• search hit 1 of 1
Back to Result List

"The greatest son of our Heimat": reading German Leichhardts across the National Socialist era

  • The article discusses German commemorations of Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848) in the National Socialist era when officials, journalists, educators and writers, spurred by the double anniversary of the explorer's 125th birthday and the 90th anniversary of his disappearance, began to re-imagine the explorer's life and fate in the light of the ideological imperatives of the day. Our analysis of this period pays particular attention to how these reimagined Leichhardts emphasise or neglect some of the key elements that make up his story to this day, among them: Leichhardt's ethnicity; his sense of attachment to place and home; his homosocial relationships; his evasion of Prussian military service; his role in the British colonial project; and finally, his engagements with Aborigines. On the one hand, our analysis reveals, how Leichhardt was portrayed first on the local and, later, the national level in ways that increasingly sought to elide ambiguous aspects of his life and deeds. However, it also uncovers some of the ideological labourThe article discusses German commemorations of Ludwig Leichhardt (1813-1848) in the National Socialist era when officials, journalists, educators and writers, spurred by the double anniversary of the explorer's 125th birthday and the 90th anniversary of his disappearance, began to re-imagine the explorer's life and fate in the light of the ideological imperatives of the day. Our analysis of this period pays particular attention to how these reimagined Leichhardts emphasise or neglect some of the key elements that make up his story to this day, among them: Leichhardt's ethnicity; his sense of attachment to place and home; his homosocial relationships; his evasion of Prussian military service; his role in the British colonial project; and finally, his engagements with Aborigines. On the one hand, our analysis reveals, how Leichhardt was portrayed first on the local and, later, the national level in ways that increasingly sought to elide ambiguous aspects of his life and deeds. However, it also uncovers some of the ideological labour required to render him useful to the National Socialist cause. Often enough, these re-imagined Leichhardts escaped party politics, and cast up some of the logical inconsistencies and limits to key terms in National Socialist thinking.show moreshow less

Export metadata

Additional Services

Search Google Scholar Statistics
Metadaten
Author details:Andrew Wright Hurley, Anja SchwarzORCiDGND
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/14443058.2015.1076025
ISSN:1444-3058
ISSN:1835-6419
Title of parent work (English):Journal of Australian studies
Publisher:Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
Place of publishing:Abingdon
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2015
Publication year:2015
Release date:2017/03/27
Tag:German colonialism; Ludwig Leichhardt; National Socialism; exploration; memory studies
Volume:39
Issue:4
Number of pages:17
First page:529
Last Page:545
Funding institution:Australian Technology Network/Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst Grant scheme
Organizational units:Philosophische Fakultät / Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Peer review:Referiert
Accept ✔
This website uses technically necessary session cookies. By continuing to use the website, you agree to this. You can find our privacy policy here.