Mark W. Clark. Beyond Catastrophe: German Intellectuals and Cultural Renewal after World War II, 1945-1955. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2006. 208 pp. $27.95, paper, ISBN 978-0-7391-1506-0.

Reviewed by Deborah Vietor-Englaender

Published on H-German (October, 2006)

"Alas poor Herbert! I knew him, Horatio." problems with the apathy of the German response The intention of this book, which took its au‐ to the guilt question and his decision to leave Ger‐ thor ten years to write, is to describe the response many for Switzerland in 1948 (p. 67). Many in of a historian, a philosopher, a novelist and a unjustly accused him of simply seeking playwright, all of whom were from widely diverse a comfortable life (p. 72). Unfortunately, Clark areas of activity but part of the same social and does not mention that Jaspers took Swiss national‐ cultural world, to the immediate postwar crisis in ity in 1967 as a form of protest against the former Germany. The author wishes to examine them to‐ NSDAP member Kurt Kiesinger, who became gether as initiators of cultural renewal in Ger‐ chancellor of West Germany in 1966, a fact that many and the conclusion he draws is that they might have infuenced his interpretation if it had failed to create a collective expiation in the imme‐ been considered. diate postwar period. The question raised but not The reader will also encounter problems of substantiated is: did they really expect to? detail in the third chapter on Thomas Mann. The frst chapter is concerned with Friedrich Mann was asked to return to Germany by Walter Meinecke, a true guardian of the past. He was 84 von Molo as early as August 1945 (p. 93). This re‐ in 1945 and used his enormous prestige and au‐ quest was followed by a controversy between thority to help rebuild German culture and, most members of the "inner emigration," particularly importantly, on a practical level, through his role Frank Thieß, and Mann (p. 95). Clark underesti‐ as the frst rector of the Free University of mates, however, Thieß's defense of those partici‐ (pp. 17, 31). Clark evaluates his role accurately as pations in the inner emigration who had stayed among the most progressive of his class, one who with their sick mother Germany and as a result began the process of coming to terms with the were richer in knowledge and experience than past. The second chapter on Karl Jaspers, "a those who had observed the German tragedy prophet without honor," deals with Jaspers's from what he calls the "ground" of a foreign conti‐ H-Net Reviews nent. However, a crucial point in Thieß's text is als. The new GDR emphatically and ofcially re‐ destroyed by Clark´s inaccurate translation. Thieß jected this version of the legend. Brecht supported speaks of "den Logen- und Parterreplätzen des his friend on this issue, and however contradicto‐ Auslands ... Ich glaube, es war schwerer, sich hier ry some of his actions in 1953 seem to be, Clark's eine Persönlichkeit zu bewahren als von drüben evaluation of what he actually accomplished in Botschaften an das deutsche Volk zu senden, the ffties before his death in 1956 is accurate (pp. welche die Tauben im Volke ohnehin nicht ver‐ 152-153). nahmen, während wir Wissenden uns ihnen stets German archival sources and German sec‐ um einige Längen voraus fühlten."[1] Thieß is not ondary literature have been used to some extent, merely referring to the ground of a foreign conti‐ as well as English-language secondary literature. nent but uses theatre terms, stalls and a luxury A quibble for the editor: surely misprints like box; that is, a deliberate mockery of Mann's com‐ "Brect" (p. v) in the table of contents, "deutshce" fortable life in exile. Nor does Clark mention (p.162) and surname missing in that footnote, and Mann's tactless comment, in his explanation he "Deutstchland" (p. 163) could have been avoided did not intend to return to Germany, that any before the book went to press? And one serious books printed in Germany between 1933 and 1945 factual error, "alas poor Herbert," that one fnds were less than worthless, smelled of blood and hard to forgive, is the listing of the extremely shame and should be pulped.[2] well-known and infuential journalist and theatre In the fourth chapter on , Clark critic Herbert Ihering (1888-1977) as a playwright is somewhat idealistic about Brecht's motives for (p. 138). Ihering was one of Brecht's staunchest returning to the GDR although he does admit that and most infuential supporters in his early years Brecht hedged his bets by retaining an Austrian in the Weimar Republic and in the GDR after the passport, a Swiss bank account and a West Ger‐ war. man publisher (p. 141). The treatment of the Faust Notes theme in this chapter is also not altogether satis‐ [1]. Frank Thieß, "Die innere Emigration," factory: as far as the Urfaust production was con‐ Münchner Zeitung, August 18, 1945, reprinted in cerned, Brecht's pupil Egon Monk, who was main‐ Klaus Schröter, ed., Thomas Mann im Urteil seiner ly responsible, is not even mentioned and the pro‐ Zeit. Dokumente 1891-1955 (Frankfurt/Main: duction took place in 1952, not 1953 (p. 146f). Klostermann, 2000), pp. 337-8. Brecht's friend, the composer Hanns Eisler, au‐ thor of the libretto of Johann Faustus, also pub‐ [2]. J.F.G. Großer, Die große Kontroverse lished in book form in 1952, faced censure but (: Nagel-Verlag, 1963), p. 31; and Jost certainly not possible imprisonment, as Clark Hermand and Wigand Lange, eds., "Wollt Ihr claims (p. 148). In this libretto, not performed un‐ Thomas Mann wiederhaben?" Deutschland und til 1982, Faust was not portrayed as the epitome of die Emigranten (Hamburg: Europäische Ver‐ the Renaissance man nor as a supreme progres‐ lagsanstalt, 1999), p. 25. sive but as a renegade questioning the humanist ideal--the "dark twin" of Goethe's Faust. Deeds are not this Faust's greatest joy; on the contrary, he is a charlatan who laments his own laziness and lack of productive energy. He has betrayed his own class during the Peasants' War. His pact with the devil is concluded so that he can forget his own betrayal and as a warning to other intellectu‐

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Citation: Deborah Vietor-Englaender. Review of Clark, Mark W. Beyond Catastrophe: German Intellectuals and Cultural Renewal after World War II, 1945-1955. H-German, H-Net Reviews. October, 2006.

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