Hitler and the «Seer of the Third Reich»

Houston Stewart Chamberlain as a visionary of National Socialism

Authors

  • Barbara Zehnpfennig Round Corner Memorial Museum

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.15.28421

Keywords:

Chamberlain, Hitler, race and culture, German idealism, German mission, the Führer

Abstract

Hitler made arbitrary use of the authors he read to form his worldview. From Houston Stewart Chamberlain, for instance, he adopted elements of his theory of race, his anti-Semitism and his belief in the German mission. How Hitler chose to use those elements, however, was independent of the author’s intentions. Yet authors such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain could be described as visionaries of National Socialism. Firstly, Chamberlain’s racist and anti-Semitic resentment prepared the way for an even more radical interpretation. Secondly, Chamberlain himself believed that Hitler was the longed-for saviour of Germany and of the world.

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Author Biography

Barbara Zehnpfennig, Round Corner Memorial Museum

Co-editor of Zeitschrift für Politik , member of the board of the Institute for Philosophical Research in Hanover, and a member of the academic advisory board of the Round Corner Memorial Museum in Leipzig (Germany). Her teaching and research focus on the theory of totalitarianism, particularly National Socialism, from a theoretical and intellectual history perspective.

References

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Chamberlain, H. S. (1899). Die Grundlagen des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Bruckmann.

Chamberlain, H. S. (1915). Politische Ideale. Bruckmann.

Chamberlain, H. S. (1917). Arische Weltanschauung. Bruckmann.

Chamberlain, H. S. (1918). Der Wille zum Sieg. Bruckmann.

Fritz, S. (2022). Houston Stewart Chamberlain. Rassenwahn und Welterlösung. Biographie. Brill.

Gobineau, A. de (1853–1855). Essai sur l’inégalité des races humaines. 4 Volumes. Librairie de Firmin Didot Frères.

Hamann, B. (1996). Hitlers Wien. Piper.

Hitler, A. (2016). Mein Kampf. Eine kritische Edition. Institut für Zeitgeschichte. (Original published in 1942)

Ryback, T. W. (2010). Hitlers Bücher. Seine Bibliothek – sein Denken. Fackelträger.

Schott, G. (1933). Houston Stewart Chamberlain der Seher des Dritten Reiches. Das Vermächtnis Houston Stewart Chamberlains an das Deutsche Volk. Bruckmann.

Zehnpfennig, B. (2018). Adolf Hitler: Mein Kampf. Weltanschauung und Programm. Studienkommentar. Wilhelm Fink.

Published

2025-01-07

How to Cite

Zehnpfennig, B. (2025). Hitler and the «Seer of the Third Reich»: Houston Stewart Chamberlain as a visionary of National Socialism. Metode Science Studies Journal, (15). https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.15.28421
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Issue

No. 15: Volume 15 (Online first)

Section

Science, race and Nazism: The origins of National Socialism, 100 years after 'Mein Kampf'

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