Research Lukas Stadler

My dissertation project revolves around the question of the effects of diverse transformations of antiquity on the development of a Zionist attitude among German-speaking Jews before 1948. The answer to this question is investigated on the basis of the writings of Edith Landmann (1877-1951).

Edith Landmann was a German philosopher who felt particularly drawn to Greek antiquity, researched value judgments and aesthetics and was an ardent follower of the poet Stefan George. Before 1933, her Jewish background played only a very minor role, which changed abruptly with the transfer of power to the National Socialists.

Now new areas of tension opened up for her and the question arose as to whether she could still be part of a German cultural nation to which she had felt she belonged all her life. This raises further questions: What interactions do antiquity transformations and nationalism exhibit? To what extent do world views from Neo-Humanism and so-called Third Humanism interact with the growing strength of Zionism? What steps of thought are necessary in order to be labeled a Zionist?