Karl Ludwig Schemann (16 October 1852 in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

– 13 February 1938 in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

) was a German translator and race theorist. He promoted

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 was instrumental in promoting Gobinism to Germany. He "did a great deal to bring Gobineau's term '

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

' into vogue amongst German racists".

Biography

Schemann translated ''

An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races ''An Essay on the Inequality of the Human Races'' (originally: ''Essai sur l'inégalité des races humaines),'' published between 1853 and 1855, is a racialist work of French diplomat and writer Arthur de Gobineau. It argues that there are i ...

'' by

Arthur de Gobineau Joseph Arthur de Gobineau (; 14 July 1816 – 13 October 1882) was a French writer and diplomat who is best known for helping introduce scientific race theory and "racial demography", and for developing the theory of the Aryan master race and N ...

into German between 1893 and 1902. Like Gobineau, Schemann thought that Europe's cultural achievement had been brought about by the "

Aryan race The Aryan race is a pseudoscientific historical race concepts, historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people who descend from the Proto-Indo-Europeans as a Race (human categorization), racial grouping. The ter ...

". However, in contrast to Gobineau, he did not see the "Aryans" as doomed. According to Schemann, the acting subject in history is not only the individual, but also the race. He saw the "Aryan" race as called upon to bring about the "salvation" of mankind. Schemann was a librarian in Göttingen from 1875 to 1891. In 1894 he founded the Gobineau Association (''Gobineau-Vereinigung''), which he chaired until 1920. Together with

Adolf Bartels __NOTOC__ Adolf Bartels (15 November 1862 – 7 March 1945) was a German journalist, writer and poet, known today mainly for his antisemitic and national-socialist stance.Roderick Stackelberg, "Bartels, Adolf", in ''Antisemitism : a historical e ...

Arthur Moeller van den Bruck Arthur Wilhelm Ernst Victor Moeller van den Bruck (23 April 1876 – 30 May 1925) was a German cultural historian, philosopher, and key intellectual figure of the Conservative Revolution. As an author and political theorist, he remains best k ...

Houston Stewart Chamberlain Houston Stewart Chamberlain (; 9 September 1855 – 9 January 1927) was a British-German-French philosopher who wrote works about political philosophy and natural science. His writing promoted German ethnonationalism, antisemitism, scientific r ...

, Henry Thode and

Hermann Hendrich Hermann Hendrich (31 October 1854 in Heringen, Thuringia – 18 July 1931 in Schreiberhau in Niederschlesien) was a German painter. Life Hermann Hendrich was born in the vicinity of the storied Kyffhäuser, his parents were Auguste Frieder ...

, Schemann was one of the founders of the '' völkisch'' Werdandi-Bundes and was a member of the

Bayreuth Circle The Bayreuth Circle ( German: ''Der Bayreuther Kreis'') was a name originally applied by some writers to devotees of Richard Wagner's music who attended and supported the annual Bayreuth Festival in the later 19th and early twentieth centuries. As s ...

. In addition, he was involved with other race ideologists such as the anthropologist

Otto Ammon Otto Georg Ammon (December 7, 1842 in Karlsruhe, Baden – January 14, 1916 in Karlsruhe) was a German anthropologist. Ammon initially pursued a career as an engineer from 1863 to 1868. In 1883, he led a geographical and geological exploration ...

and the writer

Theodor Fritsch Theodor Fritsch (born Emil Theodor Fritsche; 28 October 1852 – 8 September 1933) was a German publisher and journalist. His antisemitic writings did much to influence popular German opinion against Jews in the late 19th and early 20th centur ...

in the

Pan-German League The Pan-German League () was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German question of the time, it held positions on German imperia ...

. Schemann was a member of the

German Society for Racial Hygiene The German Society for Racial Hygiene () was a German eugenic organization founded on 22 June 1905 by the physician Alfred Ploetz in Berlin. Its goal was "for society to return to a healthy and blooming, strong and beautiful life" as Ploetz put i ...

and became a vocal supporter of the

Militant League for German Culture The Militant League for German Culture (German: ''Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur'', ''KfdK''), was a nationalistic anti-Semitic political society during the Weimar Republic and the Nazi era. It was founded in 1928 as the ''Nationalsozialistische Ge ...

in 1928. In 1933 he was made an honorary citizen of the city of Freiburg. In 1937 he was made an honorary member of the National Socialist Institute for the History of New Germany and received the

Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft The Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft (Goethe Medal for Art and Science) is a German award. It was authorized by Reichspräsident Paul von Hindenburg to commemorate the centenary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's death on March 22, 1932. It ...

. His legacy is in the

University Library Freiburg The University Library Freiburg () is the library of the University of Freiburg. As an academic and research library, it caters to students and staff of the University of Freiburg, the University of Education Freiburg, the Catholic Universi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schemann, Ludwig 1852 births 1938 deaths Militant League for German Culture members Translators to German Translators from French