Hochland (magazine)
Encyclopedia
Hochland was a German
Catholic magazine
, published in Munich
from 1903 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1971. Founded by Carl Muth
, it was regarded critically by the church, and published work by authors regardless of denomination
on topics related to religion and culture.
and Sophie Scholl
. From 1903 to 1932 it was edited by Carl Muth, then, until 1935, by Friedrich Fuchs, and from 1935 to 1939 again by Muth, and from 1939 until 1941, when it was banned by the Nazis, by Franz Joseph Schöningh. Its circulation in 1939 was 12,000.
Its regular contributors formed a "Hochland circle," which included Catholic philosophers and authors such as Carl Schmitt
, Theodor Schieffer
, Theodor Haecker
, Gertrud von le Fort
, Sigrid Undset
, Werner Bergengruen
, Max Scheler
, Romano Guardini
, Peter Wust
, Alois Dempf, Philipp Funk, Otto Karrer, Joseph Wittig
, Joseph Hengesbach, and Heinrich Lützeler
.
During the Nazi period, Hochland published a number of controversial articles critical (though sometimes covertly so) of the government, such as an essay by Theodor Schieffer praising Alexis de Toqueville and his love of liberty. According to Konrad Ackermann, the magazine was the most important magazine for the intellectual resistance against the government. In 1939, the publication of an essay by Joseph Bernhart ("Hodie," Latin for "Today") led to a ban on and pulping of the edition. The author, who had denounced the limitations placed on the press after Georg Elser
's attempt on Adolf Hitler
's life, was forbidden to publish anymore. The magazine was banned again in April 1941, after Friedrich Nietzsche
was denounced as a killer of God. The attack on the Soviet Union
gave the authorities a reason to ban the magazine definitively.
In November 1946 the magazine was reestablished. In 1971 it was renamed Neues Hochland, and in 1974 ceased publication.
(the "List of Prohibited Books") in 1911; on the other hand, leading theologians published their work in it. The editors were eager to disengage from the reigning confessionalism
of the period; they were critical of Nazism
as well as of theological liberalism
. The magazine was considered the official journal of the Renouveau catholique movement in Germany, the originally French effort to modernize and enlighten traditional, conservative Catholicism. According to Derek Hastings, Hochland was "by common acclaim the leading Catholic journal in the German-speaking world." Politically, it functioned as the opposite of the "ultraconservative" Catholic journal Gral, promoted by Martin Heidegger
(who publicly denounced Hochland as "going to deeply into the waters of modernism") and Viennese ideologue Richard von Kralik.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Catholic magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
, published in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
from 1903 to 1941 and again from 1946 to 1971. Founded by Carl Muth
Carl Muth
Carl Borromäus Johann Baptist Muth was a German writer publisher, best known for founding and editing the religious and cultural magazine Hochland.-Biography:...
, it was regarded critically by the church, and published work by authors regardless of denomination
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
on topics related to religion and culture.
History
Hochland was, according to its subtitle, a monthly magazine for all areas of knowledge, literature, and art. In the inaugural volume, Muth stated that the magazine was not to be the newsletter for any party, group, or existing movement. He envisioned a magazine focused on religion and art, and had great faith in the educational power of art and aesthetics to help alleviate cultural and political problems. Though the magazine itself was not to be specifically political, Muth developed close friendships with politically active people such as HansHans Scholl
Hans Fritz Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany.-Biography:...
and Sophie Scholl
Sophie Scholl
Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans...
. From 1903 to 1932 it was edited by Carl Muth, then, until 1935, by Friedrich Fuchs, and from 1935 to 1939 again by Muth, and from 1939 until 1941, when it was banned by the Nazis, by Franz Joseph Schöningh. Its circulation in 1939 was 12,000.
Its regular contributors formed a "Hochland circle," which included Catholic philosophers and authors such as Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt
Carl Schmitt was a German jurist, philosopher, political theorist, and professor of law.Schmitt published several essays, influential in the 20th century and beyond, on the mentalities that surround the effective wielding of political power...
, Theodor Schieffer
Theodor Schieffer
Theodor Schieffer was a German historian. He was professor of medieval history at the University of Mainz, then at the University of Cologne, and since 1952 he was president of the Association for Middle Rhine Church History...
, Theodor Haecker
Theodor Haecker
Theodor Haecker was a German writer, translator and cultural critic.He was a translator into German of Kierkegaard and Cardinal Newman. He wrote an essay, Kierkegaard and the Philosophy of Inwardness in 1913 at a time when few had heard of Haecker and even fewer had heard of Kierkegaard...
, Gertrud von le Fort
Gertrud von Le Fort
Gertrud von Le Fort was a German writer of novels, poems, and essays. She came from a Protestant background, but converted to Catholicism in 1926. Most of Gertrud's writings come after this conversion...
, Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset
Sigrid Undset was a Norwegian novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928.-Biography:Undset was born in Kalundborg, Denmark, but her family moved to Norway when she was two years old. In 1924, she converted to Catholicism and became a lay Dominican...
, Werner Bergengruen
Werner Bergengruen
Werner Bergengruen was a Baltic German novelist.Bergengruen was born in Riga, Livonia. After growing up in Lübeck and attending the Katharineum, he started studying theology in Marburg in 1911. He later changed to studying Germanistics and art history, but failed to graduate; he then moved to Munich...
, Max Scheler
Max Scheler
Max Scheler was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology...
, Romano Guardini
Romano Guardini
Romano Guardini was a Catholic priest, author, and academic. He was one of the most important figures in Catholic intellectual life in 20th-century.- Life and work:...
, Peter Wust
Peter Wust
Peter Wust was a German existentialist philosopher.-Biography:Wust was born the oldest of eleven children in Rissenthal in Saarland. He attended the local public school, then the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasium in Trier. Though his parents had hoped he would become a Catholic priest, he decided on...
, Alois Dempf, Philipp Funk, Otto Karrer, Joseph Wittig
Joseph Wittig
Joseph Wittig was a German theologian and writer who was born in Neusorge, a village in the district of Neurode, Silesia....
, Joseph Hengesbach, and Heinrich Lützeler
Heinrich Lützeler
Heinrich Lützeler was a German philosopher, art historian, and literary scholar. He presided over a number of institutes and was dean at the department of philosophy at the University of Bonn.-Biography:...
.
During the Nazi period, Hochland published a number of controversial articles critical (though sometimes covertly so) of the government, such as an essay by Theodor Schieffer praising Alexis de Toqueville and his love of liberty. According to Konrad Ackermann, the magazine was the most important magazine for the intellectual resistance against the government. In 1939, the publication of an essay by Joseph Bernhart ("Hodie," Latin for "Today") led to a ban on and pulping of the edition. The author, who had denounced the limitations placed on the press after Georg Elser
Georg Elser
Johann Georg Elser was a German opponent of Nazism. He is most remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but he also wanted to assassinate Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels in 1939....
's attempt on Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's life, was forbidden to publish anymore. The magazine was banned again in April 1941, after Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a 19th-century German philosopher, poet, composer and classical philologist...
was denounced as a killer of God. The attack on the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
gave the authorities a reason to ban the magazine definitively.
In November 1946 the magazine was reestablished. In 1971 it was renamed Neues Hochland, and in 1974 ceased publication.
Position
The magazine's position within its culture is complex, since Muth's mission in many ways went against the confessionalism of the times: Muth promoted and even demanded a "Catholic spirit" in literature that was neither confessional nor party-political. On the one hand, the magazine was placed on the Index librorum prohibitorumIndex Librorum Prohibitorum
The Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church. A first version was promulgated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, and a revised and somewhat relaxed form was authorized at the Council of Trent...
(the "List of Prohibited Books") in 1911; on the other hand, leading theologians published their work in it. The editors were eager to disengage from the reigning confessionalism
Confessionalism (religion)
Confessionalism, in a religious sense, is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching...
of the period; they were critical of Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
as well as of theological liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
. The magazine was considered the official journal of the Renouveau catholique movement in Germany, the originally French effort to modernize and enlighten traditional, conservative Catholicism. According to Derek Hastings, Hochland was "by common acclaim the leading Catholic journal in the German-speaking world." Politically, it functioned as the opposite of the "ultraconservative" Catholic journal Gral, promoted by Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger was a German philosopher known for his existential and phenomenological explorations of the "question of Being."...
(who publicly denounced Hochland as "going to deeply into the waters of modernism") and Viennese ideologue Richard von Kralik.
Quote
- "We have two weapons, and only those two, but they are invincible: that we know the truth and that we use our mind."
External links
- Hochland entry in Historisches Lexikon Bayerns