Stefan Georg (George)

George, Stephen (George), (1868-1933), German poet, one of the prominent representatives of German symbolism, which has had a profound influence on the cultural life of the Weimar Republic. His contemporaries called him "the embodiment of Roman culture on the basis of the Rhine" and "Napoleon at the court of Muses. He was the first who declared the only art form of poetry literature. Born July 12, 1868 in Byudesheyme to a wealthy family that gave him the opportunity to make several trips abroad, thanks to which in the late 80-ies. He met with Paris Symbolists (Mallarme, . Verlaine), under their influence formed aesthetic views of George, . to overcome the naturalism: art should serve the needs of society, . to "l'art pour l'art" - "art for art's sake,
. George flatly stated: "In poetry ... Anyone who is covered by a maniacal desire something "say" does not deserve to be admitted even to the threshold of art ". In poetry is important "not meaning and form.

A similar aesthetic program consistent with the isolation of the poet. Early collections of poetry, Gheorghe not arrived in bookstores, readership was narrow because of their specific shape - a facsimile edition of manuscript, the rejection of capital letters and punctuation. From 1892 to 1919, George published the magazine "Bletter fц?r de Kunst", the title page of which stated that the magazine is intended to close the circle of readers, compiled at the invitation of the permanent members ". In the early collections of "Hymns" (1890), "Pilgrimage" (1891), "Books of the Shepherds (1895)," The Year of the soul "(1897), embodying the ideas of Nietzsche, extolled the mysterious forces of nature and exceptional heroes. In the collections of "War" (1917) and "Three Tunes" (1921) was influenced by expressionism. Nietzschean in its origins and anti-democratic to the core philosophy of the poet in this period brought him in close proximity to the ideas of national socialism. One day, he predicted that soon will be a hero in Germany, which will lead to the revival of the country, Europe and the world. This superman, according to George, will be able to break the shackles of the corrupt society, will order in the chaos and sows the seeds of a new Reich

. Prophetic ambition does not see the reality of the poet, . his mystical mood and the cult of heroism, self-sufficient (Collection "New Kingdom", . 1928) provided the basis of bourgeois reaction using verses George for their slogans, their meaning is interpreted as a call to the leader of the "Third Reich", . although he claimed George, . he tried only to depict "the poet in the years of the Troubles" and rejected Nazism, . seeing in the columns of Hitler's only "crowd",
. He did not want to take part in celebrations to be held on the occasion of his appointment as president of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1933. He emigrated to Switzerland, where he died Dec. 4, 1933, even barring bury themselves in Germany. Even before the 1 st World War II literary followers, adherents and admirers of his poetry formed t. n. "circle of Stefan George" - something between a bohemian literary salon and spiritual-aesthetic order. It included many well-known in Germany, cultural figures - poets, writers, university professors, artists - Friedrich Gundolf, Ludwig Klages, Karl Volfskel, Alfred Schuler, etc..

Calling themselves "cosmists, members of the group is widely promoted their own aesthetic concepts, adhere to a certain ritual behavior, and even, in imitation of their leader, wore the black robes of a clerical cut. Many members of this group were the forerunners of Nazi Germany (Ludwig Klages, Ernst Bertram). One of the "cosmists" tries to make the circle of anti-Semitic overtones, - Alfred Schuler - perhaps the first in Germany began to use as a symbol of the swastika. When deprived of Hitler arrived in early 1913 in Munich, he has been visiting the cafes and taverns, where the assembled members of the "circle of Stefan George," the atmosphere of which he had to taste. He attended the speeches Alfred Shuler, and was very fascinated by them and vicious anti-Semitic nationalism. It is likely that this was when he got the idea to use the swastika for its future movement.