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Stefan George: Die Entdeckung des Charisma
Als Dichter, Prophet und Mittelpunkt eines Kreises ihm grenzenlos ergebener Jünger zählte Stefan George (1868 – 1933) zu den einflussreichsten Figuren der deutschen Geistesgeschichte. Das Denkmal, das sich der »Meister« errichtete, war vielen Zeitgenossen allerdings zu hoch, und nach 1945 geriet George in Vergessenheit. Nach langjähriger Vorarbeit legt Thomas Karlauf die erste George-Biographie in deutscher Sprache vor: ein faszinierendes Stück Zeit- und Sittengeschichte am Vorabend der Katastrophe.
Stefan George war unter den deutschen Dichtern im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts zweifellos der einflussreichste. Er hat die deutsche Lyrik entscheidend geprägt. Seinen Ruhm verdankte George allerdings weniger seinen Gedichten als vielmehr der Tatsache, dass er sich so perfekt inszeniert hat wie kaum jemand vor ihm. Legendär – und bis heute umstritten – war auch der so genannte George-Kreis, ein dem Dichter treu ergebener Männerbund. An diesem Kreis schwärmerisch begeisterter Jünglinge entwickelte Max Weber sein Modell der »charismatischen Herrschaft«. An der Person Georges lässt sich zeigen, was Macht über Menschen wirklich bedeutet. In seinem Werk finden sich zahlreiche Berührungspunkte mit dem Nationalsozialismus (George starb 1933), viele sahen in ihm einen »Wegbereiter«. Und doch steht am Ende dieses Weges das Attentat auf Hitler am 20. Juli 1944: Verübt hat es Claus von Stauffenberg, einer der letzten Vertrauten Georges.
Thomas Karlauf hat die gesamte Forschung aufgearbeitet, seine Biographie ist wissenschaftlich auf dem neuesten Stand und wunderbar lebendig erzählt.
Stefan George war unter den deutschen Dichtern im ersten Drittel des 20. Jahrhunderts zweifellos der einflussreichste. Er hat die deutsche Lyrik entscheidend geprägt. Seinen Ruhm verdankte George allerdings weniger seinen Gedichten als vielmehr der Tatsache, dass er sich so perfekt inszeniert hat wie kaum jemand vor ihm. Legendär – und bis heute umstritten – war auch der so genannte George-Kreis, ein dem Dichter treu ergebener Männerbund. An diesem Kreis schwärmerisch begeisterter Jünglinge entwickelte Max Weber sein Modell der »charismatischen Herrschaft«. An der Person Georges lässt sich zeigen, was Macht über Menschen wirklich bedeutet. In seinem Werk finden sich zahlreiche Berührungspunkte mit dem Nationalsozialismus (George starb 1933), viele sahen in ihm einen »Wegbereiter«. Und doch steht am Ende dieses Weges das Attentat auf Hitler am 20. Juli 1944: Verübt hat es Claus von Stauffenberg, einer der letzten Vertrauten Georges.
Thomas Karlauf hat die gesamte Forschung aufgearbeitet, seine Biographie ist wissenschaftlich auf dem neuesten Stand und wunderbar lebendig erzählt.
- GenresNonfiction
816 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2007
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August 22, 2016
This is a massive life and times of the most influential German-language poet of the first half of the twentieth-century. “Poet” is not an entirely adequate description, for from the beginning, his career was marked by determination to make life and work a unity. His credo was that the stance of the poet is more important than the actual work produced.
This provoked ridicule from many of his contemporaries, but in a few found fertile ground, particularly among youths who were, as he had been, troubled loners. You can imagine where this is heading: the formation of a circle of devoted admirers subsumed to the ideal of pederasty as education.
In the light of further historical developments, detractors pointed to George’s early use of the ancient swastika symbol as a prominent design element in his books, portraying the poet as a forerunner of Hitler. That both used the same symbol is inconsequential. More eery is the language George used, stylising himself as “Führer” and heralding the coming of a New Reich. Even more than his vocabulary, his self-stylisation as high priest of a new religion, bent on imposing his absolute will on his followers, seems precursive. In fact, the pioneer German sociologist Max Weber was fascinated by the phenomenon of the George-circle, and used it to illustrate charismatic leadership, in distinction to legal and traditional leadership, in his final major work, Economy and Society.
In the last decade of his life, after his lyric inspiration was sapped, George’s work focused on reproducing his stance in a series of impressionable young men that his first circle of devotees were directed to scout out. It is fascinating that one of these, Claus von Stauffenberg, at first idolized Hitler, then attained immortality by attempting to assassinate the dictator. Facing death by firing squad, he exclaimed “long live secret Germany,” employing a term used by members of the George-circle to express their ambivalent ambition to foster the true essence of German culture while proclaiming their indifference to politics.
While less-remembered or read today than his erstwhile rival Rilke, many of George’s poems, which I first read a half-century ago in a seminar on modern German literature, remain among the best in the language. It is valuable to explore this very German cultural phenomenon. While perhaps most readers won’t need such an extensive treatment, those who do read this thoroughly-researched and well-written book are sure to find it as rewarding as I did.
This provoked ridicule from many of his contemporaries, but in a few found fertile ground, particularly among youths who were, as he had been, troubled loners. You can imagine where this is heading: the formation of a circle of devoted admirers subsumed to the ideal of pederasty as education.
In the light of further historical developments, detractors pointed to George’s early use of the ancient swastika symbol as a prominent design element in his books, portraying the poet as a forerunner of Hitler. That both used the same symbol is inconsequential. More eery is the language George used, stylising himself as “Führer” and heralding the coming of a New Reich. Even more than his vocabulary, his self-stylisation as high priest of a new religion, bent on imposing his absolute will on his followers, seems precursive. In fact, the pioneer German sociologist Max Weber was fascinated by the phenomenon of the George-circle, and used it to illustrate charismatic leadership, in distinction to legal and traditional leadership, in his final major work, Economy and Society.
In the last decade of his life, after his lyric inspiration was sapped, George’s work focused on reproducing his stance in a series of impressionable young men that his first circle of devotees were directed to scout out. It is fascinating that one of these, Claus von Stauffenberg, at first idolized Hitler, then attained immortality by attempting to assassinate the dictator. Facing death by firing squad, he exclaimed “long live secret Germany,” employing a term used by members of the George-circle to express their ambivalent ambition to foster the true essence of German culture while proclaiming their indifference to politics.
While less-remembered or read today than his erstwhile rival Rilke, many of George’s poems, which I first read a half-century ago in a seminar on modern German literature, remain among the best in the language. It is valuable to explore this very German cultural phenomenon. While perhaps most readers won’t need such an extensive treatment, those who do read this thoroughly-researched and well-written book are sure to find it as rewarding as I did.
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