Der Untertan
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''Der Untertan'' (; literally "the underling", translated into English under the titles ''Man of Straw'', ''The Patrioteer'', and ''The Loyal Subject'') is one of the best known
novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
s of German author
Heinrich Mann Luiz Heinrich Mann (; March 27, 1871 – March 11, 1950), best known as simply Heinrich Mann, was a German writer known for his sociopolitical novels. From 1930 until 1933, he was president of the fine poetry division of the Prussian Academy ...
. The title character, Diederich Hessling, a dedicated 'Untertan' in the sense of a person subservient to a
monarch A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
or
prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, is an immoral man who is meant to serve as an allegory of both the reign of Kaiser
Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
and
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
society of his time. The novel was completed during the
July Crisis The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the Great power, major powers of Europe in mid-1914, Causes of World War I, which led to the outbreak of World War I. It began on 28 June 1914 when the Serbs ...
in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. Extracts had been published in the satirical magazine ''
Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...
'' from 1912 onwards, causing great controversy. Mann signed a contract with the magazine ' for the publication of the censored version of the novel from the beginning of 1914, but on 1 August the publication was stopped as "inappropriate". A book edition was not published until 1918 by Kurt Wolff in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
.


Plot

The socio-critical novel portrays the life of Diederich Hessling, a slavish and fanatical admirer of Kaiser Wilhelm II, as an archetype of
Wilhelmine The Wilhelmine period or Wilhelmian era () comprises the period of German history between 1888 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the death of Kaiser Friedrich III until the end of World War I and Wilh ...
Germany. The name "Hessling" alludes to the German word for ugly, "". Hessling is unthinkingly obedient to authority and maintains a rigid dedication to the
nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
goals of the newly created
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. As a self-conscious and snivelling child, he acts as an informer. He later gains self-confidence by joining a duelling
student fraternity In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
, practising as a drunkard and '' Stammtisch'' agitator, and by narrowly obtaining a doctorate of chemistry. He becomes a paper manufacturer, family patriarch, and eventually the most influential man in his small town. Throughout the novel, Hessling's inflexible ideals are often contradicted by his actions: he preaches bravery but is a coward; he is the strongest militarist but seeks to be excused from
conscription Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it conti ...
; his greatest political opponents are the
Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together w ...
(SPD), yet he uses his influence to help get his hometown's SPD candidate to the Reichstag parliament, in order to defeat his liberal business competitors; he starts vicious rumors against the latter and then dissociates himself from them; he both preaches and enforces
Christian morality Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system. It is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic, which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty according ...
against others but lies, cheats, and regularly commits
adultery Adultery is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal consequences, the concept ...
. The plot ends with the solemn inauguration of an Emperor William monument, with Hessling delivering the speech, which is abruptly terminated by an apocalyptic thunderstorm. He also faces the death of Buck, an elderly veteran of the democratic
1848 Revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...
.


Reception and criticism

When the novel was fully published in German in 1918, it immediately sold nearly 100,000 copies — the success that Heinrich Mann never achieved again in his entire life, while the author was denounced as a traitor to his country for his "unpatriotic" or even "Communist" stance; at the same time, some reviewers described it as an "account of a gullible people seduced by power".
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
, Heinrich's more famous young brother who supported Germany in the war, rejected the work as an irresponsible social satire unrelated to the reality, "sheer nonsense", and wrote that "and if it deserved a more noble name, more noble than that of international defamation and national slander, then it would be: ruthless aestheticism". This attitude towards the novel was based not only on his political views and his conflict with his brother: in ''
Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man The ''Reflections of a Nonpolitical Man'' () is a non-fiction work by German author Thomas Mann published in 1918. Unlike his brother Heinrich, Thomas Mann supported the German war effort during World War I. The book, which runs to almost six h ...
'', a book where Thomas Mann advocated the authoritarianism of the ''Kaiserreich'' and defended the war of "German culture" with "the Western civilization", he contrasted his own work based on irony with satire and political art, criticizing the latter two. On the other hand, the novel was welcomed by the
Expressionists Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...
, whom Thomas Mann also criticized in his book, welcomed the novel as "a long-overdue injection of political blood into the German people". The novel turned Heinrich Mann into a public intellectual whose writings were in the centre of intellectual and political debates off the Weimar Republic, also famous as a person who participated in the November Revolution and worked with the Socialist
Kurt Eisner Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...
. After the novel was reissued after the end of World War II, it was dismissed by the critics who claimed satire to be an inferior form of art by definition; some rejected the novel as 'historically inaccurate' by saying that Hessling was "too bad" to be "true"; on the other hand, the novel became a bestseller again, and the supportive critics described it as a great work of world literature, notable for its "prophetic" depiction of "quintessential Wilhelmian German" and his psychological predispositions that founded the
authoritarian personality The authoritarian personality is a personality type characterized by a disposition to treat authority figures with unquestioning obedience and respect. Conceptually, the term ''authoritarian personality'' originated from the writings of Erich Fr ...
of the 1930s and resulted in the rise of Nazism;
Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satire, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the Kaspar Hauser, historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wr ...
praised it as the "
herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
of the German man". The novel achieved the peak of its popularity in DDR and the Soviet Union, where it was regarded as 'the original anti-fascist novel' and 'the masterpiece of bourgeois-realist literature'. In the West Germany, however, the author was denounced as a Communist sympathizer and the novel was not published until 1964; it was rediscovered primarily under influence of the 1968 student movement. Frederick Betz, a modern critic, regards the novel as "one of the great political novels of the 20th century" for its depiction of the conflict between the authority and democratic principles. The novel is frequently read in German schools up to today. Among the problems of the artistic structure of the novel that are often "obscured" by its "evaluations of the political dimensions" Karin V. Gunnemann noted "inconsistencies in the plot" and "confusing labyrynth of intrigues and the exaggerated descriptions of facts" which Mann uses as "elements of the world he wishes to depict", which, however, may be viewed as "a device to reach a unity of form with content", praised by Mark Roche as "an aesthetic corollary of Hessling's self-contradictory concepts of justice."


Themes

By following the form of a traditional Realist ''
bildungsroman In literary criticism, a bildungsroman () is a literary genre that focuses on the psychological and moral growth and change of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood (coming of age). The term comes from the German words ('formation' or 'edu ...
'', Mann satirizes the education of a German bourgeois. Diederich's ideals, blood and iron, and the might of opulent power, are exposed as hollowness and weakness. He is an allegory depicting and satirizing the
German people Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
's increasing susceptibility to
militarism Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
,
ultra-nationalism Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific ...
,
anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, and
colonialism Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
. His character is often juxtaposed, in both words and appearance to Kaiser Wilhelm II. In one instance, Hessling's behavior and outward appearance move an observer to stammer, '' 'It almost seems to me...You look so very much like His ...' '', meaning the Kaiser. Mann uses the
moral bankruptcy Amorality (also known as amoralism) is an absence of, indifference towards, disregard for, or incapacity for morality. Some simply refer to it as a case of being neither moral nor immoral. Amoral should not be confused with '' immoral'', which ...
and shallow ridiculousness of Hessling's life to critique both
Wilhelminism The Wilhelmine period or Wilhelmian era () comprises the period of German history between 1888 and 1918, embracing the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II in the German Empire from the death of Kaiser Friedrich III until the end of World War I and Wilhel ...
and the
German culture The culture of Germany has been shaped by its central position in Europe and a history spanning over a millennium. Characterized by significant contributions to art, music, philosophy, science, and technology, German culture is both diverse and ...
of the period. Like other German novels of the era, such as
Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...
's ''
Effi Briest ''Effi Briest'' () is a realist novel by Theodor Fontane. Published in book form in 1895, ''Effi Briest'' marks both a watershed and a climax in the poetic realism of literature. It can be thematically compared to other novels on 19th-century m ...
'', or even his brother
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
's ''
Buddenbrooks ''Buddenbrooks'' () is a 1901 novel by Thomas Mann, chronicling the decline of a wealthy north German merchant family over the course of four generations, incidentally portraying the manner of life and mores of the Hanseatic bourgeoisie in th ...
'', the principal target is the
hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...
of the
middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...
and the risk of social collapse in a nation of loyal 'Untertan' citizens. The novel introduces modern psychological insights and reveals Hessling's sado-masochism in such episodes as him decorating the headmaster's cane and satisfaction when being punished, up to the climax of facing the Kaiser's "power which transcends us and whose hoofs we kiss." Mann expected the readers to gain insight into the real word by means both the content and the form of text; by following the French social novelists and writing the novel as a parody of Realist ''bildungsroman'', he represented his view on the life in Imperial Germany as "a parody on the self and of ideologies and events", where German imperialists lived their lives as parodies of national pride and of will to dominate the world, and parodies of realism, as they "refused to respect anything that cannons could not destroy, and they despised things invisible that live in the mind", as Mann explained in his 1929 preface to the novel.


Adaptations

A
lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...
named ''Der Untertan'' was created by Karl Hubbuch in 1923. In
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, the book was made into the 1951
DEFA DEFA (''Deutsche Film-Aktiengesellschaft'') was the state-owned film studio of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) throughout the country's existence. Since 2019, DEFA's film heritage has been made accessible and licensable on the PR ...
film '' Der Untertan'' (released in English as ''The Kaiser's Lackey''), directed by
Wolfgang Staudte Wolfgang Staudte (9 October 1906 – 19 January 1984), born Georg Friedrich Staudte, was a German film director, script writer and actor. He was born in Saarbrücken. After 1945, Staudte also looked at German guilt in the cinema. Alongside ...
and starring
Werner Peters Werner Peters (7 July 1918 – 30 March 1971) was a German film actor. He appeared in 102 films between 1947 and 1971. Biography Peters was born in Werlitzsch, Kreis Delitzsch, Prussian Saxony, and died of a heart attack on a promotion to ...
as Diederich Hessling. It received the National Prize of the German Democratic Republic and initially was
banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...
in
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
until a shortened version was released in 1957. A
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the liste ...
was produced by the public ''
Westdeutscher Rundfunk (; "West German Broadcasting Cologne"), shortened to WDR (), is a German public broadcasting, public-broadcasting institution based in the States of Germany, Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a const ...
'' broadcaster in 1971. The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
adapted the book for a six-part TV mini-series ''
Man of Straw A straw man fallacy (sometimes written as strawman) is the informal fallacy of refuting an argument different from the one actually under discussion, while not recognizing or acknowledging the distinction. One who engages in this fallacy is said ...
'', broadcast in 1972, with
Derek Jacobi Sir Derek George Jacobi (; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at the Royal National Theatre, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a BAFTA Award, two ...
as Hessling.


English translations

''The Patrioteer'', done by Ernest Boyd and published in English in 1921, became the first translation of the novel and the first Mann's novel published in English. After the World War II, the translation was reissued under the titles ''Little Superman'' (a reference to the concept of ''Übermensch'' and its usage in the Nazi propaganda) and ''Man of Straw'' in 1945 and 1947 respectively. In 1998, the incomplete translation by Boyd was adapted as ''The Loyal Subject'', with new portions translated by Daniel Theisen, edited by . This new version is regarded as more accurate, adequate to the original and complete.


References


External links

* ''The Patrioteer.'
Full 1921 English translation at Google Books
* ''Man of Straw.'' Penguin Books, London, 1984, c1918. () * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Untertan, Der 1918 German-language novels German novels adapted into films German novels adapted into television shows German satirical novels German political novels German bildungsromans 1918 German novels Novels by Heinrich Mann