Riehl was born inBiebrich in theDuchy of Nassau and died inMunich. Riehl was born into a settled middle-class background, was a professor at theUniversity of Munich, and later in life a curator of Bavarian antiquities.[1]
According toGeorge Mosse "Riehl's writings became normative for a large body ofVolkish thought."[2] Riehl desired a hierarchical society that patterned after the medieval estates. InDie bürgerliche Gesellschaft (Bourgeois Society) he accused those of Capitalist interest of "disturbing ancient customs and thus destroying the historicity of the Volk."[3]
Riehl argued that the 'working class' were the most respectable Volk, since they were best attuned to nature itself.[4] Throughout his work, Riehl displays a strong conviction that the German people and land are intrinsically connected to one another. He also is considered the founder of the "German ethnographic Volkskunde" and drew many of his conclusions in his work from his personal experiences hiking throughout Germany.[5]
Liulevicius, Vejas G.War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity and German Occupation in World War I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Mosse, George L.The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964.
^George L. Mosse,The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964), p. 19.
^George L. Mosse,The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964), p. 19.
^George L. Mosse,The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964), p. 20.
^George L. Mosse,The Crisis of German Ideology: Intellectual Origins of the Third Reich (New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1964), pp. 19–23.
^Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius,War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity and German Occupation in World War I (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 167.
