Status: 26.09.2024 00:00
Hermann Löns was born on August 29, 1866 in Culm, West Prussia. Today he is considered the German heath poet par excellence. But he was also an avowed nationalist. Löns died 110 years ago today.
“On the Lüneburg Heath
in the beautiful country
I rose and I went under
all sorts of things along the way I found.” Text quote
Hermann Löns: A pioneer of the environmental movement
In Hermann Löns’ works, the birches are green, the roses are blooming and the fox and the hare not only say goodnight to each other in harmony, but are also lovingly cutesed with names like Kunrad Flinkfoot and Lischen Hopsinskrut.
Hermann Löns, born on August 29, 1866 in Culm, West Prussia, is a poet and a nature lover, no doubt about it. And an environmentalist, long before the eco-movement existed. His texts, written at the beginning of the 20th century, still sound modern, almost visionary today.
“The nature conservation movement must become a force. Such a force that industry, trade and transport must reckon with it. Many times, people have sinned against nature in completely unnecessary ways for its sake. And if we prevent them from committing such sins in the future, we may be met with scorn and ridicule today. But posterity will thank us.” Text quote
“The Wehrwolf”: Works full of blood and soil romance
It is no wonder that hiking enthusiasts and nature conservation movements still refer to Hermann Löns today. But it is not quite that simple. The quote goes even further:
“We want to prevent the great fountain of public health from being buried and the holy bath of souls from being contaminated. Because we know that nature conservation is synonymous with racial protection.”
Hermann Löns – revered by the National Socialists
And there are quite a few such sentences: Löns preaches Teutonism because, literally, “humanism and internationalism have ruined us.” His novels – especially “Wehrwolf” – are full of archaic blood-and-soil romanticism and inhumane descriptions.
“The rigging is even tougher than deer lice,” said Wulfsbauer, when they had shaken off the naked company, and he added: “What people are now streaming around the country! It is a disgrace that nothing is being done about it!”
So something is done: “Slah doot”, hit them dead, is the battle cry of the defensive farmers – directed against all invaders into their land. This is also why the “Wehrwolf” was prescribed to the young anti-aircraft helpers in Nazi Germany as reading material. Löns’ sailor’s song became the “Engelland” song, the musical accompaniment to the air raids on England.
Romantic heath poet, convinced nationalist
Hermann Löns can hardly be blamed for being exploited by the National Socialists in this way; he had already been dead for almost 20 years at the time. And his novels such as “The Last Hansbur” and “The Second Face” were already bestsellers before the National Socialist spirit dominated popular taste. Anyone who wants to make him out to be its mastermind, like Löns biographer Wilhelm Deimann, is doing him an injustice – and ignoring much more critical works such as “The Houses of Ohlenhof”.
But to simply revere him as a heath poet also means closing one’s eyes to his blood-and-soil romanticism. A more critical approach to his memory would therefore be absolutely necessary rather than happily following in his footsteps.
In contrast to his stories, his death was anything but romantic. On September 26, 1914, the writer and journalist Hermann Löns fell in one of the horrific battles of the First World War near Reims in France.
More information
110 years ago today, Hermann Löns was killed in the First World War. But is he really the dead man buried near Walsrode? more
This topic in the program:
NDR 1 Lower Saxony | Regional Lüneburg | 19.11.2018 | 22:45
