhood home was emotionally reserved, and the young Spengler turned to books and the great cultural personalities for succor. He had imperfect health, and suffered throughout his life from migraine headaches and from an anxiety complex.

At the age of ten, his family moved to the university city of Halle. Here Spengler received a classical education at the local Gymnasium (academically Oswald Spengler was born in 1880 in Blankenburg (then in the Duchy of Brunswick, German Empire) at the foot of the Harz mountains, the eldest of four children, and the only boy. His family was conservative German of the petite bourgeoisie. His father, originally a mining technician, who came from a long line of mineworkers, was a post office bureaucrat. His childhood home was emotionally reserved, and the young Spengler turned to books and the great cultural personalities for succor. He had imperfect health, and suffered throughout his life from migraine headaches and from an anxiety complex.

At the age of ten, his family moved to the university city of Halle. Here Spengler received a classical education at the local Gymnasium (academically oriented secondary school), studying Greek, Latin, mathematics and natural sciences. Here, too, he developed his affinity for the arts—especially poetry, drama, and music—and came under the influence of the ideas of Goethe and Nietzsche. He even experimented with a few artistic creations, some of which still survive.

After his father's death in 1901 Spengler attended several universities (Munich, Berlin, and Halle) as a private scholar, taking courses in a wide range of subjects: history, philosophy, mathematics, natural science, literature, the classics, music, and fine arts. His private studies were undirected. In 1903, he failed his doctoral thesis on Heraclitus because of insufficient references, which effectively ended his chances of an academic career. In 1904 he received his Ph.D., and in 1905 suffered a nervous breakdown.

Scholars[which?] remark that his life seemed rather uneventful. He briefly served as a teacher in Saarbrücken and then in Düsseldorf. From 1908 to 1911 he worked at a grammar school (Realgymnasium) in Hamburg, where he taught science, German history, and mathematics.

In 1911, following his mother's death, he moved to Munich, where he would live until his death in 1936. He lived as a cloistered scholar, supported by his modest inheritance. Spengler survived on very limited means and was marked by loneliness. He owned no books, and took jobs as a tutor or wrote for magazines to earn additional income.

He began work on the first volume of Decline of the West intending at first to focus on Germany within Europe, but the Agadir Crisis affected him deeply, and he widened the scope of his study. Spengler was inspired by Otto Seeck's work The Decline of Antiquity in naming his own effort. The book was completed in 1914, but publishing was delayed by World War I. Due to a congenital heart problem, he was not called up for military service. During the war, however, his inheritance was largely useless because it was invested overseas; thus Spengler lived in genuine poverty for this period. ...more

Combine Editions
Oswald Spengler’s books

Average rating: 4.05 · 4,873 ratings · 491 reviews · 79 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Decline of the West by Oswald Spengler, Charles Francis Atkinson (Translator), H. Stuart Hughes (Introduction) 4.06 avg rating — 2,221 ratings — published 1918 — 91 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life 3.94 avg rating — 1,006 ratings — published 1931	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Decline of the West, Vol 1: Form and Actuality 4.09 avg rating — 691 ratings — published 1918 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Decline of the West, Vol 2: Perspectives of World History 4.31 avg rating — 389 ratings — published 1922	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prussianism and Socialism 3.78 avg rating — 188 ratings — published 1919 — 53 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Hour of Decision: Germany and World-Historical Evolution 4.14 avg rating — 166 ratings — published 1933 — 92 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Selected Essays by Oswald Spengler, Donald O. White (Translator) 4.05 avg rating — 37 ratings — published 1967 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Prussian Socialism and Other Essays 4.03 avg rating — 35 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Letters of Oswald Spengler: 1913-1936 4.14 avg rating — 29 ratings — published 1963 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A me stesso by Oswald Spengler, Giovanni Gurisatti (Editor) 4.20 avg rating — 25 ratings — published 1993 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Oswald Spengler…

Series by Oswald Spengler

Der Untergang des Abendlandes (2 books)
by

Oswald Spengler

4.10 avg rating — 3,301 ratings

Quotes by Oswald Spengler (?)

“We are born into this time and must bravely follow the path to the destined end. There is no other way. Our duty is to hold on to the lost position, without hope, without rescue, like that Roman soldier whose bones were found in front of a door in Pompeii, who, during the eruption of Vesuvius, died at his post because they forgot to relieve him. That is greatness. That is what it means to be a thoroughbred. The honorable end is the one thing that can not be taken from a man.”
― Oswald Spengler, Man and Technics: A Contribution to a Philosophy of Life

161 likes

“The press today is an army with carefully organized weapons, the journalists its officers, the readers its soldiers. The reader neither knows nor is supposed to know the purposes for which he is used and the role he is to play.”
― Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West

tags: the-decline-of-the-west

139 likes

“What is truth? For the multitude, that which it continually reads and hears.”
― Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, Vol 2: Perspectives of World History

113 likes

See all Oswald Spengler's quotes »

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Seasonal Read...: Fall Challenge 2011: Reading Plans	52	322	Oct 25, 2011 08:07PM
21st Century Lite...: Holidays	604	383	Jan 10, 2017 10:30PM
Let's Talk About ...: Anything Goes	1510	280	Apr 27, 2017 04:26PM
Reading Book Club: Happy Holidays	341	118	Sep 30, 2023 05:30AM

More…

Oswald Spengler’s Followers (616)

Add NewVideos

Oswald Spengler

Combine EditionsOswald Spengler’s books

Series by Oswald Spengler

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

Combine Editions
Oswald Spengler’s books