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Der deutsche Gruß
Keine Geste hat mehr Unheil angerichtet. Nie zuvor oder danach wurde eine Grußformel so radikal zum Umbau einer Gesellschaft eingesetzt, wie es der Nationalsozialismus mit dem "deutschen Gruß" getan hat. Er zeigte an, wer wie zum Nationalsozialismus stand - auf der Straße, im Büro, im Freundeskreis und zu Hause. Tilman Allert schreibt die Geschichte dieser Grußformel, er untersucht, wie sie erfunden und verbreitet wurde, was sie eigentlich meinte, und auch, welche langen Schatten der ausgestreckte Arm auf die spätere Bundesrepublik geworfen hat.
129 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 30, 2025
What does a gesture really mean? By looking at one of the most hated gestures in history Tilman Allert forces us to look closely at a topic much neglected from a social science perspective. The meaning behind salute is very complex; it does have a history that is closely associated with Mussolini and his attempt to reconnect with the glory of ancient Rome. A well researched book that will stay with you.
December 27, 2015
This was one of those frustrating books that I agreed with but was not convinced by. Which is to say, I completely agree with Allert's thesis that the Hitler salute both reveals several very important things about Nazi culture and was (a very small) part of the formation of the culture of indifference in Germany which (again in part) allowed the Holocaust to happen, but Allert never showed me the links between his evidence and his ideas in such a way that I really believed him.
His evidence is fascinating. It includes Hitler figurines with movable right arms; illustrations for Sleeping Beauty in which the prince salutes Beauty as he wakes her; pictures of vacationers saluting a sand-portrait of Hitler, of a vaudeville performer teaching his chimpanzee the salute, of Richard Strauss caught in a moment of miserable ambivalence. He has wonderful anecdotal evidence of how the salute permeated German life. And I think he could have done a good deal more with why the Nazis imposed their salute on Germany. But he never manages to persuade me that his evidence connects to his abstract and abstruse sociological theories about the meaning of greetings.
May 7, 2020
If Nazi Germany had its Heil Hitler salute then, we now have the clenched fist here in the Philippines.
Some have wondered how a supposedly predominantly Catholic country, with its churches packed with communion-taking worshippers during Sundays, could elect a leader who campaigned on a platform which included extrajudicial killings (“Manila Bay will be filled with dead bodies”) and, upon assumption of office, did what he promised to do and then received more applause for it than disapproval.
Well, this book also asked a similar question vis-a-vis Hitler and the highly cultured and generally decent Germans:
“How did Germans come to accept the National Socialist regime? Historical approaches to this question generally focus on external conditions, the economic situation in which the Germans found themselves, as well as what Max Weber called their ‘inner destiny.’ Their nation’s defeat in World War 1 had humiliated them, the ensuing economic crisis damaged them financially, and they had lost confidence in the Weimar Republic and its procedural democracy. People from all classes felt an enormous sense of betrayal and began to long for a saviour who would ease their burdens.”
In the Philippines the answer was in the electrifying promises of CHANGE (“Change is coming!”) and of the country’s salvation (“I am your last chance!”) uttered by this charismatic demagogue.. To those who voted him into office, he was widely perceived to be a saviour and a brave, kind and compassionate Father of the Nation. Exactly like what the Germans perceived Hitler to be. The clenched fist, a de rigueur for those who have their photos taken with him and during political gatherings done in his name, is a symbol of identification with this hope and this commanded unflinching loyalty even in the face of contrary facts betraying the falsity of the promise—
“In the case of Hitler and, more specifically, through the incessant invocation of his authority in the act of greeting, Germans so internalized the promise of salvation—of heaven on earth—that they came to feel that loyalty (Gefolgschaft) was their duty, apart from any threat of external sanctions. Allegiance now meant participation in what had become a sacralized reality, and moral scrutiny of one’s own actions became superfluous.
“As for charisma, which displayed its power in the Hitler salute, it should not be mistaken for popularity in the usual sense, or even the contagious appeal of the pop idol. Charisma is rather, as Max Weber understood, a ‘revolutionary force’ that unleashes ‘a change of direction in people’s beliefs and actions as part of a complete reorientation of attitudes toward every individual form of life and indeed the world itself.’ This reorientation can redefine even those relationships which, by virtue of following their own inner logic, had once been thought inviolable. The Hitler salute—which, as both oath and greeting, combined the solemn with the ordinary, the sacred with the everyday, in a way that went unnoticed—is a prime example of the reorientation that Weber describes. The internalized sense of community, reconceived as a sacred entity, was expected to replace existing social differentiation.”
History, indeed, does repeat itself and sometimes in a very cruel manner.
Some have wondered how a supposedly predominantly Catholic country, with its churches packed with communion-taking worshippers during Sundays, could elect a leader who campaigned on a platform which included extrajudicial killings (“Manila Bay will be filled with dead bodies”) and, upon assumption of office, did what he promised to do and then received more applause for it than disapproval.
Well, this book also asked a similar question vis-a-vis Hitler and the highly cultured and generally decent Germans:
“How did Germans come to accept the National Socialist regime? Historical approaches to this question generally focus on external conditions, the economic situation in which the Germans found themselves, as well as what Max Weber called their ‘inner destiny.’ Their nation’s defeat in World War 1 had humiliated them, the ensuing economic crisis damaged them financially, and they had lost confidence in the Weimar Republic and its procedural democracy. People from all classes felt an enormous sense of betrayal and began to long for a saviour who would ease their burdens.”
In the Philippines the answer was in the electrifying promises of CHANGE (“Change is coming!”) and of the country’s salvation (“I am your last chance!”) uttered by this charismatic demagogue.. To those who voted him into office, he was widely perceived to be a saviour and a brave, kind and compassionate Father of the Nation. Exactly like what the Germans perceived Hitler to be. The clenched fist, a de rigueur for those who have their photos taken with him and during political gatherings done in his name, is a symbol of identification with this hope and this commanded unflinching loyalty even in the face of contrary facts betraying the falsity of the promise—
“In the case of Hitler and, more specifically, through the incessant invocation of his authority in the act of greeting, Germans so internalized the promise of salvation—of heaven on earth—that they came to feel that loyalty (Gefolgschaft) was their duty, apart from any threat of external sanctions. Allegiance now meant participation in what had become a sacralized reality, and moral scrutiny of one’s own actions became superfluous.
“As for charisma, which displayed its power in the Hitler salute, it should not be mistaken for popularity in the usual sense, or even the contagious appeal of the pop idol. Charisma is rather, as Max Weber understood, a ‘revolutionary force’ that unleashes ‘a change of direction in people’s beliefs and actions as part of a complete reorientation of attitudes toward every individual form of life and indeed the world itself.’ This reorientation can redefine even those relationships which, by virtue of following their own inner logic, had once been thought inviolable. The Hitler salute—which, as both oath and greeting, combined the solemn with the ordinary, the sacred with the everyday, in a way that went unnoticed—is a prime example of the reorientation that Weber describes. The internalized sense of community, reconceived as a sacred entity, was expected to replace existing social differentiation.”
History, indeed, does repeat itself and sometimes in a very cruel manner.
May 23, 2024
An interesting dive into the meaning and importance of greetings and how the implementation of the Hitler Salute into German society helped to enable the crimes of National Socialism.
A bit bland in the beginning dissecting greetings but very interesting discussion of how a simple gesture played a role in implicitly allowing the moral decay of a populace.
A bit bland in the beginning dissecting greetings but very interesting discussion of how a simple gesture played a role in implicitly allowing the moral decay of a populace.
June 16, 2008
I like books that analyze something simple. Thus, the action of the Hitler salute, which pretty much sums up the evil Nazis in movie and TV portrayals, is here placed in its historical context, how it developed, what it meant to do it (or not to do it), etc. Interesting.
December 21, 2019
World Author Challenge - Germany
Found this book on the etiquette/manners/social customs shelf of the local library. I am intrigued by the WW2 era and grabbed it. It is also short - yay!
It was translated from German, which created some issues. Some sentences felt beautiful and poetic. Some sentences went on and on with beautiful language... and I lost the author's meaning halfway through. (There were frequent paragraph long sentences.) This was a short book, but not a quick read. It also seemed like the author relied on German social and cultural assumptions and terms that were lost to me as an American reader.
That said, it WAS an intriguing book. The author studies how the Hitler Salute (made compulsory in 1933 Germany) affected the social dynamics and interaction of the people. He explores how a simple, but highly visible and repeated action, can be used to transform a population. He also explored previous regional greetings and the social-cultural functions of greetings in society. A very interesting book and food for thought.
PS I found this book fascinating, but I did not agree with all of the author's assumptions. For example, when discussing the regional greeting "Gruss Got", he refers to God as an "idealized presence" and an "imagined authority". In another section, he offhandedly remarks that Germans collectively abandoned their morals when they voted in socialism.
Found this book on the etiquette/manners/social customs shelf of the local library. I am intrigued by the WW2 era and grabbed it. It is also short - yay!
It was translated from German, which created some issues. Some sentences felt beautiful and poetic. Some sentences went on and on with beautiful language... and I lost the author's meaning halfway through. (There were frequent paragraph long sentences.) This was a short book, but not a quick read. It also seemed like the author relied on German social and cultural assumptions and terms that were lost to me as an American reader.
That said, it WAS an intriguing book. The author studies how the Hitler Salute (made compulsory in 1933 Germany) affected the social dynamics and interaction of the people. He explores how a simple, but highly visible and repeated action, can be used to transform a population. He also explored previous regional greetings and the social-cultural functions of greetings in society. A very interesting book and food for thought.
PS I found this book fascinating, but I did not agree with all of the author's assumptions. For example, when discussing the regional greeting "Gruss Got", he refers to God as an "idealized presence" and an "imagined authority". In another section, he offhandedly remarks that Germans collectively abandoned their morals when they voted in socialism.
May 2, 2022
Microhistory at its best. This book zooms in on one ephemeral, fleeting moment of Nazi history, and interprets it through the lens of history, sociology, and psychology. It looks at how the Hitler salute was a vital part in the normalization of the extremist views that the National Socialists espoused. How zealots paved the way for those indifferent to adopt it, and for those indifferent to spread it to those who were eventually forced to do it, out of safety for their job, reputation, or even of their own person.
A vital lesson in the banality of evil.
A vital lesson in the banality of evil.
May 16, 2021
This book was a social psychology study on nation-state conformity. The Hitler salute from school, administrative buildings, to even inside the German home. An interesting examination on the power of the salute on the psychological level. It was an interesting read.
August 4, 2011
Mon livre du moment.
Histoire et micro-sociologie du salut nazi.
Ou comment 50 Millions d'Allemands et d'Autrichiens se sont mis d'un seul homme à saluer leur voisin en levant le bras tendu.
Virtuose.
Histoire et micro-sociologie du salut nazi.
Ou comment 50 Millions d'Allemands et d'Autrichiens se sont mis d'un seul homme à saluer leur voisin en levant le bras tendu.
Virtuose.
January 4, 2017
This unusual book caught my eye in the German history section of our local used bookstore, The Armadillo's Pillow. I had a gift coupon, the price was modest, so I picked it up, hoping to learn something about how life was lived under the Nazis.
I did learn some facts, such as the customary greetings in the various German states, the promulgation of a "German salute" to supercede them, the meaning of "Seig Heil" and the suggestive meanings of "Heil Hitler", but I wasn't much impressed by the psycho-social analysis of the salute practice. The argument, such as it was, was too slight to carry much weight or to justify one hundred pages of text.
I did learn some facts, such as the customary greetings in the various German states, the promulgation of a "German salute" to supercede them, the meaning of "Seig Heil" and the suggestive meanings of "Heil Hitler", but I wasn't much impressed by the psycho-social analysis of the salute practice. The argument, such as it was, was too slight to carry much weight or to justify one hundred pages of text.
December 11, 2024
read for class
April 13, 2025
About as dry and academic as one would expect from a sociology professor but interesting enough that I bothered to finish it. I had not thought of greeting as a gift before.
June 27, 2025
Interesting and important, but perhaps suffering from a lack of interdisciplinarity (in addition to being somewhat outdated, which of course is not the author's fault).
July 24, 2011
Heil Hitler? “The story of the Hitler greeting is a tale of how Germans tried to evade the responsibility of normal social intercourse, rejected the gift of contact with others, allowed social mores to decay, and refused to acknowledge the inherent openness and ambivalence of human relationships and social exchange.” The author’s points about the social importance of greetings are many, some at odds with each other, all interesting. This short book holds a fascinating lens to everyday life in Germany; we see how institutions like the Church, Military, and family adjusted to Nazification. HH! was also a way to unify German national identity. Non-Aryans couldn’t salute, and that othering process is something the author doesn’t treat. What sort of population allows its government to impose a mandatory greeting, esp. so soon after taking power? Sure, there was resistance: mocking vaudeville monkeys saluting, pastors and professors who refused, but many were persecuted. Beware new salutes.
January 28, 2016
This is a brief but an insightful book, or extended essay, really. Drawing on Frankfurt School sociological analysis, it unpacks the dense cultural symbolism and social function of the notorious salute associated with German society under the Nazis. Allert analyzes the greeting not as a casual display of approbation but as an accomplice in the negation of self and moral indifference that made the Nazi catastrophe possible.
June 1, 2014
This book was not my thing. There was just too much philosophizing for my taste.
March 29, 2016
Interesting, although maybe more than I wanted to know. This book delves into the use of the Hitler Salute in World War II Germany and how it transformed a culture in only months.
October 2, 2018
Interesting bit of history that I had never heard about and never contemplated.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews