Turning to Nature in Germany : Hiking, Nudism, and Conservation, 1900-1940.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Williams, John Alexander.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (360 pages)

Place of Publication:

Basel/Berlin/Boston : Stanford University Press, 2007.

Summary:

Turning to Nature in Germany is a study of mass movements that aimed to bring the German people into closer contact with nature. In the early twentieth century organized hikers, nudists, and conservationists all looked to nature for solutions to the nation's political crises. Following these movements over three political eras-the Second Empire, the Weimar Republic, and the Third Reich-the book shows how manifestations of popular culture reflected the concerns and hopes of their time. Williams breaks with historians who have long seen nature movements as anti-modern and irrational by arguing that naturists were calling not for Germany to turn back the clock, but for the nation to find a way to navigate the treacherous waters of contemporary life and strive toward a brighter future.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction: The Ideology of Naturism in Early Twentieth-Century Germany

Part I. Socialists and Nature

1. "The Body Demands Its Rights": The Workers' Nudist Movement

2. Social Hiking: The Naturfreunde Movement

Part II. Youth Hiking

3. The Roots of Organized Youth Hiking: Wandervö

4. Between Authority and Freedom: Youth Cultivation Through Hiking, 1916-1928

5. The Assault on Youth Hiking, 1929-1940

Part III. Conservation

6. From Preserving to Planning Nature: The Bourgeois Conservationists

Conclusion: The Cultural Appropriation of Nature from the Kaiserreich to the Third Reich

Abbreviations

Notes

German Archives and Periodicals Consulted

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-5036-2688-1

OCLC:

1309058374