XXVIII
During the final years before the First World War, L. and Z. mingle in various Munich salons, especially that of the Schlaginhaufens, whose surname could be translated as “heap of punches” or “punch the rabble.” As this little joke already implies, the Schlaginhaufens play host not only to artists and musicians, but also to some disturbingly reactionary figures. One of these is the philosopher Chaim Braisacher, who extols a völkisch ideology and presents highly unusual interpretations of both music history and of the Bible, extolling primitivism and racial thought. His conversations with Baron von Riedesel showcase how traditional conservativism was overwhelmed by a new form of political reaction during the first third of the twentieth century.
Time of composition: August 8–18, 1945. Time of narration: After April 1944. Narrated time: 1913–1914.
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| another kind of conservatism | The clash between Riedesel and Braisacher illustrates the opposition between national conservatism and nationalist reaction, which would find its fullest expression during the final years of the Weimar Republic, when the conservative German National People’s Party became the unwitting handmaiden of the reactionary National Socialists. |
| we never got around to any detailed exchange | Like many a liberal of his generation, Z. instinctively despises the proto-fascism embodied by Breisacher, but takes no action to oppose him. |
| Perceive each note ambiguously […] enharmonically | |
| moved on to matters of the Old Testament | The following lines draw heavily on Die Wirklichkeit der Hebräer (The Truth of the Hebrews; 1925), the main work by the philosopher Oskar Goldberg (1885–1953), who served as the main inspiration for Breisacher. |
| it has long since ceased to be volk and blood | Breisacher’s lamentations about degeneration and emasculation remain, of course, a core feature of reactionary thinking to the present day. |
| The sons of Aaron had died because they had offered “strange fire” | In Leviticus 10:1–2. The German here is artfremdes Feuer, which might also be translated as “a fire foreign to the race.” |
| At the very beginning of this account […] annoying specimens of the race | |