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Politische Texte.
Politische Texte - bk1142; Rowohlt Verlag; Kurt Tucholsky; pocket_book; 1971
123 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
About the author
Kurt Tucholsky
510 books126 followersKurt Tucholsky was a German-Jewish journalist, satirist and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser, Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger, and Ignaz Wrobel. Born in Berlin-Moabit, he moved to Paris in 1924 and then to Sweden in 1930.
Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of the Weimar Republic. As a politically engaged journalist and temporary co-editor of the weekly magazine Die Weltbühne he proved himself to be a social critic in the tradition of Heinrich Heine. He was simultaneously a satirist, an author of satirical political revues, a songwriter, and a poet. He saw himself as a left-wing democrat and pacifist and warned against anti-democratic tendencies—above all in politics, the military, and justice—and the threat of National Socialism. His fears were confirmed when the Nazis came to power in 1933: his books were listed on the Nazi's censorship as "Entartete Kunst" ("Degenerate Art") and burned, and he lost his German citizenship.
Tucholsky was one of the most important journalists of the Weimar Republic. As a politically engaged journalist and temporary co-editor of the weekly magazine Die Weltbühne he proved himself to be a social critic in the tradition of Heinrich Heine. He was simultaneously a satirist, an author of satirical political revues, a songwriter, and a poet. He saw himself as a left-wing democrat and pacifist and warned against anti-democratic tendencies—above all in politics, the military, and justice—and the threat of National Socialism. His fears were confirmed when the Nazis came to power in 1933: his books were listed on the Nazi's censorship as "Entartete Kunst" ("Degenerate Art") and burned, and he lost his German citizenship.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 30, 2023
A more appropriate title of this intense collection of essays might be Anti-Militaristic Writings. Tucholsky’s indignant venom about the abuses of the German officer corps in World War I and the early days of Weimar are astoundingly relevant today. I particularly liked how the editor concluded the book with a sampling of quotes about Tucholsky from his lifetime juxtaposed with quotes from the 1960s by his right-wing critics. He was hated by them while he lived and he continued to be hated by them long after he died. Many went so far as to blame him as being one of the causes of the end of Weimar Germany! I guess that whole Nazi/Hitler thing he couldn’t stop had little to do with it.
Tucholsky cites a number of his contemporary writers to bolster his convincing case about the incredible abuses of the military leadership; abuses against the men they command and send to death as well as abuses of living like privileged aristocrats far away from the dangers of the front while their men rotted in rat- and death-infested trenches. He exposes the lying propaganda that portrayed them as noble warriors representing the best of Germany. In his assessment of Ludendorff, the de facto leader of Germany in the latter stages of the war, during in the period before the Munich Putsch makes it seem that he sees into a crystal ball when he observes “An honorable grouch who insults fallen Jewish soldiers is not one.” Nor does he spare his fellow citizens who elevate the officer class: “The military shame of Germany was only possible because it satisfied the deepest and worst instincts of the people.”
This collection also contains a number of his poems, none of which contain a word of trite nostalgia. My favorite verse from “The Grave”:
Tucholsky cites a number of his contemporary writers to bolster his convincing case about the incredible abuses of the military leadership; abuses against the men they command and send to death as well as abuses of living like privileged aristocrats far away from the dangers of the front while their men rotted in rat- and death-infested trenches. He exposes the lying propaganda that portrayed them as noble warriors representing the best of Germany. In his assessment of Ludendorff, the de facto leader of Germany in the latter stages of the war, during in the period before the Munich Putsch makes it seem that he sees into a crystal ball when he observes “An honorable grouch who insults fallen Jewish soldiers is not one.” Nor does he spare his fellow citizens who elevate the officer class: “The military shame of Germany was only possible because it satisfied the deepest and worst instincts of the people.”
This collection also contains a number of his poems, none of which contain a word of trite nostalgia. My favorite verse from “The Grave”:
Seid nicht stolz auf Orden und Geklunker!And what he wrote in the essay “Twilight” (“Dämmerung”) in the 1920 seems appropriate for today:
Seid nicht stolz auf Narben und die Zeit!
In die Gräben schickten euch die Junker,
Staatswahn und der Frabrikantenneid.
Ihr wart gut genug zum Fraß für Raben,
für das Grab, Kameraden, für den Graben!
(Be not proud of medals and decorations!
Be not proud of scars and the times!
Into the graves you were sent by the noblemen,
State delusions and manufacturers' envy.
You were good enough for feed for the ravens,
For the grave, Comrades, for the graves!)
Was man so gemeinehin Kunst und Kultur nennt: sie sind nicht möglich ohne gemeinsame Voraussetzungen. Die sind nicht mehr da. Die Grundfesten wanken. Es ist durchaus nicht allen gemeinsam und selbstverständlich, daß das Vaterland das Höchste ist, woran sich anzuschließen Pflicht und Gewinn sei—sondern das ist sehr bestritten. Es ist durchaus nich allen geminsam, daß die Familie der Endpunkt der Entwicklung und etwas Selbstverständliches sei—das ist sehr bestritten. Es ist durchaus nicht selbstverständlich, daß der Kapitalismus notwendig oder gar nutzbringend sei—das ist sehr besritten. Sie reden verschiedene Sprachen, die babylonischen Menschen, und sie verstehen einander nicht. Sie sprechen aneinander vorbei, und sie haben weniger gemeinsam denn je.
(What we collectively call art and culture are not possible without common assumptions. These no longer exist. The foundations waver. It is altogether not common and self-evident to all that highest duty and profit are bound to the Fatherland—rather that is very much in dispute. It is altogether not common that the family is the endpoint of progress and something self-evident—that is very much in dispute. It is altogether not self-evident that capitalism is essential or even profitable—that is very much in dispute. They speak different languages, this Babylonian humanity, and they don’t understand one another. They speak past each other and have less in common than ever.)
July 16, 2022
Sammlung von Beiträgen der Weltbühne - kritisch, scharf beobachtet, pointiert
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews