Cultural Identities in Europe

Nations and Regions, Migration and Minorities

Verena Gutsche,Richard Nate

• Publisher: Königshausen u. Neumann
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9783826080210
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

R. Nate / V. Gutsche: "Introduction" – O. Berezenska / A. L. Borgstedt / C. Engelhardt / P. Franz / E.-M. Kocher: "Europe - A Collective Identity?" – K. Farrell: "Beyond Multiculturalism" – K. Kazzazi: "On 'Right' and 'Wrong' Kinds of Multilingualism: The Influence of Language Prestige on Multilingual Identity" – K. Luttermann: "Languages in Dialogue for European Identity" – P. Ruspini: "The European Migration System and the Development of the EU External Migration Policy: A Critical Review" – S. Schieren: "'Independence in Europe'? The Scottish Quest for Independence after the Elections of 2011" – R. Nate: "National and International Orientations in Twentieth Century German Youth Movements" – J. S. Partington: "Wales Strikes Back: British Media Coverage of Cardiff City Football Club's Victory in the English F. A. Cup, 1927" – K. Fia³kowska: "German Washing Powder Versus Polish Sausage: An Analysis of Practices of Polish Seasonal Workers in Germany and Their Impact on Identity" – B. Isenberg: "Assimilitis - The Realities of Joseph Roth" – V. Shamina: "The Loss of National Identity as a Theme in Recent Russian Literature" – B. B. Becker: "To Write is to Return": Alexandria in the Western Mind"

III.

Area Studies

Between Nationalism and Internationalism: Reflections on Twentieth-Century German Youth Movements

RICHARD NATE

One of the concepts which offered themselves as a marker of cultural identity in the early twentieth century was youth. Within the general atmosphere of crisis which characterized the turn of the century, longings for a cultural renewal were widespread.¹ In this context, “youth” gained the status of an “imagined community”, next to “nation”, “race”, or “class”.² Inspired by the romantic tradition, the concept of youth was connected to the idea that a form of life could be recovered which was considered more natural and truthful than everything which the modern world could offer. One movement which sprang from such feelings was the Wandervogel, which began as a group of young people from Berlin-Steglitz who wanted to escape from the restraints of urban life by taking walks through the woodlands of Germany and experiencing a new kind of friendship. While modern life was dismissed as alienated, the experience of nature was seen as a means of restoring humanity to its original healthy state. In the years before World War One, the Wandervogel rapidly developed into a nation-wide movement, which reached its peak when groups from various parts of the country assembled at the Hoher Meißner mountain in Hesse in 1913. After the war, the Wandervogel idea was carried on in many newly established groups, which together constituted the Deutsche Jugendbewegung (German Youth Movement). In the early years of the Weimar Republic, this movement became so popular that not only various political parties but also the Catholic and Protestant churches began to create their own youth leagues.

The sense of collective identity which was established in these groups had its roots in early nineteenth-century romanticism.³ It was here that the concept of Volk had first been set against a seemingly cold interpretation of the state as a social mechanism. Within the context of German idealist philosophy, metaphorical extensions such as Volksgeist (national spirit) or Volksseele (national soul) had emerged, which suggested that the state was an organic entity rather than a political structure resting on a mutual contract. In the German youth movement such ideas were continued. What was celebrated was a feeling of togetherness. Of the two concepts which the German sociologist Ferdinand Tönnies had described in 1887, Gemeinschaft (community) was favoured over that of Gesellschaft (society).⁴ While the latter was regarded as mechanistic, the former seemed to provide a home for the uprooted modern individual.⁵ Given its roots in the neoromantic movements of the late nineteenth century, it is worth noting that the idea of a Volksgemeinschaft existed long before the Nazis would adopt it for their own ideological purposes.⁶

Although, after the war, politics began to play a more important role in the Youth Movement, its orientations were anything but clear. While some groups held pacifist views and sought to overcome the old antagonisms by organizing international youth camps, others adhered to the stab-in-the-back myth spread by army leaders and felt that Germany had been cheated out of its deserved victory by subversive forces. During this period the appearance of the Youth Movement also changed. In the many leagues (Bünde) which sprang up after the war, the more casual ways of the Wandervogel gave way to a new conformism in which the wearing of uniforms became the norm.

From its earliest days, the Youth Movement had wavered between national and international orientations. Like other communities, the youth leagues sought to define their collective identities by demarcating themselves from other groups. Depending on the given ideological stance, these boundaries could differ considerably. As will be shown, national and international perspectives could also overlap. While volkish groups dreamed of a greater Germany which would include German minorities in neighbouring countries, others created visions of a united Europe which would leave behind the conflicts of former decades altogether. The concept of Europe, however, was defined in more than one way. While for some it included every person living between the Urals and the Atlantic Ocean, others wanted to restrict it to the so-called “European races”. Whether Jews or Russians represented “Orientals” or “Asians” rather than “Europeans” was a matter of debate. Accordingly, when an author demanded the overcoming of national prejudices, it was still possible that he adhered to an ethnically defined concept of Europe in which particular groups were branded as outsiders.

1. The Wandervogel and Imperial Germany

Although members of the early Wandervogel generally saw themselves as patriots, they would criticize the “mechanistic spirit” which marked the politics of Imperial Germany. For those who sympathized with the volkish movement, the empire of Wilhelm II represented but a preliminary “second Reich” which would ultimately give way to a mythical “third” one.⁷ When a resolution demanding the independence and self-responsibility of the German Youth was passed at the Hoher Meissner, this was considered as a first step towards a cultural rebirth and the forming of a Jugendreich (empire of the young). In his history of the Wandervogel, published in 1960, Werner Helwig even went so far as to characterize the Youth Movement as a kind of ersatzreligion. “Instead of God”, he wrote, “they always talked about the volk, conceived of as a mystic community which guaranteed ultimate security. It enthralled us like the fairy tales from the days of our childhood.”⁸ In his description of the Meissner festival, the participants appear like medieval troubadours rather than modern citizens:

They came from everywhere along the country roads. In groups, in loose order or following the musicians, they moved towards the festival ground. The area was filled with folk songs from the Zupfgeigenhansl. It was as if isles of sound were coming together and slowly grew into continents.⁹

In Helwig’s idealizing account, the gathering at the Hoher Meissner was one of true believers. It was a place where young people could renew their strength before descending again into the hostile atmosphere of urban life. The Meissner, he wrote, brought about a feeling that a real community was possible if only there were enough people who believed in it.¹⁰ The false pleasures of the city were to be replaced by natural ones, and life itself should become an object of worship.¹¹ Those who gathered around the fireplaces to sing German folk songs, Helwig noted, were catching glimpses of a future golden age:

Within freely established circles, serious questions were debated. High-flying philosophies, decidedly idealistic concepts were tested and conveyed to the audience with a feeling of paving the way for a future legislation. At this meeting, one could feel the beating of the heart of the world. In its rhythm, the hours were spent. The unspeakable became a song and it moved the listeners. Good spirits cast a benevolent and supporting glance at the crowds.¹²

In contrast to Helwig’s harmonizing account, Walter Laqueur, in his Young Germany, published only two years later, stressed the tensions which existed between the different groups. While some were content with the idea of hiking through fields and forests in a neo-romantic spirit, others would already point to the political significance of the event. On the one hand, there were volkish groups who sought to exclude Jews, Slavs and South Europeans from their ranks; on the other, there were pacifists who denounced the nationalist spirit of the Kaiserreich.¹³

Because of these different orientations, the war, which broke out only one year later, could be experienced either as a chance of renewal or as a shattering of hopes. Those who cherished a romantic heroism believed that the comradeship of soldiers could prepare for a true Volksgemeinschaft transcending all social barriers.¹⁴ Thus, Hans Breuer, editor of the popular Wandervogel songbook Zupfgeigenhansl, regarded fighting the nation’s enemies as a “holy obligation”.¹⁵ Within such a view, the estimated 10,000 Wandervögel who lost their lives in the trenches were glorified as fallen heroes rather than seen as the victims of a nationalist politics. Walter Flex’s bestseller Der Wanderer zwischen den zwei Welten (The Wanderer Between the Two Worlds, 1917), which relates the last days of Wandervogel Ernst Wurche, provides a good example. Carrying with him a co...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• I. Concepts of Identity
• II. EU Implications
• III. Area Studies
• IV. Reflections in Literature
• Notes on Contributors