Hans-Friedrich Blunck (3 September 1888 – 24 April 1961) was a German

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and a writer. In the time 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 ...

, he occupied various positions in

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

cultural institutions.

Life

A schoolteacher's son, Blunck was born in

Altona Altona may refer to: Places Australia * Altona Beach, in Altona, Victoria, Australia * Altona Meadows, Victoria, Australia * Altona North, Victoria, Australia * Altona, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia ** Altona railway station ** Al ...

near

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

and studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

at the

University of Kiel Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the ''Academia Holsator ...

and the

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

. At the latter university Blunck earned his PhD in 1912 with the dissertation ''Die Anefangsklage. Eine rechtsgeschichtliche Studie''. He was called into the forces in the

First World War 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 ...

and served as an officer. Between 1920 and 1928, he worked as a government adviser, and from 1925 until 1928 as a

syndic ''Syndic'' (; Greek: ) is a term applied in certain countries to an officer of government with varying powers, and secondly to a representative or delegate of a university, institution or other corporation, entrusted with special functions or p ...

at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

. Blunck lived from 1919 to 1924 in the Vierbergen district of

Ahrensburg Ahrensburg () is a town in the district of Stormarn, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is located northeast of Hamburg and is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Its population is around 31,000. ''Schloss Ahrensburg'', the town's symbol, is ...

and later lived in

Hoisdorf Hoisdorf is a municipality in the district of Stormarn, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and ...

. In 1931, Blunck moved to his estate "Mölenhoff" in Grebin near

Plön Plön (; ) is the district seat of the Plön district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, and has about 8,700 inhabitants. It lies right on the shores of Schleswig-Holstein's biggest lake, the Great Plön Lake, as well as on several smaller lakes, ...

. Between 1920 and 1940, Blunck published many

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 and

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...

s, which are regarded in modern times as an attempt to establish the way to

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

. Blunck was especially interested in

Nordic Nordic most commonly refers to: * Nordic countries, the northern European countries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and their North Atlantic territories * Scandinavia, a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern ...

themes and

Hanse The Hanseatic League was a Middle Ages, medieval commercial and defensive network of merchant guilds and market towns in Central Europe, Central and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Growing from a few Northern Germany, North German towns in the ...

atic history, which he framed with an emphasis on nationalistic aspects and the " völkisch" body of thought. His work includes conflicts with the Germanic pantheon,

Norse saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

fairy tale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful bei ...

ghost stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...

and

Low Saxon Low Saxon (), also known as West Low German () are a group of Low German dialects spoken in parts of the Netherlands, northwestern Germany and southern Denmark (in North Schleswig by parts of the German-speaking minority). It is one of two di ...

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. After

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

and the Nazis seized power, Blunck was chosen on 7 June 1933 to be the second chairman of the Section for Poetry of the

Prussian Academy of the Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Prussia. After the Accademia dei Linc ...

; the first chairman was

Hanns Johst Hanns Johst (8 July 1890 – 23 November 1978) was a German poet and playwright, directly aligned with Nazi philosophy, as a member of the officially approved writers’ organisations in the Third Reich. The statement “When I hear the word cult ...

. Blunck had before this taken up one of the posts left open after all

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish members had been excluded. In 1933, Blunck was ordered to take the post of the first President of the Reich Literature Chamber (''Reichsschrifttumskammer''), whose job was to further the control and

Gleichschaltung The Nazi term (), meaning "synchronization" or "coordination", was the process of Nazification by which Adolf Hitler—leader of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany—established a system of totalitarian control and coordination over all ...

of literary production and distribution. Blunck signed the " vow of most faithful allegiance" to Adolf Hitler in the same year. However, by October 1935, he was removed from this position at

Hans Hinkel Johann Heinrich "Hans" Hinkel (22 June 1901 – 8 February 1960) was a journalist, Nazi Party official and politician in Nazi Germany. He mainly worked in the Reich Chamber of Culture and the Reich Ministry of Propaganda. He was involved in ex ...

's instigation. Unlike his successor Johst, Blunck was not yet a member of the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

(Nazi Party) and spoke out against

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

of Jews who served in World War I. Blunck was named foreign representative of the Reich Literature Chamber and Honorary "Chairman by Seniority." In 1936, Blunck founded the "Foundation of German Works Abroad" (''"Stiftung Deutsches Auslandswerk"''), whose goal was to propagate a positive picture of the Third Reich abroad. He joined the Nazi party in 1937. Blunck became a member of the "

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Ostholstein, Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of December 2022, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic ...

er Dichterkreis", one of the most ardent Nazi poet societies in the Third Reich, whose patron was

Hinrich Lohse Hinrich Lohse (2 September 1896 – 25 February 1964) was a German Nazi Party official, politician and convicted war criminal. He served as the ''Gauleiter'' and ''Oberpräsident'' of Province of Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Holstein and was an S ...

(other members were

Gunnar Gunnarsson Gunnar Gunnarsson (18 May 1889 – 21 November 1975) was an Icelandic author who wrote mainly in Danish. He grew up, in considerable poverty, on Valþjófsstaður in Fljótsdalur valley and on Ljótsstaðir in Vopnafjörður. During t ...

Helene Voigt-Diederichs Helene Theodora Voigt-Diederichs (28 May 1875 – 3 December 1961) was a German writer. The daughter of Christian Theodor Voigt and Marie Louise Brinckmann, she was born Helene Theodora Voigt on the family estate Marienhoff near Eckernförde ...

, and

Gustav Frenssen 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 ...

). Blunck was first president, and then from 1940 forward, he served as honorary president of the foundation, which in consultation with Reich ministries and NSDAP organizations coordinated foreign-based German companies' activities. In 1952, Blunck published his memoirs under the title ''Unwegsame Zeiten'' ("Pathless Times"). He died on 24 April 1961.

Quotations

Literature

* Jürgen Blunck: ''Bibliographie Hans Friedrich Blunck. Mit einem Anhang: Schriften von und über Barthold Blunck.'' Hamburg: Ges. zur Förderung d. Werkes von Hans Friedrich Blunck e. V. 1981. (= Jahrbuch der Gesellschaft zur Förderung des Werkes von Hans Friedrich Blunck; 1981) * W. Scott Hoerle: ''Hans Friedrich Blunck. Poet and Nazi collaborator. 1888-1961.'' Oxford u.a.: Peter Lang. 2003. (= Studies in modern German literature; 97) * Christian Jenssen: ''Hans Friedrich Blunck. Leben und Werk.'' Berlin: Buch- und Tiefdr.-Ges., Abt. Buchverl. 1935. * Kai-Uwe Scholz: ''Chamäleon oder Die vielen Gesichter des Hans-Friedrich Blunck. Anpassungsstratregien eines prominenten NS-Kulturfunktionärs vor und nach 1945.'' In: Ludwig Fischer (Hrsg.): ''Dann waren die Sieger da. Studien zur literarischen Kultur in Hamburg 1945-1950''. Hamburg: Dölling und Galitz. 1999.(= Schriftenreihe der Hamburgischen Kulturstiftung; 7)

References

External links

*
Hans Friedrich Blunck - Brief biography, legacy and publications
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blunck, Hans-Friedrich 1888 births 1961 deaths People from Altona, Hamburg Writers from Hamburg Jurists from Hamburg Academic staff of the Prussian Academy of Arts German male writers German Army personnel of World War I