Return to NURELWEB or ACADEMIC ARTICLES or CULTS AND RELIGIONS
“Verfassungsfeindlich”
Church, State, And New
Religions In Germany
Irving Hexham and Karla Poewe
ABSTRACT:
This paper examines the ideology of the German anti-cult movement. It also
discusses the unique problems facing the German government resulting from
right-wing extremism and the role of German cult experts in defining new religions
as verfassungsfeindlich, hostile
to the constitution.
INTRODUCTION
Since
the mid-1970s, new religious movements have regularly made news headlines
with stories about brainwashing and mass suicides. Consequently, government
officials such as Congressmen in America, British Members of Parliament, and
German Senators often support initiatives to investigate “dangerous cults”
and to restrict their activities.
The
growth of the anti-cult movement, which emerged in the mid1970s in North America,
is well documented by David Bromley and Anson Shupe in their various books.[1]
More recently, they have drawn attention to cross-cultural aspects of the
anti-cult movement.[2] There is also a growing body of academic literature
that exposes the shoddy methods used by most anti-cult writers and their failure
to meet scientific standards.[3]
British
and North American anti-cult movements such as the British Family Action,
Intervention, and Rescue (FAIR) group and the American Family Foundation are
private organizations. They unite concerned individuals and raise funds through
voluntary donations,
208
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
the sale of literature, and
professional services. Two issues are basic to British and North American
anti-cult propaganda. First, it is said that individuals are at risk because
new religions use brainwashing techniques to effect sham conversions. Second,
the image of Jonestown and related incidents are invoked to prove that new
religions represent a threat to society.
Avery
different approach is taken in Germany, where the German anti-cult movement
is part of the social establishment supported by mainline Protestant churches
and government-raised taxes.[4] James Beckford [5] and James T. Richardson
and Barend van Driel [6] discuss these differences in attitudes between Britain,
the United States, and Germany, focusing on the societal background of each
country. They provide an excellent overview of the situation, but do not discuss
ideological issues or the German fear of new religions in its historical dimension.
Here we build on these studies by providing additional insights into the complexity
of the German situation.
The
primary argument used by the German anti-cult movement is that new religions
are verfassungsftindlich — an identifiable
threat to constitutional democracy. Consequently, new religions are scrutinized
by German courts, which have the power to authorize state-sponsored actions
to investigate and restrict the activities of these religions.
EXITING NEW RELIGIONS AMERICAN
STYLE
In America, where the constitution clearly
protects individual rights and freedoms and just as clearly separates church
from state, the overarching ideology that guides how Americans view and judge
new religions is that of brainwashing. It is important to note that the brainwashing
ideology addresses individuals insofar as someone did something to an individual
and someone has to undo that which has been done to that individual.
Given
the American separation of church and state, the anti-cult groups are not
governmental in nature and rarely succeed in involving the government unless,
of course, a specific crime is committed. Usually, as Bromley points out,
there are private sector anti-cult groups that may help a whistle-blower,
although such help has no legal or political sanctioning power. Consequently,
public dramas and whistle-blower careers involving media appearances and other
publicity have a short life.[7]
What
is significant for this paper is that exit from new religions is not subject
to governmental regulation in the U.S. While Americans have formed various
powerful “family-based” associations that together constitute a “national
anti-cult movement,” these are voluntary
and
209
Nova Religio
8
unable to use governmental
policing powers to target religious groups.[8] Consequently, even when the
anti-cult movement manages to catch a member of a new religion in order to
“deprogram” or “counsel” them, deprogrammers can be taken to court for violating
individual rights. At best, dramatic testimonies of counseled apostates can
be used in “lobbying campaigns, media reports, [and] investigatory hearings.”
[9] Anti-cult organizations may also give apostates new careers as public
speakers, exit counselors, and/or therapists. They do not, however, involve
the American public polity and people. As we shall now see, the German situation
is quite different.
THE GERMAN SITUATION
The
German anti-cult movement has an organizational structure very different from
those in Britain and North America. The former enjoys a special relationship
with official government agencies as a result of the burden of German history
and of Germany’s emphasis on group as opposed to individual rights. [10]
In
Germany, several interlinked organizations, supported by the mainline Protestant
(Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland
or EKD) and Roman Catholic churches, are actively involved in counter-cult
activities. Although not technically state churches, these mainline denominations
enjoy special relationships with the state and receive funds from government-levied
church taxes plus other monies “regulated by” historic “concordats and agreements.”
[11]
The
main watchdog groups supported by Protestant churches are the Archiv fiir Religions und Weltanschauungsfragen
(Archive for Religious and Worldview Questions), headed by Thomas Gandow,
and the Evangelische Zentralstelle fur
Weltanschauungsfragen (Protestant Central Agency for Worldview Questions),
led by Michael Nüch tern. There are also several smaller Roman Catholic cult
information centers, which tend to concentrate on theological issues. [12]
All of these groups receive some state support, even if indirectly.
Apart
from the major religious watchdog organizations mentioned above, there are
approximately 190 so-called Sektenbeauftragte,
or cult investigators, [13] employed throughout Germany by churches. Cult
investigators are people with theological training who investigate the activities
of potential spiritual rivals.
These
church-supported individuals and organizations work closely with government
bodies at the federal, state, and local levels. Contacts between church and
state employees are through government departments dealing with family, health
and welfare, and youth. Finally, at both the federal and state levels the
Ministerium des Innern (Interior
210
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
Ministry) takes a close interest
in new religions through the office of the Verfassungsschutz (Security Police - n.b. this is not a literal translation,
rather it is the best approximation we could find for this uniquely German
institution). Thus, although government agencies do not involve themselves
directly with theological issues, they do so indirectly.
For
example, German government offices do not hesitate to produce booklets and
other information packages warning citizens against the potential dangers
of new religions. These booklets are written and produced by state employees
working at various levels of government and are printed and distributed free
at the state’s expense. [14] The bibliographies of these booklets depend almost
exclusively on the writings of cult investigators. [15] Further, these writings
inevitably provide readers with a list of cult investigators and information
on how to contact them. [16]
In
1996, the German federal government agreed to a Commission of Inquiry into
the activities of cults and therapy groups. The full title of the commission
was Die Enquete-Kommission “Sogenannte Sekten und
Psychogruppen “(the Commission of Inquiry into Sects, Cults, and Psychotherapy
Movements), popularly referred to as the Enquete-Kommzsszon. This inquiry embraced what English-speaking people
know as cults, sects, new religions, and self-help and motivational-type groups.
It examined charismatic Christian groups and various forms of Christian fundamentalism.
There was even a suggestion that perhaps, eventually, evangelical Christian
groups would be included. [17]
After
two years work the Enquete-Kommission
delivered its findings. The majority report said that new religions were
not a threat to society, but that they might be harmful to individuals. Therefore,
it
recommended further research and the establishment of various social-
work agencies to help people leave cults. A minority report dissented suggesting
instead that, in general, new religions are not a danger to either individuals
or the state. [18]
Public
reaction to the Enquete-Kommission was
mixed. Before the final report was released, Der Spiegel published a highly critical article complaining that this
was the most expensive commission of inquiry in German history. [19] Press
reaction was more muted once the report was published. Most headlines suggested
that new religions were not a great danger to the state. [20] Nevertheless,
there was a general feeling that even if the state was not endangered, many
individuals might need protection from cults. [21] Anti-cult activists proclaimed
the report a vindication of their views. [22] Other observers expressed their
fear that, although the report would be shelved because of the upcoming general
election, it would be revived in
the future as part of a campaign against new religions. [23] The German Protestant
Church responded with a cautious press release affirming religious freedom
while cautioning that some religions remain problematic. [24] Consequently,
the long-term impact of the commission remains unclear, while the general
tone is worrisome.
211
Nova Religio
A
basic problem, indirectly highlighted by the commission, is that all levels
of the German government employ people whose work involves minority religions,
thus creating a large government-funded bureaucracy. This bureaucracy’s only
justification is the assumption that new religions are dangerous. Therefore,
to ensure its continued existence, problems must be uncovered and exposed.
Most government officials employed in this area appear to take their cue from
the clergy, who report problems for further investigation. The clergy in turn
gain status and continued financial support from their respective churches
because their work is used by the state.
Consequently,
government, church, and private publications criticizing new religions tend
to cite each other. When compared, the publications of these agencies essentially
base their cases on two criteria. First, thinly disguised theological and
ideological counter-cult arguments are used to define religion in terms acceptable
to the church establishment. Second, personal testimonies of disgruntled ex-members
and cult atrocity stories are cited as proof that new religions create social
and psychological problems. Empirical research, which questions theological
bias and the value of relying almost exclusively on the testimony of ex-members
or media-created atrocity stories, is conspicuously absent.
SCIENTOLOGY AND THE GERMANS
At
the center of the storm about cults in Germany is the Church of Scientology.
It claims that the German State has waged a relentless war against religious
freedom based on a deep-rooted fascist ideology. This argument, which directly
links numerous German politicians, including former Chancellor Helmut Kohl
and his Labor Minister Norbert Blüm, with Nazi-like behavior, is made in numerous
booklets and articles published by the church. [25]
The
strongest evidence produced by Scientology involves graphic comparisons between
anti-Jewish cartoons from the Nazi newspaper Der Stürmer published
during the 1930s and 1940s and anti-Scientology cartoons from contemporary
German newspapers. These shocking cartoons, Scientologists argue, prove that
Nazi propaganda techniques are in use today. In a cleverly produced booklet,
the Church of Scientology makes a strong case against the German press for
using some very questionable propaganda images. [26]
Nevertheless,
most ordinary Germans, the German media, and members of the German government
are outraged by the Church of Scientology’s charges that it is persecuted.
In self-defense, they point to the guarantees of religious freedom found in
the German
212
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
constitution. [27] They also
argue that Scientology is not a genuine religion. [28] Rather, they claim,
it is a business posing as a religion to avoid taxes, with political goals
that threaten to subvert democracy.
There
is no doubt that the tasteless attacks on respectable German politicians by
members of Scientology and their supporters are counterproductive in Germany.
Men like Kohl, Blflm, and the average member of any major political party,
such as the Christlich Demokratische
Union (Christian Democratic Union or CDU) or Sozialdemokratische
Partei Deutschlands (Social Democrats or SPD), are not Nazis nor do they
act like Nazis in any meaningful way.
Germans
rightly feel that such accusations are a low blow against people who have
proved their democratic credentials. Further, Germans generally are very sensitive
to the slur “Nazi.” After fifty years of democracy, they have a right to argue
that it is time for the world to recognize German achievements and to stop
thinking in such negative ways.
Even
members of other minority religions in Germany react with alarm to charges
by Scientology that prominent figures such as former Chancellor Kohl act like
Nazis. [29] Consequently, many potential allies in the struggle for greater
religious freedom have felt alienated from the Church of Scientology.
THE TREATMENT OF NEW RELIGIONS
BY THE
GERMAN STATE
Where critiques by Scientologists tend to fail
is in their inability to appreciate the complexity of the German constitutional
and legal process, the subtleties of German society as a whole, and the burden
of German history. [30] This lack of layered understanding is compounded by
the fact that a few German politicians, such as Berlin SPD deputy and Enquete-Kommission
member Renate Rennebach, have taken a lead in attacking new religions.
Other politicians have attempted to gain public favor by silencing what they
see as pro-cult arguments. For example, when the popular academicjournal Spirita published critical articles on Scientology that accepted Scientology
as a genuine religion, some politicians attempted to close the journal. [31]
Most
German politicians, however, appear to be reacting to popular pressures created
by the media and numerous recent publications whose stories expose the dangers
of new religions. Since 1991, there has been an explosion of literature attacking
Sekten, or new religions, in Germany.
Most of this criticism originates with church cult investigators. Recently,
these clergymen’s works have been supplemented by the “confessions” of individuals
who claim that they were exploited by particular religious groups. [32] Further,
one also finds a growing number of booklets that
213
Nova Religio
discuss the dangers of fundamentalism
worldwide. [33] These latter works provide details about what is seen as.
a global problem. In the wake of these publications, the German press has
accepted many rumors and complaints against new religions at face value, helping
to create new social problems. [34]
NEW RELIGIONS AND POLITICAL
EXTREMISM IN
GERMANY
Beginning
in the early nineteenth century, various religious trends in Germany led to
the development of spiritual movements that rejected democracy. At first,
these trends were limited to a few isolated intellectuals. By the 1880s, however,
a number of social movements began to crystallize and attract an increasing
number of followers. [35]
Following
Germany’s defeat in World War I, the importance of spiritual movements as
precursors of the Nazi dictatorship increased. [36] Not all of these movements
supported the Nazis. Some indeed opposed them and were persecuted. All of
them, however, furthered Nazi aims by attacking the Weimar Republic and undermining
democracy. For want of a better term, these religions will be called proto-Nazi
religions. [37]
Most
important among these movements were the back-to-nature Wandervogel (Wandering Birds) and Biinde (Bond or Confederation) [38] the Ludendorff-Bewegung (Ludendorff
movement) [39] the Bewegung der Freireligiösen
(Free Believers) [40] the Deutsche Christen (German Christians), [41] and the Deutsche Glaubensbewegung (German Faith
Movement) [42] Estimates of the strengths of these groups vary, but there
is no doubt that they attracted a wide cross section of the population. Further,
they functioned as both audience and client cults through rallies and the
widespread distribution of their literature. [43]
Actual
membership figures varied from around 600 for the largest Faith Movement groups
to over 600,000 for the German Christians. [44] Numbers alone do not tell
the entire story, however. Although small, the Faith Movement had disproportionate
support from academics and clearly exercised far more influence than its size
suggests. In the 1930s, almost all German professors of what we now call “religious
studies” were members. [45]
Given
the role of these movements in undermining democracy during the 1920s and
early 1930s it is no wonder
postwar German governments have been very wary of new religions. The Nazi
era is all too real to most Germans who have to come to terms with its horrific
crimes.
Following the end of the Second World War, many
proto-Nazi religions disappeared, only to slowly reemerge in the 1950s. Today
a number of individual authors and spiritual groups promote proto-Nazi
214
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
new religions. Most of these
are associated with fascism and holocaust revisionism. [46]
The
movements themselves, many of their leaders, and particular individuals who
promote them have direct links to the Nazi and preNazi era. Therefore, associating
these groups with the Nazis is not propaganda. It is simply stating the facts.
Further, upon examination the ideologies promoted by them are essentially
the same as those they promoted prior to World War [47].
LUDENDORFF’S RELIGION
The
once influential teachings of Mathilde Ludendorff (1877-1966) will suffice
to show why many educated Germans react with horror when confronted by new
religions. Mathilde Ludendorff was the third daughter of a Lutheran minister,
Bernhard SpieB of Wiesbaden. She became a schoolteacher before graduating
in medicine and marrying the zoologist Gustav Adolf von Kemnitz in 1904.[48]
In 1906, she officially withdrew from the Lutheran Church, and in 1913 received
her doctorate in neurology. Her criticisms of the occult and Christianity
date from this period. [49] After World War I, when occult movements bloomed,
she republished these criticisms and became a champion of gender equality.
She
lost her first husband in 1916, and, after a second failed marriage, wed General
Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937), the Commander- in-Chief of German forces at
the end of World War I, in 1925. Von Kemnitz met Ludendorff in 1923, when
he was still deeply affected by the German defeat. Unlike Ludendorff, von
Kemnitz brimmed with confidence. According to the chief Nazi ideologue, Alfred
Rosenberg, she had already offered herself to Hitler as Führerin. [50] The book that made her famous was Triumph of the Will to Immortality (1921)
[51] This book, numerous other publications, endorsement by General Ludendorff,
and the organizations they created to disseminate their political and philosophico-religious
ideas made Mathilde Ludendorff’s science-based religion, Gotterkenntnis
(God-consciousness), immensely popular. Shortly before her husband’s death,
the couple founded the VereinfürDeutsche Gotterkenntnis (Society
for German God-consciousness) with Hitler’s blessing.
The
propaganda of the Ludendorffs associated Jews and Freemasonry with an opportunistic
liberalism and democracy which, they argued, was scornful of moral principles
and keen to exploit a bogus rationalism for financial gain. According to them,
Jews, Freemasons, and liberals alike were isolated individuals who lacked
national traditions and a sense of cultural history. Instead, they dreamed
the dreams of humanity in the abstract, thus promoting an impersonal internationalism
that nourished their alienation. [52]
215
Nova Religio
Between
1945 and 1951, Mathilde Ludendorff assumed alow profile and her movement was
dormant, only to be reactivated under the new name of Bund fur Gotterkenntnis (League for God-consciousness). At its height
after the war, this group had 3,948 members. Worried by its growing influence,
the Bavarian Administrative Court prohibited the league on 28 January 1965.
It was declared hostile to the constitution, verfassungsfeindlich. Her publishing house, Verlag Hohe Warte (Watchtower Press) was also banned as was the political
wing of the Ludendorff Movement.
THE CONCEPT OF VERFASSUNGSFEINDLICH [53]
From
the example of the Ludendorff movement, we can see why Germans implicitly
or explicitly interpret all new religions in terms of their verfassungsfeindliche-Ideologie (ideology of constitutional danger).
This ideology evaluates all new religions in terms of their relationship to
the constitution and is buttressed by social structures that are capable of
mobilizing the German government, courts, church, and media. Today, Germans
use the religious-political concept of totalitarianism to warn against dangerous
movements. The process of warning is premised on the historical experiences
of Communist dictatorship in the German Democratic Republic and National Socialistic
dictatorship in the Third Reich and implies that the movements in question
constitute an attack on democracy. Therefore, if a new religion, specifically
Scientology, can be shown to be totalitarian, it is judged to be verfassungsfrmndlich,
hostile to the basic law or constitution. [54]
Being
verfassungsfrmndlich contravenes
all four sections of Article 20 of the basic law, which states decisively
that the Federal Republic of Germany shall be a democratic and social federal
state. Here, section four of article twenty is the key. It grants all Germans
the “right to resist anybody attempting to do away with this constitutional
order.” [55] This article enables members of the anti-cult movement to provide
information about Scientology and other new religions to government agencies,
the courts, and the media to legitimately create a public climate of popular
resistance.
SCIENTOLOGY: A VERFASSUNGSFEINDLICHE
ORGANIZATION?
To
comprehend how the concept of verfassungsftmndlich
plays itself out in specific instances we will briefly examine the case
against Scientology made by the Federal Ministry of the Interior. In Texte zur Inneren Sicherheit (Texts on
State Security) [56] Scientology is
identified as
216
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
a potentially dangerous organization. To understand
this claim, it is necessary to cite various quotations from the publications
of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder, which are examined by the anti-cult
authors of this book. The following statements by Hubbard provide the central
thrust of the German argument:
And there
is Political Dianetics, which embraces
the field of group activity and organization to establish the optimum conditions
and processes of leadership and intergroup relations. [57]
According to the booklet, the
implications of this statement are that Scientology is a self-proclaimed political
organization that aims at “Creating a New Civilization.” [58] Consequently,
when Hubbard writes,
An ideal
society would be a society of unaberrated persons, clears, conducting their
lives within an unaberrate culture. . . . It is not enough that an individual
be himself unaberrated, for he discovers himself within the confines of a
society which itself has compounded its culture with many unreasonable prejudices
and customs. [59]
the writers of the booklet
question the meaning of “aberrated” and “unaberrated” people. They then cite
as a goal of Scientology Hubbard’s further statement that
Perhaps at
some distant date only the unaberrated person will be granted civil rights
before the law. Perhaps the goal will be reached at some future time when
only the unaberrated person can attain to and benefit from citizenship. These
are desirable goals and would produce a marked increase in the survival ability
and happiness of man. [60]
This and similar comments,
the writers argue, show that Hubbard intended Scientologists to discriminate
against particular individuals and groups in an elitist manner that is incompatible
with democracy. Consequently, they argue, Scientology represents a totalitarian
system that potentially threatens the democratic nature of the German constitution.
[61] Thus, Scientology is judged in terms of its own publications to be verfassungsfeindlich.
When
challenged to defend this type of argument, German cult investigators point
to other of Hubbard’s statements including the following:
It is not
necessary to produce a world of clears in order to have a reasonable and worthwhile
social order; it is only necessary to delete those individuals who range from
2.0 down either by processing them enough to get their tone level above the
2.0 line . . . or simply quarantining them from the society. [62]
217
Nova Religio
Hubbard, they continue, explained
his meaning with this story:
A
Venezuelan dictator once decided to stop leprosy. He saw that most lepers
in his country were also beggars. By the simple expedient of collecting and
destroying all the beggars in Venezuela an end was put to leprosy in that
country. [63]
The explanation that Hubbard’s
intention was to raise the intelligence of people and that statements like
this must be taken in the context of his entire work are dismissed by German
critics. They argue that the writings of any movement must be taken at face
value and not interpreted.
To
make matters worse, the critics point out that in Germany various extreme
Right organizations have supported Scientology in their publications. [64]
The possibility that the extreme Right might be using the Scientology issue
to weaken the powers of the Internal Security police is overlooked. Also overlooked
is the logical fallacy of arguing that because an extreme Right group expresses
support for Scientology, Scientology necessarily supports the extreme Right.
[65]
GERMANS, FASCISM, AND SCIENTOLOGY
Recognizing
the role proto-Nazi religious movements played in destroying German democracy
in the 1920s and 1930s helps us understand the stance of the present German
state toward Scientology. The German state argues that Scientology is simply
a more durable and popular version of the type of new religion that caused
havoc in the past. According to German critics, Scientology aims at creating
the same kind of human being and mentality as earlier new religions.
Similarly,
the Protestant Central Agency for Worldview Questions, in an article published
on its web site, claims that Scientology pursues the “idea of an absolute
heroic Ubermensch (superman)” and
is ready to shed the cumbersome shackles of liberalism and democracy on its
path to “world supremacy. [66] This implies that Scientology represents a
political threat to the German state analogous to that of the Nazis.
To
some Germans, therefore, Scientology is American in its emphasis on methods
and economic success as the measure of all things. It is totalitarian (1)
in its creation of “the New Being” who becomes free by tapping all unused
intellectual potential and capabilities; (2) in its extinction of all painful
experiences; (3) and in its synthesis of selfhelp methods and esoteric teachings.
Thus, German anti-cult figures such as Thomas Gandow and Tilmann Hausherr
[67] appear to be motivated by a deep sense of social concern and a strong
desire to preserve democracy.
218
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
Although
phrased somewhat differently, the rhetoric used by the German anti-cult movement
to discredit Scientology mirrors the rhetoric used by National Socialists
to attack Jews. Today, Scientologists are said to threaten civil order by
opposing liberalism and democracy. In the 1930s,Jews were accused of threatening
the German state in the name of liberalism and democracy. Common to this rhetoric
is the theme that the state is in danger from organizations with international
rather than national goals. The similarity in rhetoric between attacks on
new religions today and attacks on the Jews in the 1920s and 1930s is clear
and worrisome.
In
presenting their arguments, German anti-cult critics conveniently overlook
major differences between Hubbard’s ideas and those of protoNazi religions
of the past and present. Proto-Nazi religions trace their origins to the racist
theories of Paul de Lagarde and Houston Steward Chamberlain. Scientology,
on the other hand, has its roots in the American tradition of self-help individualism.
On the matter of race, Hubbard is quite explicit in his affirmation of the
unity of humankind and his rejection of racism. His “dynamic four” urges the
“individual toward ultimate survival for all mankind.” [68] Further, Hubbard
takes a strong line against war, arguing that
Wars never
solve the need of wars. Fight to save the world for democracy or save it from
Confucianism and the fight is inevitably lost by all. . . . A society which
advances into a war as a solution of its problems cannot but depress its own
survival potential. [69]
Such an attitude is a far step
from the glorification of war and the ideal of Heroic Man found in the Hitler
movement. [70] Nor do we find the same millenarian doctrines and expectations
in Scientology as are found in hard-core Nazi occultism. 71] Instead, in Hubbard’s
works we have American-style self-improvement in the tradition of positive
thinking. [72]
CULT INVESTIGATORS AND ACADEMICS
However
much one deplores actions by the German state against Scientology and other
new religions, it has to be admitted that the intention is a noble one. Nobody
wants to see a revival of Nazism or a Nazi clone masquerading under another
name.
Unfortunately,
some members of the German anti-cult movement threaten the noble cause of
preserving democracy. These folk marry the notion of totalitarianism with
concepts of heresy. Here the role of church cult investigators, who gather
information about and dispense knowledge of new religions, comes into play.
The data gathered by cult investigators is used by the church, government
ministers, and, there is
219
Nova Religio
good reason to believe, the
courts to address the question of whether new religions such as Scientology
are indeed “real religions”? [73]
The
structural effect of this is that the already weak state-church separation
in Germany is lost altogether. We can see this by looking at the publications
of groups such as the Evangelical Central Agency for Wordview Questions and
the Archive for Religious and Worldview Questions. Their comments on Scientology
focus on the question of whether or not Scientology is a genuine religion.
However, instead of discussing definitions of religion in terms of Religionsgeschichte or Religionswissenschaft (the history or science
of religion), they use supposed evidence of totalitarian tendencies, argue
that Scientology is a business, and cite court rulings. [74] The problem is
that sociological and theological judgments are blurred. Thus, certain cult
investigators argue that a particular group is not a religion. The courts,
or at least some people connected with them, appear to accept the expertise
of the cult investigators on these issues and rule accordingly. Later, court
judgments become part of theological arguments to prove that Scientology and
other new religions are not real religions. Thus, church employees feed the
courts information that theologians use to formulate their own opinions, and
the whole process becomes self-reinforcing. [75]
Given
this situation and the intense interest in new religions in Germany, one expects
to find a deluge of empirical studies by anthropologists, sociologists, and
other academics investigating what is clearly considered as a growing social
and political problem. However, many German academics are very reluctant to
undertake empirical research that involves life-history interviews or participant
observation in the area of new religions.
At
best, most German scholars restrict themselves to survey research or the analysis
of a new religion’s literature and theology. Two recent sociological surveys
on religion in Germany by Karl-Fritz Daiber and Harmut Zinzer supplement older
studies—which concentrated on Protestant-Catholic relations—by including information
about new religions. [76] Although very valuable, neither of these works contains
the wealth of empirical detail available to North American researchers in
the research of scholars such as Rodney Stark or Reginald Bibby. Apart from
these works, which present survey evidence, there are, as far as we are aware,
only six major anthropological or sociological studies using participant—observation
and life—history interviews. [77]
If
they are weak in empirical studies, German scholars excel in literary and
philosophical analysis, particularly where ancient or foreign languages are
involved. Indeed, in this area they are generally far better than their British
or North American counterparts. Some excellent academic monographs (based
on literary research) that do not support the prevailing orthodoxy exist.
These include Christoph Bochinger’s massive study of the New Age movement
and Thomas Schweer’s work
220
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
on the phenomena of new religions
in Germany. [78] These works are rarely cited, however, in the publications
of either the German anti- cult movement or the government. There are also
a few rare semi- popular works that try to correct common misunderstandings
[79] and a number of very useful general surveys, similar to J. Gordon Melton’s
encyclopedias. [80]
The
newly created diagonal-Verlag (Diagonal
Press) has played an important role in the German theological community by
publishing books informed by religious studies and encouraging empirical research.
This press produces the academic journal Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft (Journalfor the Science of Religion)
and a more popular journal devoted to the discussion of new religions,
Spirita [81]’ DiagonalVerlag’s Thomas Schweer and Steffen Rink recently founded
the Scientific Study of Religion Media and Information Service (REMID) [82]
to provide reliable information on religious issues to the media and other
interested parties. [83] However, these activities are still in their infancy
and have yet to prove that they are capable of engaging the academic establishment
or even church-based cult investigators.
There
are some younger scholars engaged in the study of new religions, but as yet
few have received their doctorates or habilitated. [84] Nevertheless, Professors
Hans-Jürgen Greschat and Reiner Flasche in Marburg and Hubert Seiwert in Leipzig
deserve mention for encouraging empirical research into new religions. Despite
these positive developments, theological faculties still dominate discussions
about religion in Germany. Consequently, some German academics, including
established professors and graduate students in religious studies, admit that
they are reluctant to engage in empirical studies involving participant observation
for fear of either losing research funding or of not being able to obtain
employment in the future. [85] Many of those we spoke to on this issue cited
the influence of mainline churches as the main reason for not studying new
religions empirically.
Experience
shows that such fears are fully justified. In the early l980s, a German sociologist
produced a number of empirical studies that contradicted theological dogma.
The result was a campaign of vilification by a certain cult investigator.
This resulted in what Wolfgang Kuner calls “a hidden campaign” against the
man’s work, public attacks on his integrity, the loss of university support
(including a major grant), and other sanctions. Eventually, this scholar had
to seek legal advice to prevent further slander and defamation. Subsequently,
he quit academia and found work in the private sector. Apparently, similar
attacks were made on other sociologists, with the result that many academics
backed away from empirical research into new religions. [86]
Another
disturbing trend among established German academics is their willingness to
accept uncritically the work of church-based cult experts. Thus theological
judgments are often substituted for empirical
221
Nova Religio
research simply because there
is an unwritten agreement that ministers of religion are trustworthy and know
what they are talking about in matters of religion.
The
fact that most, if not all, of these so-called “experts” are untrained, even
uninterested, in the social sciences is of no concern. It is this lack of
empirical research coupled with hasty theological judgments based on limited
texts that leads many Germans to associate Scientology, Christian charismatic
churches, and other new religions with right-wing extremism and Nazism. [87]
Thus,
fear of extremism and pressure from the anti-cult establishment is leading
many responsible Germans to hold negative views about new religions. Because
anti-cult propaganda is often based on false and misleading information, good
empirical research conducted by established academics is urgently needed.
CONCLUSION
Clearly,
German politicians need to revise their thinking and take steps to prevent
the persecution of minority religions. What is needed is a dialogue that encourages
Scientology and other new religions to understand the unique problems facing
Germany. New religions in Germany must clearly state their support for democracy
and make it clear that they do not seek support from neo-Nazi organizations.
They must also reject, or at the very least clarify in unambiguous ways, statements
made by their founders that Germans interpret as totalitarian rhetoric and
propaganda. Until this is done, Germans and other Europeans will continue
to resist American lobbying in support of religious freedom as unjustified
interference in their internal affairs.
On
the other hand Germans, particularly academics, churchmen, and politicians
need to reconsider their conclusions about new religions in the light of empirical
evidence. German academics have a duty to play a social role by conducting
sound empirical research into the role of religion and religious groups in
German society.
Finally,
for those who wish to understand the differences in approach between British
and North American anti-cult movements and German anti-cult movements, nineteenth-century
reactions to Roman Catholicism are instructive. In Britain and North America,
anti-Catholic agitation was the work of individuals and voluntary organizations
such as churches. [88] In Germany, however, Bismark launched his Kulturkampf
and thus set a historical precedent for government crusades against unpopular
religious communities. [89]
222
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions
in Germany
ENDNOTES
1 Cf. Anson Shupe and David Bromley, The New Vigilantes (Beverly Hills: Sage, 1980), and Strange Gods: The Great American Cult Scare (Boston: Beacon, 1981).
2 Anson Shupe and David Bromley, eds., TheAnti-Cult Movement in Cross-Cultural Perspective (New York: Garland, 1994).
3 Shupe and Bromley, The New Vigilantes and Strange Gods; Eileen Barker, The Making of a Moonie, (Oxford: Blackwells, 1984). Douglas Cowan is also writing a University of Calgary Ph.D. thesis that examines the methods and evidence produced by Christian anti-cult writers.
4 Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack, Sekten (München: Münchener Reihe, 1994), 70-80.
5 James A. Beckford, Cult Controversies: The Societal Response to the New Religious Movements (London: Tavistock Publications, 1985). This is an excellent book, which still deserves close attention. Years ago Irving Hexham published a somewhat critical review, which he now concedes was unwarranted.
6 James T. Richardson and Barend van Driel, “New Religions in Europe: Developments and Reactions,” in Shupe and Bromley, The Anti-Cult Movement, 129-70.
7 David Bromley, “Linking Social Structure and the Exit Process in Religious
Organizations,” ]ournal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37, no. 1, (1998): 145-60.
8 Ibid., 154-55.
9 lbid., 155.
10 Hannah Vogt, The Burden of Guilt: A Short History of Germany (New York: Oxford, University Press, 1964).
11 Cf. Arno Kappler and Adriane Grevel, eds., Facts About Germany (Frankfurt-am-Main:
Societhts-Verlag, 1995), 382.
12 E.g. Father Klaus Funke’s Kath. Arbeitskreis, based in Berlin.
13
“Cult commissioner” is a more literal translation. We use the term “investigator”
because it sums up their work and avoids confusion with members of the Enquete-Kommission.
14 E.g. M. Shiprnann, Informationen fiber neue religiöse und weltanschauliche Bewegungen und sogenannte Psychogruppen (Berlin: Senatsverwaltung furJugend und Familie, 1994), and Die Ministerprãsidentin des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Psychokulte, Sekten, “Jugendreligionen, “Extremgruppen (Kiel: Carius Druck, 1997).
15 Cf. Shipmann, Informationen, 139-43.
16 Cf. Bundesverwaltungsamt, Die Scientology-Organisation (Köln: Gehringer Verlag, 1996),
34-41.
17 Cf The German Evangelical Alliance’s Idea Spectrum Newsbriefs (1997), “EnqueteKommission nimmt VEF-Freikirchen nicht als ‘Sekten’ unter die Lupe” 24: 5; “Kein Grund zur ‘Sektenhysterie”’ 29: 7; “Empôrung flber Urnfrage: Freikirchen fühlen sich in die Sekten-Eckc gestellt” 47: 3; “Sekten als gesellschaftliches Reiztherna” 48: 2-3; ‘Pfingstkirche wehrt sich gegen Eingruppierung bei Sekten und Psychogruppen” 49: 5; ‘Pfingstkirche in Sorge: Religionsfreiheit in Deutschland in Gefahr” 53: 3, 5; and “Streit urn Zahl der Anhflnger von Sekten und Psychogruppen” and “Verharmlosung von Sekten kann die Religionsfreiheit gefãhrden” 77: 4. Deutscher Bundestag, Zwischenbericht der Enquete-Kommission, “Sogenannte Sekten und Psychogruppen” (Bonn: Deutscher Bundestag, l3Wahlperiode, Drucksache 13/8170). Cf. Kappler and Grevel, Facts About Germany, 382.
18 report is available from the German Government in Bonn. Deutscher Bundestag, Endbericht derEnquete-Kommission “Sogenannte Sekten tend Psychogrupen” (Bonn: Drucksache 13/10950, 29 May 1998). An unofficial version is available on the internet at: http://
223
Nova Religio
www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/4497/KA1 html, June 1998. Other relevant documents can be found on the German government web site at: http:// www.bundestag.de/blickpkt/sekte.htm, June 1998.
19 “Kindergarten der Exorzisten,” Der Spiegel, 8June 1998, 47-49.
20 “Sorgen sind verstfindlich aber Sekten stellen keine Gcfahr dar,” Rheinische Post, 29
May 1998; “Sekten-Kommission sieht keine generelle Gefahr,” Welt, 30 May 1998; “Durch
‘Sekten keine Gefahr für Gesellschaft,” Kblnische Rundschau, 30 May 1998; “Suche nach
dem Glauben bleibt umstritten,” Die Tageszeitung, 30 May 1998.
21 The treatment of the issue by the Frankfurter Rundschau (“Gefahr durch Sekten
verneint,”
30 May 1998) was fairly typical. It clearly stated that the Enquete-Kommission
found no great danger from new religions, but sandwiched its story between other articles
which stressed the danger of cults. These were “Kinder von Sekten Schützen” and ‘Gericht
erzwingt Offenlegung der Geheimschriften von Scientology.”
22 This position was clearly stated by Tilman Hausherr on the internet discussion group
Nurel-l (1996-98). Nurel-l can be contacted at nurel-l@ucalgary.ca.
23 These points were made by Steffen Rink, Thomas Schweer, and Peter Kratz on Nurel1, (June-July 1997).
24 http://www.ekd.de/presse/prnenquete.html, 24June 1998.
25 E.g. Freedom, Special Report, Echoes of the Past (Los Angeles: Church of Scientology, nd.).
26 Hate and Propaganda: Sanctioned and Promoted by the German Media and Government (Los Angeles: Church of Scientology, 1993).
27 cf. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (Bonn: Press and Information Office,
1994).
28 Cf. Jens Mecklenburg, Handbuch Deutscher Rechtsextremismus (Berlin: Elefanten Press,
1996), 392.
29
Interviews by authors with German charismatic Christians, members of Universelles
30 Leben (Universal Life), Christliche
Wissenschafl (Christian Science), and Anthroposophen
(Anthroposophists)
,July 1997. 38 Cf. Vogt, The Burden
of Guilt.
31 Private communication with publishers of Spirita. Cf. Spirita, “Schwerpunkt:
Scientology,” 7 (1993): 5-48; “‘Sekten’ verbieten? Diskussion zielt auf Scientology’ 8 (1994): 52-55.
32 When we began research in Germany in 1991 it was hard to find a single book in a normal bookstore dealing with new religions. By 1997 many bookstores had two or three shelves full of books exposing the cults. E.g. Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack and Thomas Gandow, Sekten (Mflnchen: Mflnchener Reihe, 1994); Friedrich-Wilhelm Haack, Europas neue Religion: Sekten-Gurus-Satanskult (1991; reprint, Freiburg: Herder, 1993); Tom Voltz, Scientology: Fin Insider packt aus: Hint ergriinde-Fakten-Dokumente (Freiburg: Herder, 1997); and Kurt-Helmuth Eimuth, Die Sekten -Kinder (Freiburg: Herder, 1996).
33 Lothar Engel, Erhard Kamphausen, andJohanna Linz, eds., Fundamentalismus in Afrika tend America (Hamburg: Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland, 1993).
34 Cf. Axel Kintzinger, “Die Sekten-Falle,’ Focus, 25 April 1994; ‘Sekten: V-Leute gegen den Psycho-Konzern,” Der Spiegel, 3 February 1997; Michael Schwelien, ‘Credo der Freiheit: Amerika duldet die bizarrsten Sekten,” Die Zeit, 7 February 1997; “Gurus, yogische Flieger, Scientologen und okkultische Ufo-Fans,” FrankfurterRundschau, l4July 1997; and Christian Krug, “Die teuflische Macht der Sekten,” Stern, 4 May 1995, 3, 32-
42.
35 George L. Mosse, The Crisis of the German Ideology (New York: Schoken Books, 1981) and The Nationalization of the Masses (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1975); Walter Z. Laqueur, Young Germany: A History of the German Youth Movement (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1962).
224
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions in Germany
36 Cf. Nicholas Goodrich-Clarke, The Occult Roots of Nazism (New York: New York University
Press, 1992).
37 We use the term “Nazi” rather than “fascist” because many fascists (e.g., Mussolini)
rejected Nazi race theories.
38
Cf. Laqueur, Young Germany.
39 Cf. Gent Burst, “Die Ludendorff-Bewegung, 1919-1961” (Ph.D. diss., University of
München, 1969); “Antisemitismus: Mathilde Ludendorff,” Der Spiegel, February 1960,
22-32.
40 Friedrich
Heyer and Volker Pitzer, Religion ohne
Kirche: Bewegung der Freireligihsen
(Stuttgart: Quell Verlag, 1977).
41 Cf. Doris L. Bergen, Twisted Cross: The German Christian Movement in the Third Reich (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1996).
42 Ulrich Nanko,
Die Deutsche Glaubensbewegung: Eine
historische tend soziologische Untersuchung
(Marburg, Diagonal-Verlag, 1993).
43 Cf. Rodney
Stark and William Sims Bainbridge, The
Future of Religion: Secularization,
Revival and Cult Formation (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), 26-30.
44 Cf. Nanko, Die Deutsche Glaubensbewegung, 35-52; Bergen, Twisted Cross, 7.
45 Cf. Margarete Dierks, Jakob Wilhelm Hauer~ 1881-1962 (Heidelberg: Verlag Lambert Schneider, 1986); Nanko, Die Deutsche Glaubensbewegung, 332-43; Mecklenburg, Handbuch Deutscher Rechtsextremismus, 440-547.
46 Cf. Sigrid Hunke, Europas Eigene Religion (Tübingen, Grabert, 1997); and the Zundel web site for links to spiritual groups promoting revisionism and neo-fascism, http:// www.webcom.com/ezundel/english/englishtoc.html, June 1998. Ernst Zundel is the notorious Canadian Holocaust denier who runs various web sites and publishes numerous booklets and newsletters denying the Holocaust. The Canadian government has taken him to court several times. Cf. Deborah Lipstadt, Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (New York: Plume Books, 1994), 157-63; Mecklenburg, Handbuch Den tscher Rechtsextremismus, 547.
47 Ibid., 440-547, 550-94, 692-732.
48 Haack, Europas neue Religion, 133.
49 It is significant that her criticisms of the occult, especially of mediums, were published in 1913 byJ. F. Lehmann’s Verlag, München. Lehmann was one of the völkische publishers that made up the publishing infrastructure of the conservative revolution. Lehmann produced a series on South Africa to which Afrikaner nationalists like Rompel, Kestell, Viljoen, and President Paul Krisger contributed.
50 “Antisemitismus,” Der Spiegel, 17 February 1960, 30.
51 Mathilde von Kemnitz, Triumph des Unsterblichkeitwillens (Stuttgart: Verlag Hohe Warte,
1921).
52 Math ilde Ludendorff, “Induciertes”Irresein durch Occultlehren (München: Ludendorffs Volkswarte Verlag, 1933).
53 In this section we acknowledge our debt to Wolfgang Ullmann’s paper “Politische
und theologische Hhresie im Pluralismus der Religionen,” BerlinerDialog 3, no. 2 (1997): 28-35. This can be found at: http://www.thur.de/religio/dialog/297/29’7s28.html.
54
Press and Information Office of the Federal Government, Bonn, Basic Law for the
Federal Republic of Germany, official translation, rev.June 1994 (Schwerin: Obotriendruck,
1994).
55 Ibid., 22.
56 Bundesrninisterium des Innern, Texte zur Inneren Sicherheit (Texts on Internal Security) (Bonn: Druck-Verlag Kettler, 1997).
57 Ibid., 185. Here and in the following quotes we use the English original from L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics (Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1985), 168.
225
Nova Religio
58 Ibid.
59 Bundesminsterium, Texte zurlnneren Sicherheit, 184; Hubbard, Dianetics, 429.
60 Bundesminsterium, Texte zurlnneren Sicherheit, 193; Hubbard, Dianetics, 430.
61 Bundesminsterium, Texte zur Inneren Sicherheit, 193-94.
62 L. Ron Hubbard, Science of Survival (Los Angeles: The American Saint Hill Organization,
1951), 155.
63 Ibid., 157.
64 “Thule Netz,” http://thulenet.com, 4 May 1998.
65 Mecklenburg, Handbuch Deutscher Rechtsextremismus, 392.
66 “Scientology,” http://www.ekd.de/ezw/ftexte/sceint.html, 18 May 1998.
67 Hausherr runs an anti-Scientology web site at: http://wpxx02.toxi.uniwuerzburg.de/ .-krasel/CoS/germany/faq.html, 18 May 1998.
68 Hubbard, Dianetics, 40.
69Ibid., 152.
70 Cf. Peter F. Drucker, The End of Economic Man (New York: John Day Company, 1939),
19 1-95.
71 M. Rhodes, The Hitler Movement (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1980).
72 Donald Meyer, The Positive Thinkers (New York: Pantheon Books, 1980).
73 For example, Die Scientology-Organisation—Gefahren, Ziele und Praktiken (Bundesministeriums für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jungend von Bundesverwaltungsampt, 1996), 42-46, treats the work of the clergyman FriedrichWilhelm Haack as though he was an established scholar and not a minister of religion lacking academic qualifications in the area in which he is writing. This is like an Amencan government report citing the evangelical writer Walter Martin as though he were an academic expert. Similarly, Monika Schipmann, Informationen über neue religiöse tend weltanschauliche Bewegungen tend sogenannte Psychogruppen (Berlin: Senatsverwaltung für Jungen nod Familie, 1994), 68, relies heavily on theological commentators for its view of Scientology and other new religions. We had conversations with several German lawyers who told us that they believed some theologians were given undue respect by the courts and cited specific cases to illustrate their point. However, they are unwilling to speak out openly on this issue.
74‘ “Scientology,” http://www.ekd.de/ezw/ftexte/scient.html, 18 May 1998.
75 It is perhaps worth noting that when we met with Thomas Gandow in March 1995 he boasted of the fact that he was “advising” the Russian government about the way to treat cults. Then he added that once the Russians passed legislation against such groups, he hoped that the European Parliament would sit up and take notice. Finally, he expressed the opinion that if Europe took a strong stand against cults, the American government might eventually follow suit.
76 Karl-Fritz Daiber, Religion unterdenBedingungen derModerne (Macburg: diagonal-Verlag,
1995); Harmut Zinzer’s DerMarkt derReligionen (München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1997).
77
These are: Wolfgang Kuner, Soziogenese
derMitgliedschaft in drei neuen religiösen Bewegungen (Frankfurt-am-Main:
Lang, 1983); Gerhard Schmidtchen, Sekten
und Psychokultur:
Reichweite tend Attraktivitht von Jugendreligionen in derBundesrepublik Deutschland (Freiburg:
Herder, 1987) ;Joachim Süss, ZurErleuchtung unterwegs: Neo-Sannyasin in Deutschland und ihre Religion (Berlin: D. Reimer, 1994); Yvonne Karow, Bhagwan-Bewegung tend Vereinigungskirche : Religions- tend Selbstverstdndnis derSannyasins tend derMunies (Stuttgart: W Kohlhammer, 1990); Frank Usarski, Die Stigmatisierung Neuer Spiritueller Bewegungen in derBundesrepublicDeutschland (Köln: Böhlau Verlag, 1988); Franz Wiesberger, Bausteine zu einer soziologischen Theorie der Konversion (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1990); and Martin Baumann, Deutsche Buddhisten (Macburg: diagonal-Verlag, 1995).
78 Christoph Bochinger, New Age tend moderne Religion (Gütersloh: Chr. Kaiser/Gütersloher Verlagshaus, 1994).
226
Hexham and Poewe: New Religions in Germany
79 Eckhard J. Schnabel, Sind Evangelikale Fundamentalisten 1 (Wuppertal: R. Brockhaus,
1995).
80 The oldest of these is Kurt Hutten’s Seher-Griibler Enthusiasten (Stuttgart: Evang. Gesellschaft Verlag, 1953); other examples of this genre include Oswald Eggenberger, Die Kirchen, Sondergruppen tend religiosen Vereinigungen (1969; reprint, Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1994); Hans Gasper, Joachim Muller, and Friederike Valentin, Lexikon derSekten, Sondergruppen und Weltanschauungen (Freiburg: Herder, 1990); Michael Klöker and Udo Tworuschka’s Religionen in Deutchland (MGnchen: Olzog Verlag, 1994); P. Klaus Funke, Sekten OkkultismusEsoterikNeueReligiositdt (Leipzig: Benno Verlag, 1994).
81 diagonal-Verlag, Alte Kasseler Str. 43, D-35039, Macburg, Germany.
82 ReligionswissenschaftlicherMedien- tend lnformationsdienst e. v.,(the
Scientific Study of Religion
Media and Information Service).
83 In cooperation with the Center for the Study of New Religions (CESNUR), they
organized a conference on new religions in Macburg, March 1998
84 In Germany habilitation, which requires a second major doctoral thesis, is a prerequisite
for an academic appointment. Therefore, unlike in Britain or North America, it is
habilitation, not a Ph.D., that really counts when attempting to influence German
academic culture.
85 Talks with various German academics 1987 and 1995.
86 Wolfgang Kuner, letter to author, 3 September 1998. Kuner wrote Das Entstehen rifler neteen Religion: dos Beispiel der Vereinigungskirche (München: Kösel, 1981); and “New Religious Movements and Mental Health,” in Of Gods and Mess, ed. Eileen Barker (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1983): 255-63. On the other hand, it remains unclear whether a group like Scientology, unlike the Unification Church, would allow itself to be freely studied.
87 Cf. Steve Selthoffer, “German Charismatic Churches Face Persecution, Threats of Violence,” Charisma (November 1995): 18-19.
88 Herbert Richardson, ed., New Religions and Mental Heal/h (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1980), xxvi-xxviii.
89 Gordon A. Craig, Germany 1966—1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1987), 69-78.