The German Spirit in Danger

Between 1931 and 1933, the German philologist-romantic, medievalist, and translator Ernst Robert Curtius temporarily stepped away from pure science in search of a humanistic philosophical alternative to the triumphant totalitarian ideas. The summation of social and political outcomes in anticipation of tragic times prompted Curtius to rethink a number of cultural and historical phenomena that had consistently accompanied his project of a global Europe. In 1932, he published a kind of political manifesto - the book "The German Spirit in Danger," where he first proposed the concept of "new humanism," which, according to him, was intended to preserve the integrity of the national spirit in the face of the impending catastrophe and relied on the enlightened Middle Ages and the idea of a pan-European community in contrast to the revolutionary nationalism of the era. Having critically described the socio-political, cultural, and educational trends in contemporary Germany, Curtius became an enemy of his own country, which was then occupied with revising history and inventing collectively experienced forms of greatness. The publication is preceded by a detailed preface by D. Kolchigin, which also includes several articles by Curtius and his critics.