Subtile Jagden

by Ernst Jünger

Ursprünglich sollten die »Subtilen Jagden« »Einiges über Käfer und etwas mehr« heißen – in diesem Band zeigt sich Jünger als Sammler, voll »krabbelnder Bijouterie« (Peter von Matt).
Der vorliegende Band entspricht Band 10 der gebundenen Ausgabe.

Es war Jüngers Vater, der (in Heidelberg bei Victor Meyer promoviert) seinem Sohn den ersten Sammelkasten für Insekten schenkte, und dieser nutzte sogar im Ersten Weltkrieg die Gefechtspausen, um seine Sammlung zu erweitern. Dabei ist Jünger bei seinen »Jagden«, die auch ein Erinnerungsbuch für den Vater sind, dabei stets Entomologe und Schriftsteller zugleich. Dies wird auch in den Parerga deutlich, die u. a. frühe Entwürfe und Erinnerungen an den katholischen Geistlichen und Entomologen Adolf Horions enthalten.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Ernst Jünger was a decorated German soldier and author who became famous for his World War I memoir Storm of Steel. The son of a successful businessman and chemist, Jünger rebelled against an affluent upbringing and sought adventure in the Wandervogel, before running away to briefly serve in the French Foreign Legion, an illegal act. Because he escaped prosecution in Germany due to his father's efforts, Junger was able to enlist on the outbreak of war. A fearless leader who admired bravery above all else, he enthusiastically participated in actions in which his units were sometimes virtually annihilated. During an ill-fated German offensive in 1918 Junger's WW1 career ended with the last and most serious of his many woundings, and he was awarded the Pour le Mérite, a rare decoration for one of his rank.

Junger served in World War II as captain in the German Army. Assigned to an administrative position in Paris, he socialized with prominent artists of the day such as Picasso and Jean Cocteau. His early time in France is described in his diary Gärten und Straßen (1942, Gardens and Streets). He was also in charge of executing younger German soldiers who had deserted. In his book Un Allemand à Paris , the writer Gerhard Heller states that he had been interested in learning how a person reacts to death under such circumstances and had a morbid fascination for the subject.

Jünger appears on the fringes of the Stauffenberg bomb plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler (July 20, 1944). He was clearly an inspiration to anti-Nazi conservatives in the German Army, and while in Paris he was close to the old, mostly Prussian, officers who carried out the assassination attempt against Hitler. He was only peripherally involved in the events however, and in the aftermath suffered only dismissal from the army in the summer of 1944, rather than execution.

In the aftermath of WW2 he was treated with some suspicion as a closet Nazi. By the latter stages of the Cold War his unorthodox writings about the impact of materialism in modern society were widely seen as conservative rather than radical nationalist, and his philosophical works came to be highly regarded in mainstream German circles. Junger ended his extremely long life as a honoured establishment figure, although critics continued to charge him with the glorification of war as a transcending experience.

Reviews

[Hendrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mein Verhältnis zur Welt der Insekten ist bisher eher durch größtmögliche Distanz geprägt gewesen. Auch stehen Käfer (Coleoptera) bei den meisten Tierfreunden nicht sehr hoch im Kurs. Panda, Elefant und co. habens da meist einfacher. Aber Ernst Jünger beweist mit einer Mischung aus Reise-, Lebens- und Forschungsbericht, daß es sich lohnt einen Blick auf diese vielfältige Welt im Kleinsten zu werfen.

[Hightatras · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fick ja, Käfer!

[palastbrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unerwartet psychedelisch.