Gustav Frenssen (19 October 1863 – 11 April 1945) was a German novelist. He wrote patriotically about his native country and promoted ''Heimatkunst'' ( regionalism) in literature.

Biography

Frenssen was born in the village of Barlt, in the

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (; ) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his County of Holstein-Rendsburg elevated to a duchy ...

, then under the control of the

Kingdom of Denmark The Danish Realm, officially the Kingdom of Denmark, or simply Denmark, is a sovereign state consisting of a collection of constituent territories united by the Constitution of Denmark, Constitutional Act, which applies to the entire territor ...

. He was educated at the universities of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

. He took orders and from 1892 to 1902 was

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

at Hemme, taking his degree as doctor of theology at

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

in 1903. But he had already for some years been known as a writer of novels, and in 1902, a year after his great success with ''Jörn Uhl'' (1901), he gave up his pastorate and devoted all his time to literature. In his later years, he abandoned Christianity because Christian morals were in conflict with his

racialism Scientific racism, sometimes termed biological racism, is the pseudoscientific belief that the human species is divided into biologically distinct taxa called " races", and that empirical evidence exists to support or justify racial discri ...

. Instead, he turned to a form of

Germanic Neopaganism Heathenry, also termed Heathenism, contemporary Germanic Paganism, or Germanic Neopaganism, is a modern pagan religion. Scholars of religious studies classify it as a new religious movement. Developed in Europe during the early 20th century ...

which also suited his liberal views on sexuality. While the Nazis were coming to power, and afterwards, Frenssen showed great loyalty to the party. He was vocally anti-Semitic and supported euthanasia.

Ulrich Pfeil Ulrich Pfeil (born 13 May 1966) is a German historian based in France. Life Born in Hamburg Pfeil grew up in Heide (Holstein) and took the Abitur at the in 1985. After his military service he studied Pedagogy, Educational Science, French la ...

: '' Vom Kaiserreich ins „Dritte Reich“: Heide 1890–1933.'' Selbstverlag Heide 1997. Zugleich Hamburger Universitätsdissertation 1995/96.

Writings

* ''Dorfpredigten'' ("Village Sermons", 1899–1902; Vandenhoed & Ruprecht, Göttingen; the 1900 cover page indicates that he was pastor in Hemme, Holstein) * ''Jörn Uhl'' (1901) * ''Die Sandgräfin'' (1895, 3rd ed. 1902) * ''Die drei Getreuen'' (1898) * ''Das Heimatsfest'', a play (1903) * ''Hilligenlei'' ("Holyland", 1905) * ''Peter Moor's Fahrt nach Süd-West'' (1906), on the

Herero and Namaqua Genocide Herero may refer to: * Herero people, a people belonging to the Bantu group, with about 240,000 members alive today * Herero language, a language of the Bantu family (Niger-Congo group) * Herero and Nama genocide * Herero chat, a species of bi ...

, a very colonialistic and racist story about a soldier in the German war (1904–05) in

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

; translated into English by Margaret May Ward in 1908; one of the most popular novels of the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

* ''Klaus Henrich Baas'' (1909) * ''Sönke Erichsen'', a play (1912) * ''Die Brüder'' (1918) * ''Der Pastor von Poggsee'' ("The Pastor of Poggsee", 1921) * ''Otto Babendiek'' ("The Anvil") * ''Grübeleien'', observations (3 vols.) * ''Recht ~~oder Unrecht~~: Mein Land'', a defense of Germany's actions in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

("Right ~~or Wrong~~: My Country," the title is also a popular saying, cf.

patriotism Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and a sense of attachment to one's country or state. This attachment can be a combination of different feelings for things such as the language of one's homeland, and its ethnic, cultural, politic ...

; 1940)

References

External links

* * 1863 births 1945 deaths People from Dithmarschen People from the Duchy of Holstein Converts to pagan religions from Protestantism German modern pagans National-Social Association politicians Writers from Schleswig-Holstein German male writers Modern pagan novelists {{Germany-novelist-stub