Julius Langbehn (26 March 1851 – 30 April 1907) was aGermannational Romanticart historian andphilosopher. He was born in Hadersleben,Schleswig (now Haderslev inDenmark), and died inRosenheim.
Langbehn was born inHadersleben in what was then theDuchy of Schleswig, on 26 March 1851, the third of four sons. His father, aphilologist, was dismissed from his position as the assistant principal at the localgymnasium shortly after Julius's birth, a result of a campaign to promote Danish nationalism in southern Denmark following theFirst Schleswig War and theRevolutions of 1848. The Langbehn family eventually settled inKiel, where Julius entered thegymnasium in 1863. After graduation, he entered theUniversity of Kiel for a degree in the natural sciences. At the age of 19, he enlisted in thePrussian Army following the outbreak of theFranco-Prussian War in 1870. He fought in the battles ofOrleans andLe Mans in December 1870 and January 1871, respectively. Langbehn's military service left him with a profound distaste for war.[1]
After the war, Langbehn returned to Kiel to studychemistry, though in 1872 he transferred to theUniversity of Munich with the help of a wealthy merchant. There, he grew bored with chemistry and began to study art and archaeology. After his mother suffered a nervous breakdown, Julius traveled toVenice before returning to Munich in 1875. He studied archaeology underHeinrich Brunn; his doctoral dissertation examined early Greek statues ofNike, the goddess of victory. He worked briefly at theImperial Archaeology Institute inRome in 1881. Over the following decade, he traveled throughout Germany, collecting material for his first book,Rembrandt als Erzieher (Rembrandt as Teacher), published in 1890. His work was focused on initiating cultural reform in Germany.[2]
Rembrandt als Erzieher, which was published anonymously "by a German", was a huge success. Langbehn's attitudes towards Jews was initially favourable, but as the book went through its numerous editions, this changed, with new chapters introduced to this effect in the 37th edition, which were subsequently ever more stridently revised.[3] In 1891, he published40 Lieder (40 Poems), again anonymously; this proved to be a complete failure. The poems, which were explicitly erotic, prompted the state prosecutor ofSchleswig-Holstein to threaten to press charges. The legal problems were sufficient to force Langbehn to withdraw the book.Der Rembrandtdeutsche followed, this time "by a friend of truth", though it too was not well received. Langbehn moved toVienna, then in theAustro-Hungarian Empire, where he lived briefly. He shortly fled the country after having been convicted in a lawsuit from his landlord. Around this time Langbehn took on a disciple, a painter fromFrisia by the name of Nissen.[4]
After departing Vienna, Langbehn traveled to Italy, southern France, Spain, and theCanary Islands in 1894. He then returned to Germany and continued his vagrant life there, producing no new works. In the mid-1890s, he began to attend Catholic churches, and in early 1900 he converted to Catholicism. He now directed his reformist tendencies toward the Catholic Church, and began to attack liberal segments. Langbehn died on 30 April 1907 ofstomach cancer.[5] He was buried in Puch near theEdignalinde at his own request because of his admiration forEdigna.[6]
Langbehn's efforts at reform were areaction againstmodernism. He particularly dislikedmaterialism,democracy, andinternationalism; he favoredaristocracy,individualism, andpeace. He believed that Germany should abandonindustrialization andurbanization in favor of anagrarian society ruled by amonarch.[7] While Langbehn's vision did away with thebourgeois,proletarians, and theJunkers, he strongly opposed aclassless society, stating that "equality is death."[8] He was also anantisemite[6] and an early figure in theVölkisch movement.[9]A widely read antisemite, Langbehn held that “A Jew can no more become a German than a plum can turn into an apple.”[citation needed]
(In German)
