Instuctor

Vinken

Date/Time

Th 9:00 - 11:00 am

Herrmann, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe, had for ages been seen as the incarnation of the heroic liberator from Roman Imperial colonialism and the arch-founder of an authentic German nation. Heinrich von Kleist’s drama Die Herrmannschlacht (The Battle of Hermann), depicts the battle between the Romans and Germanic tribes that took place in the Teutoburg forest in 9 CE. The play, poorly received at first, was later seen as a rallying cry for the nation’s liberation from Napoleon I. The jurist Carl Schmitt interpreted the play as an exemplary instance of partisan war, in which the end justifies the means. Indeed, during the Third Reich, Die Herrmannsschlacht was staged all over Germany. More recent interpretations of the play suggest that the Germans as depicted by Kleist are no nobler than their Roman colonizers. The suspicion has grown that Kleist, far from glorifying national liberation, has told a cruel, indeed heart-breaking story of civil war in the Roman tradition.