The Munich Cosmic Circle was a group of writers and intellectuals in

Munich, Germany Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and ...

at the turn of the 20th century, founded by esotericist Alfred Schuler (1865–1923), philosopher

Ludwig Klages Friedrich Konrad Eduard Wilhelm Ludwig Klages (10 December 1872 – 29 July 1956) was a German philosopher, psychologist, graphologist, poet, writer, and lecturer, who was a two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. In the Germanosph ...

(1872–1956), and poet Karl Wolfskehl (1869–1948). Other members of the group included writer

Ludwig Derleth Ludwig Benjamin Derleth (3 November 1870 – 13 January 1948) was a German writer and poet, known for his highly-stylized and anti-humanistic writings on spirituality and Christianity. Life Derleth was born in 1870 in Gerolzhofen, Lower F ...

(1870–1948) and the "Bohemian Countess" of

Schwabing Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 100 ...

, Fanny zu Reventlow (1871–1918). She wrote about her experiences with the group in her

roman à clef ''Roman à clef'' (, anglicised as ), French for ''novel with a key'', is a novel about real-life events that is overlaid with a façade of fiction. The fictitious names in the novel represent real people, and the "key" is the relationship b ...

''Herrn Dames Aufzeichnungen'' (1913). Alfred Schuler and Ludwig Klages came to know each other in 1893. With the others they based their early association upon an appreciation of Ibsen's dramas. Another interest was the work of

Johann Jakob Bachofen Johann Jakob Bachofen (22 December 1815 – 25 November 1887) was a Swiss antiquarian, jurist, philologist, anthropologist, and professor for Roman law at the University of Basel from 1841 to 1845. Bachofen is most often connected with his ...

(1815–1887), a Swiss anthropologist and sociologist, and his research into

matriarchal Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general En ...

clans. They developed a doctrine according to which the West was plagued by downfall and degeneration, caused by the rationalizing and demythologizing effects of Christianity. A way out of this desolate state could, according to the "Cosmic" view, only be found by a return to pagan origins. Schuler was described by

Theodor Lessing Karl Theodor Richard Lessing (8 February 1872, Hanover – 31 August 1933, Marienbad) was a German Jewish philosopher. He is known for opposing the rise of Hindenburg as president of the Weimar Republic and for his classic on Jewish self-hatred ...

as "an oddity, a curious mixture of charlatan and genius, a show-off and a visionary". The activities and rituals of the group were often sensationalized in bohemian fin-de-siècle Schwabing. Some members of the Circle were also active in the group around the poet

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential literary ...

, whom Wolfskehl introduced to the group. Ludwig Klages wrote a book praising his poetry in 1902. George was not a member of the Circle, though he was in close contact with them. The group fell apart through an acrimonious dispute in 1904 between Klages, who considered himself a

neo-pagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

and against any form of organized religion, and the

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

Wolfskehl, which led to charges of

anti-semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Ant ...

against Klages. Stefan George had also begun to distance himself from Klages' philosophy at this time and defended Wolfskehl against Schuler and Klages.Furness, Raymond. Zarathustra's children: a study of a lost generation of German writers, p. 95

Notes

{{Authority control Culture in Munich German philosophy German male writers German poets German poetry Modern paganism in Germany Criticism of rationalism 19th-century modern paganism Literary_circles