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Die Okkulten Wege Der Wiener Moderne

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Die Okkulten Wege Der Wiener Moderne MASTERARBEIT / MASTER’S THESIS Titel der Masterarbeit / Title of the Master‘s Thesis Die okkulten Wege der Wiener Moderne. Eine religionswissenschaftliche Analyse der „Wiener Rundschau“ verfasst von / submitted by Mag. phil. Brigitte Holzweber angestrebter akademischer Grad / in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (MA) Wien, 2019 / Vienna 2019 Studienkennzahl lt. Studienblatt / A 066 800 degree programme code as it appears on the student record sheet: Studienrichtung lt. Studienblatt / Masterstudium Religionswissenschaft degree programme as it appears on the student record sheet: Betreut von / Supervisor: ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. Karl Baier Danksagung Besonderer Dank gebührt meinem Betreuer Karl Baier, der diese Arbeit mit großer Geduld begleitet und mir immer wieder Mut zugesprochen hat. Weiters sei meine Schwägerin Monika Schneider hervorgehoben, die mir im Kampf mit dem Computer zur Seite stand. Meiner übrigen Familie, Freunden und Studienkollegen danke ich für aufmunternde Worte, gute Ratschläge und inspirierende Ideen. 2 Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. Einleitung 5 1.1 Erkenntnisinteresse 5 1.2 Methode, Aufbau und Forschungsfragen 6 1.3 Forschungsstand 10 1.4 Hinführung zum Thema 13 1.5 Was kennzeichnet Okkultismus / Esoterik? 17 2. Historischer Kontext: Die Wiener Moderne 25 2.1 Die politische und wirtschaftliche Lage 25 2.2 Die Probleme der katholischen Kirche 27 2.3 Salonkultur, Kaffeehausliteratur und „Jung-Wien“ 32 2.4 Friedrich Eckstein und sein Kreis 34 3. Quellenkorpus: Die „Wiener Rundschau“ 38 3.1 Die Herausgeber 39 3.2 Die Programmatik 40 3.3 Zeitgeschichtliche Voraussetzungen 41 3.4 Formale Kriterien der Zeitschrift 42 3.5 Würdigung 47 4. Zentrale Autoren und Themen 49 4.1 Kriterien der Auswahl 49 4.1.1 Carl du Prel (1839-1899) 50 4.1.2 Franz Hartmann (1838-1912) 54 4.1.3 Paul Harald Graevell (1856-1932) 56 3 4.2 Thematische Schwerpunkte 60 4.2.1 Kosmische Verbundenheit 62 4.2.2 Magie und Mystik: zwei Wege zur Welt- und 87 Selbsterkenntnis 4.2.3 Natur und principium individuationis 107 4.2.4 Zeit und Raum 112 4.2.5 Vererbung und Genie 115 4.2.6 Seelenwanderung, Karma und Reinkarnation 120 5. Auswirkungen auf die Kunst der Wiener 128 Moderne 5.1 Dekadenz, Symbolismus, Ästhetizismus und „Jung- 128 Wien“ 5.2 Kulturtransfer als Movens für die Entwicklung der 136 Wiener Moderne 5.2.1 Die Zirkel der Schriftsteller 136 5.2.2 Die Wiener Sezessionisten 139 6. Zusammenfassung 148 Anhang: Verzeichnis der relevanten Artikel 152 der Wiener Rundschau Abbildungsverzeichnis 157 Literatur- und Quellenverzeichnis 159 Abstract 181 4 „Das Schönste und Tiefste, was der Mensch erleben kann, ist das Gefühl des Geheimnisvollen. Es liegt der Religion sowie allem tieferen Streben in Kunst und Wissenschaft zugrunde.“ (Albert Einstein)1 1. Einleitung 1.1 Erkenntnisinteresse Die Vorliebe für die Zeit des Fin de Siècle2 bewog mich am Beginn meines Studiums für Religionswissenschaft im Jahr 2012 eine Vorlesung über „Neureligiöse Strömungen des 19. Jahrhunderts“ zu besuchen. Das eröffnete mir Erkenntnisse über die Signifikanz dieser Bewegungen und ihrer Wurzeln für die religiöse Situation der Gegenwart. Im Rahmen weiterer Vorlesungen und Seminare konnte ich mein Wissen darüber vergrößern3 und so reifte der Entschluss, meine Abschlussarbeit in diesem Kontext anzusiedeln. Im Gespräch mit meinem Lehrer und Betreuer Karl Baier entstand die Idee, die Zeitschrift Wiener Rundschau (1896-1901) auf ihre Bedeutung für die Verbreitung alternativer Religionsansätze und deren Einfluss auf die Kunst der Wiener Moderne zu untersuchen. Zeitungen, Zeitschriften, Broschüren und Periodika waren neben Büchern und Vorträgen zur Jahrhundertwende die Medien zur Verbreitung von Wissen. Sie stellten Räume der Kommunikation für wissenschaftliche, religiöse, kulturelle und gesellschaftliche Themen dar, verbanden häufig überregionale Lesergemeinden und dienten einer religiös- weltanschaulichen Meinungsbildung.4 Obwohl es ein breit gefächertes Angebot von Publikationen aus der Zeit um 1900 gibt, haben diese aus religionsgeschichtlicher Perspektive bisher nur wenig Aufmerksamkeit erhalten – meine Arbeit soll dieses Forschungsdefizit ein wenig verringern. 1 Einstein, Albert: Mein Glaubensbekenntnis, Caputh – Berlin 1932. Online unter: URL: http://www.einstein-website.de/z_biography/glaubensbekenntnis.html (5.2.2017). 2 Der Begriff findet sich erstmalig 1886 in der französischen Zeitung Le Décadente. 3 Aus den Vorlesungen über Hinduismus (Birgit Heller), Buddhismus, Neureligiöse Strömungen des 19. Jahrhunderts und Seminaren über Mystik, Esoterik und Yoga (Karl Baier) speisen sich meine Kenntnisse, die ich bei theoretischen Erläuterungen verwende, wenn nicht explizit anderes ausgewiesen wird. 4 Vgl. Rennhofer, Maria: Kunstzeitschriften der Jahrhundertwende in Deutschland und Österreich 1895-1914, Wien – München 1987. 5 1.2 Methode, Aufbau und Forschungsfragen Max Weber forderte für wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen Werturteilsfreiheit,5 und auch wenn dieses Ideal de facto niemals verwirklicht werden kann, empfiehlt sich doch für religionswissenschaftliche Studien die Einklammerung der eigenen religiösen oder areligiösen Auffassungen im Sinne der Anwendung des Grundsatzes des „methodologischen Agnostizismus“6, was bedeutet, dass vom Forschenden keine Frage nach der Wahrheit religiöser Aussagen gestellt wird – diese werden weder bestätigt, noch widerlegt, sie werden lediglich analysiert und gedeutet. Allerdings muss auch in einer wertneutralen Analyse offengelegt werden, welches Modell bzw. welche Definition von Religion zugrundegelegt wird.7 Es ist von eminenter Bedeutung, dass jede wissenschaftliche Beschreibung einer Religion an den historischen Kontext gebunden wird, an eine exakte Zeit, an eine definierte Träger- oder Benutzergruppe, an deren Ziele und Wünsche sowie an die Einbindung in eine bestimmte Traditionslinie. Außerdem bleibt zu bedenken, dass es laut Jürgen Habermas keine interesselose Erkenntnisbemühung gibt,8 die eigene Gegenwart leitet die Auswahl des Themas und bestimmt die Fragestellungen, der/die Untersuchende nimmt die Auswahl des Materials vor, er/sie unterliegt einer selektiven Wahrnehmung und bewusste oder unbewusste Werturteile infolge der eigenen Sozialisation und Erfahrung können zu Verzerrungen beitragen. Eine Differenzierung der Perspektiven muss daher klar erkenntlich gemacht werden: welche Aussagen lassen sich in der Quelle finden (emisch), welche zeitgenössischen Reaktionen gibt es darauf, was ist die gegenwärtige religionswissenschaftliche Position dazu (etisch) und welche Meinung vertritt der/die Forschende persönlich. Ausgeführt wird daher eine qualitative Analyse, um die besonderen Eigenschaften und Merkmale des untersuchten Feldes zu erfassen, wobei auch der Kontext berücksichtigt werden muss, ergänzt durch eine anschließende Interpretation. Für eine Forschung aus religionswissenschaftlicher bzw. religionsgeschichtlicher Perspektive eignet sich, wie schon erwähnt, in besonderer Weise die Analyse von zeitgenössischen Zeitschriften und Zeitungen unter gleichzeitigem Heranziehen 5 Vgl. Weber, Max: Der Sinn der „Wertfreiheit“ der soziologischen und ökonomischen Wissenschaften. In: Ders.: Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Wissenschaftslehre, Tübingen 41973 [1917] 263f. 6 Knoblauch, Hubert: Qualitative Religionsforschung. Religionsethnographie in der eigenen Gesellschaft, (UTB für Wissenschaft; 2409) Paderborn 2003, 41. 7 Vgl. Hödl, Hans Gerald: Alternative Formen des Religiösen. In: Figl, Johann (Hg.): Handbuch Religionswissenschaft, Innsbruck 2003, 485-525, hier 506. 8 Vgl. Habermas, Jürgen: Erkenntnis und Interesse, Frankfurt/M. 1968. 6 umfangreicher Sekundärliteratur, was in dieser Arbeit geschehen soll. Dabei gehe ich von der These aus, dass religiöse Pluralisierung nicht erst in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts entstanden ist, sondern dass diese Entwicklung bereits im 19. Jahrhundert einsetzte. Außerdem sehe ich keine plötzlichen Brüche, sondern behaupte einen langsamen kontinuierlichen Wandel, der sich teilweise auf alte Traditionen stützt, manchmal verschiedene Elemente aus anderen Religionen aufnimmt, deren Bedeutungen den eigenen Bedürfnissen entsprechend transformiert und in das neue Lehrgebäude bzw. in die veränderte Weltsicht einfügt. Für meine Untersuchung verwende ich die historische Diskursanalyse. Ihr zufolge werden die Phänomene „Religion“ und „Religiöses“ als diskursive Tatbestände betrachtet, die sich im gesellschaftlichen Diskurs moderner Gesellschaften konstituieren.9 Dies eröffnet die Möglichkeit, unterschiedliche Praktiken der Herstellung von religiösen und wissenschaftlichen Geltungsansprüchen zu untersuchen sowie etwaige Verschränkungen aufzuzeigen. In Anlehnung an den Diskursbegriff der „Cultural Studies“, der vom französischen Philosophen Michel Foucault (1926-1984) entscheidend geprägt wurde, verstehe ich unter Diskurs eine Struktur, die über die Grenze eines Textes hinausgeht und einen Bezug zu zeit- und ideengeschichtlichen Konstellationen aufweist. Foucault stellte fest, dass „empirisches Wissen zu einer gegebenen Zeit und innerhalb einer gegebenen Kultur eine wohldefinierte Regelmäßigkeit“10 zeigt. Das bedeutet, dass die Vorstellungen und Erwartungen der Menschen immer im System der geltenden Werte und Normen sowie der gebräuchlichen sprachlichen Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten entwickelt werden, der Diskursbegriff ist daher in hohem Ausmaß durch seinen Kontext bestimmt, aber auch durch das, wozu er in Opposition gesetzt wird. Foucault interessierten Diskurse in der Wechselwirkung von etabliertem
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