The German Genius: Europe's Third Renaissance, the Second Scientific Revolution, and the Twentieth Century
Product Type: Book
Product Price: $35.00
Manufacturer: Harper
Purchase
Description
Peter Watson's virtuoso sweep through modern German thought and culture, from 1750 to the present day, will challenge and confound both the stereotypes the world has of Germany and those that Germany has of itself.
From the end of the Baroque era and the death of Bach to the rise of Hitler in 1933, Germany was transformed from a poor relation among Western nations into a dominant intellectual and cultural force—more creative and influential than France, Britain, Italy, Holland, and the United States. In the early decades of the twentieth century, German artists, writers, scholars, philosophers, scientists, and engineers were leading their freshly unified country to new and unimagined heights. By 1933, Germans had won more Nobel Prizes than any other nationals, and more than the British and Americans combined. Yet this remarkable genius was cut down in its prime by Adolf Hitler and his disastrous Third Reich—a brutal legacy that has overshadowed the nation's achievements ever since.
How did the Germans transform their country so as to achieve such pre-eminence? In this absorbing cultural and intellectual history, Peter Watson goes back through time to explore the origins of the German genius, and he explains how and why it flourished, how it shaped our lives, and, most important, how it continues to influence our world. As he convincingly demonstrates, it was German thinking—from Beethoven and Kant to Diesel and Nietzsche, from Goethe and Wagner to Mendel and Planck, from Hegel and Marx to Freud and Schoenberg—that was paramount in the creation of the modern West. Moreover, despite World War II, figures such as Joseph Beuys, JÜrgen Habermas, and Joseph Ratzinger ensure that the German genius still resonates intellectually today.
Reviews
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-09-07
Summary: "German history ... and the human condition"
The book is intended as a history of German ideas over the last 250 years or so, and specifically not a political, economic, or comprehensive "national" history of Germany. The narrative begins near the end of Bach's life (1685-1750), well prior to a German nation having been achieved, and continues beyond the events of 1989 and the subsequent re-unification of what we recall as East and West Germany.
The book considers German ideas as being those of German people, which exceeds the bounds of citizenship in any German nation but instead also includes people of German cultural background from Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and other territories where German-speaking peoples lived en masse. A reader may no doubt quibble with some of the persons who are included as being "German" by the author, but a disagreement over any one person is indeed a quibble, not an indictment of the underlying premise.
The book would seem to have at least three purposes:
1) By documenting the immense fertility of German culture in generating powerful advances in the arts, science and the humanities the author attempts to restore (for those for whom it is needed) a wider, more balanced perspective on Germany than apparently currently exists. Without any attempt to minimize, dismiss, or overlook the evil of the Nazi's and the Holocaust (for which "Germany" has been stigmatized), the narrative offers a reminder of great achievements that were not accidental, but a product of German culture and society.
2) By explaining the elements of German culture that gave rise to those fertile developments, an explanation is also proposed for reasons that some of those same elements could ironically allow or make possible the barbaric (and distinctly uncultured) Third Reich. The exploration of these German cultural elements that "cut both ways" seems even-handed, and consistent with a mature perspective that there is much in life that is ambiguous, with the potential for both good and unintended, tragic outcomes. Again without minimizing the horror of the Holocaust or the role of the German people, the author offers a nuanced view of the cultural ground soil within which the Nazi's were allowed to grow and seize power.
3) To follow the widening influence of German ideas throughout the Western Civilization, much of which reflects the mass emigration of talented Germans during the Third Reich, whether Jewish-German artists and scientists or otherwise. As a quote from Erich Heller presented as an epigram to the book states, "Defeated in two world wars, Germany appeared to have invaded vast territories of the World's minds" or in the author's own words, "The United States and Great Britain may speak English but, more than they know, they think German."
Of noteworthiness is the scope of this book. Reporting that it is 849 pages (plus an author's note, an appendix, and end-notes) does not adequately convey the amount of information contained within. Short biographical sketches for noteworthy individuals pepper the text, usually arrayed to tell the story of the development of a branch of science, commerce or the arts.
An example is about seven pages (375-381) containing a section, "The Age of the Automobile" where we are provided biographical sketches of Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolph Diesel, as well as Emil and Walter Rathenau ("Mercedes", by the way, was a niece of another minor collaborator in the development of the auto, she fails to get a biography) in a brief summary of the fledgling German car industry.
The author casts his net wide enough that you will likely find many familiar names and many "new" names. For this reviewer, there were sections dealing with areas for which I have done moderate reading and have some understanding (e.g., Richard Wagner and his operas). Those sections were very well done with concise and fair-minded summaries. Presumably those sections which were revelations to this reviewer (and there were many) were composed in a likewise manner.
One more comment on this book's length. Be advised: this is one of those books that really never ends because you will find yourself adding books mentioned in the narrative to your "To Read" list. This is a book that keeps on giving!
Well, enough about length, what of substance?
Both the Introduction, titled 'Blinded by the Light: Hitler, the Holocaust, and "the Past That Will Not Pass Away"' and the final chapter, titled 'German Genius: The Dazzle, Deification, and Dangers of Inwardness' are, quite literally, excellent summary bookends to the book's themes, which in some ways have to be culled out of the extensive narrative of people, events and achievements that are documented in between.
The book delivers a compelling case for considering such persistent cultural elements as Prussian Pietism (which became institutionalized early through professorships of theology in both Halle and Göttengen), the development of the German university ideal (whose trained graduates fed the burgeoning need for skilled thinkers and bureaucrats in an increasingly centralized world), the search for an agreeable concept of "nationality" for a group of people who had never shared a "nation" before (the concept of the volk was conceived to satisfy the search), and other notable elements (such as the concept of bildung, a secular version of Pietism) as cultural influences that "cut both ways." These led to both outstanding achievements in the arts, industry and science, as well as led to a national mindset that made Nazi power a possibility and an unfortunate reality.
Quite correctly, there is nothing in this book that would be considered sympathetic to Nazi Germany. In fact, many prominent Nazi "thinkers" are quietly pilloried (like Theodor Frisch, a theologian who argued that Jesus was not a Jew, but that Galileans were actually Gauls, and therefore Jesus was really German!). The author appears interested only in a more complete understanding of the period and of the German people, which includes some empathy for the course of ordinary human lives and the human condition.
The author points out that, like many cultures, Germany was deeply influenced by a respect for classic antiquity. Greek models of the arts and intellectual thought materially shaped German culture. Which makes it doubly unfortunate then, that there was a collective failure to learn from one of the greatest of Greek achievements, tragic drama. The unfortunate experience of Germany and the victims of Nazi Germany appear as a cruel, ironic enactment of Greek Tragedy. Choices made for seemingly well-intended purposes result in, perhaps many years later, the preconditions for an enormous amount of suffering. The protagonists cannot foresee the looming disaster despite the chorus that tries to warn them. Perhaps one of the points of The German Genius, though, is that because of certain German cultural elements, the chorus wasn't loud enough to be heard.
As the author further points out, strains of the German Genius are still with us (including an emphasis upon science and technology at the expense of humanities). Read this book, it is both a history and a timeless story.
Rating: 3 / 5
Date: 2010-09-01
Summary: "I would love to see a simplified version of this book"
When I saw this book at the Concord, NH, USA library, I was excited to bring it home. The statement "The United States and Great Britain may speak English but, more than they know, they think German." is what caught my attention and sparked my interest. I believed the author before even beginning to read.
However, after a couple of chapters, I was lost in all of the bibliographies and the endless list of names. Take this one for instance,
"Hermann Reimarus's Apologie oder Schutzschrift fur die vernunftigen Verehrer Gottes (Apolgia for the Reasonable Worshippers of God)"
Sounds great, but it's way too long and makes it impossible to get into the flow of the book having to navigate all that formality.
I'd like to see a shortened version of the book that gives the gist of German genius. Again, we already believe you. Darwin got all the credit for his theories of evolution. It's easy to understand that Germans, and maybe others, set the table for him. We all understand that Orville and Wilbur Wright were not the first to fool around with airplanes. You just have to get to the point more concisely.
James Burke does a great job of laying out an alternative view of history in his Connections series. It's easy to follow and I think people are very willing to change their opinion and accept these truths when it's fed in a manageable way.
I loved the quotes on the cover and at the beginning of the book. I'm sorry that I have to return the book to the library unfinished. I would like to visit Germany and I would like to see that country restored to it's proper standing in the world.
Rating: 2 / 5
Date: 2010-08-24
Summary: "Large book with too little information"
Although it is probably true that people in Britain and the United States know too little about the cultural history of Germany before the Nazis, this large book is wide and shallow. Many men of German genius and their work are briefly described, from circa 1750 to the present, in the fields of the liberal arts and sciences and industry, but each person is discussed too briefly to much understand the significance of their work. However, endnotes provide a bibliography for further research, if so desired by the reader. To my understanding, some of the scientific aspects were described slightly incorrectly. Curiously, the author indicates that many of these men of German genius were sons of Lutheran pastors, while others were noted to be of Jewish ancestry, and a few were agnostics or atheists. Several books have been written about the origin of anti-semitism, but this author does not discuss this aspect of history. Most of the men of German genius were progressive or liberal in their philosophy or beliefs, seeking improvement in society thru the liberal arts and sciences and industry, however, there is a dark side to some, which in the trajectory of history led to the era of the Nazis, which is discussed in relation mainly to the cultural aspects of German society, and little of the political history, but Karl Marx is also mentioned. The author either ignores, or is ignorant of the fact that a few of his most prominent subjects of the eighteenth century were men who were members of the Bavarian Illuminati, and that a few others were known to be members of German Freemasonry, and many of the others were possibly members of German Freemasonry. The author passes over unmentioned in his text many other notable Germans who were members of the Illuminati; or who were probably or known to be members of German Freemasonry, including especially many members of the German nobility, and thus the author ignores the influence of this secret society in the German Enlightenment.
Rating: 5 / 5
Date: 2010-08-01
Summary: "The German contribution"
This work is compendious and detailed, indeed may be too heavy for some readers. There is a wealth, not only of facts
but also a comprehensive reporting of most aspects of society and the matrix in which modern German contributions and thinking across the spectrum of activities.
Definitely the best I've read on this subject
Rating: 4 / 5
Date: 2010-07-17
Summary: "A big book of short biographies"
In spite of the book's intention to provide us with a coherent answer as to why there was a German genius,we do not get an answer.Instead,we have a very long catalogue of German thinkers,scientists and artists and this book is actually a small encyclopedia of the German achievements from 1750 to the present.
I am not sure about the validity of Watson's argument that we live,think,feel and act German.On this point he is careful enough to explain that there were other original people in other countries as well.
The main theory of the book is about the narrow angle through which we experience Germany and its past.No one sane enough will contest this point.However,it is a real pity that the author does not manage to explain how this phenomenon of German genius happened and why particularly
in Germany.it is more than implied that it was the German tendency towards "inwardness" that was manly responsible for the development of so many rich and original ideas by the Germans.Another reason could be the tendency of the Germans to get a "Bildung"- a term which is not easy to translate exactly.Books were more popular in Germany and the German- speaking countries than elsewhere,which had influenced the German psyche. As Mr. Watson puts it:"Reading was a much more private-and therefore inward-activity than the most popular cultural activity that had preceded it". And later:"Romanticism and music were still other aspects of inwardness.Kant's instinct and intuition,Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's will,Freud and Jung's 'unconscious' are all "inner" entitites,inner concepts ,waiting to be released"(p.821)
Add all these to the fact that there was a religious 17th and 18th century revival known as Pietism whose main purpose was to convince its adherents that they should devote themselves to improving life on earth,plus the fact that there were so many universities that were erected in Germany which emphasized originality and research in both fields of humanities and the various sciences and you get the main reason as to why there was such a genius-like phenomenon in Germany.
Still,there is a dark cloud looming over the spectacular achivements of the German mind:the Nazi past.The legacy of Hitler and his regime has overshadowed the legacy of Germany and Watson hopes that one day this will change.Personally,I do not believe this can happen in the near future.