Reflections
Page 39
Gründel, Ernst Günter, 1903–1946, German writer, 245
Guttmann, Simon, friend of Walter Benjamin’s, 23, 25
Gutzkow, Karl, 1811–1878, German novelist, dramatist, and essayist, 171
H
Haecker, Theodor, 1879–1945, German Catholic philosopher, 278
Hamann, Johann Georg, 1730–1788, German writer and theologian, xxiii, 338, 343
Haroun-al-Raschid, caliph in Baghad, 262
Hašek, Jaroslav, 1883–1923, Czech novelist and short story writer, 224
Hauff, Wilhelm, 1802–1827, German romantic author, 35n
Hauptmann, Gerhart, 1862–1946, German dramatist, novelist, and poet, 217
Haussmann, Baron Georges Eugène, 1809–91, French administrator, 168–71
Heartfield, John (Helmut Herzfelde), 1891–1968, German photographer, xxxv, 242
Hebel, Johann Peter, 1760–1826, Swiss-born German poet, editor, and author of almanac stories, xlii, 202, 257–58
Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, 1770–1831, German philosopher, xxvi, xxxiii, xliii, 172
Heidegger, Martin, 1889–1976, German philosopher, xxiii
Heine, Heinrich, 1797–1856, German lyric poet and literary critic, x, xxxvii, 227, 254, 285
Heinle, Friedrich C., d. 1914, German poet and friend of Walter Benjamin’s, 18, 20, 22–25
Heissenbüttel, Helmut, 1921–1996, German poet, novelist, and critic, ix
Hertz, Henri, friend of Apollinaire’s, 193
Herzfelde, Wieland, 1896–1988, German writer and brother of John Heartfield, 23
Hesse, Hermann, 1877–1962, German novelist and poet, xxi
Hessel, Franz, 1880–1941, German translator and editor, 8, 10
Hillel, fl. 30 BC–9 AD, Jewish teacher, 98
Hiller, Kurt, 1885–1972, German publisher, critic, and essayist, 239, 314n
Hitler, Adolf, 1889–1945, viii, xiv, xliii, 222, 229–30
Hoffmann, E. T. A., 1776–1822, German music critic, composer, and writer of fantastic tales, 213
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von, 1874–1929, Austrian poet, playwright, and essayist, xiii, xx
Hölderlin, Friedrich, 1770–1843, German poet, translator of Pindar, Sophocles, and Latin poets, xi, xli–xlii, 19, 323
Hölty, Ludwig Heinrich, 1748–1776, German poet, 282
Holz, Detlev, pseudonym of Benjamin, xiv
Horkheimer, Max, 1895–1973, German philosopher and sociologist, xiv
Hugo, Victor, 1802–1885, French poet, novelist, and dramatist, 163, 198
Husserl, Edmund, 1859–1938, German philosopher, founder of phenomenology, x
J
Jahnn, Hans Henny, 1894–1959, German novelist and dramatist, 226
Jameson, Frederic, 1934–, American literary critic, viii
Jay, Martin, 1944–, English writer, ix
Jensen, Johannes V., 1873–1950, Danish poet and novelist, 152
Joël, Ernst, physician and friend of Walter Benjamin’s, xxi, 17, 147
Joyce, James, 1882–1941, Irish novelist and short story writer, xxxvi
K
Kafka, Franz, 1883–1924, Jewish novelist and short story writer, x–xi, xv, xxxiii, xlii, 217–21
Kainz, Josef, 1858–1910, German actor, 49
Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804, German philosopher, xi, xxi, xxiii, 259, 298
Kästner, Erich, 1899–1974, German satirist, 244–245
Kepler, Johannes, 1571–1630, German astronomer, 98
Kerr, Alfred, 1867–1948, German theater critic, 277
Kierkegaard, Sören, 1813–1855, Danish philosopher and writer on theology, xxxvii, 265, 275, 345
Klee, Paul, 1879–1940, German painter, 287
Kleist, Heinrich von, 1777–1811, German dramatist, 217
Knoche, teacher of Walter Benjamin, 47
Kommerell, Max, 1902–1944, German writer and literary historian, xlii
Korsch, Karl, 1889–1961, German Marxist, 218
Kracauer, Siegfried, 1889–1966, German sociologist and journalist, xlii
Kraus, Karl, 1874–1936, Austrian journalist, poet, and critic, ix, xxxvi–xxxix, 154, 220, 253–86, 288
Krüger, Stephanus Johannes Paulus, 1825–1904, South African statesman, 213
Kun, Béla, 1885–1937, Hungarian Communist, 227
Kurella, Alfred, 1895–1975, German writer, editor, and politician, 226–28
L
Lacis, Asja, 1891–1979, Latvian actress, xiii, xix, xxxi
Lafargue, Paul, 1842–1911, French socialist, 169
Landau, Luise von, schoolmate of Walter Benjamin’s, 46
Lao-tse, ca. 604–531 BC, Chinese philosopher, 219
Lasker-Schüler, Else, 1876–1945, German Jewish poet, 23, 278
Lassalle, Ferdinand, 1825–1864, German socialist and publicist, 273
Lauglé, coauthor of Louis et le Saint-Simonien, 161
Lautréamont (Isidore Ducasse), 1846–1870, French writer of prose poems, 189, 197–98
Le Carré, John (David Cornwell), 1931–, English novelist, x
Le Corbusier (Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris), 1887–1965, Swiss architect, painter, and sculptor, 200
Le Play, Frédéric, 1806–1882, French mining engineer and social reformer, 171
Lederer, Emil, 1882–1939, German economist, 34
Lenin, Nikolai (Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov), 1870–1924, 109, 117, 125, 130–31, 137–39, 189, 216–17
Leopardi, Giacomo, 1798–1837, Italian poet, 162
Leroux, Gaston, 1868–1927, French author of detective novels, 68
Lichtenberg, Georg Christoph, 1742–1799, German physicist and satirist, 92, 246, 288
Liegler, Leopold, 1882–1949, Austrian writer, 264
Liguori, Alfonso Maria de, 1696–1787, Italian theologian and founder of the Redemptorist Order, 173
Loos, Adolf, 1870–1933, Austrian architect, 254, 261, 267, 278, 287
Louis VII, ca. 1120–1180, French king, 191
Louis-Philippe, 1773–1850, French king, 163–64, 170
Lukács, Georg, 1885–1971, Hungarian Marxist literary historian, vii, xix, xxxiii, 226–29
Luther, Martin, 1483–1546, 81
M
Mallarmé, Stéphane, 1842–1898, French symbolist poet, xliii, 37, 81
Mann, Heinrich, 1871–1950, German novelist, xxxv, 239
Marcuse, Herbert, 1898–1979, German-American philosopher and social critic, xxxv
Marx, Karl, 1818–1883, German philosopher, 158, 162–64, 213–14, 225, 227–28, 275, 284–85, 307
Matkowsky, Adalbert, 1857–1909, German actor, 48
Maublanc, René, 20th-century French writer and dramatist, 249–50
Mauthner, Fritz, 1849–1923, Austrian writer and philosopher, xxxvii
McLuhan, Marshall, 1911–1980, Canadian literary and social critic, xx
Mehring, Franz, radical German publicist, 245
Meidner, Ludwig, 1884–1966, German expressionist painter, 23
Mencken, H. L., 1880–1956, American editor, xxxvii
Meyerhold, Karl Theodor Kasimir, 1874–1940, Russian actor and stage director, 125
Michaelis, Karin, 1872–1950, Danish novelist, 218, 265
Michelet, Jules, 1798–1874, French historian, 157
Mickiewicz, Adam, 1798–1855, Polish poet and “national bard,” 198
Milton, John, 1608–1674, 198
Molière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin), 1622–73, French dramatist, 326–27
Monticelli, Adolphe, 1824–1886, French painter, 142
Müller, Friedrich (“Maler” Müller), 1749–1825, German author of idylls, xxiii, 347
Musset, Alfred de, 1810–1857, French poet and dramatist, 198
N
Nadar (Félix Tournachon), 1820–1910, French photographer and caricaturist, 160
Napoleon, 1769–1821, 156
Napoleon III, 1808–1873, 171
Naville, Pierre, 1903–1993, French sociologist, 195, 201
Neher, Carola, 1900–1
936, German actress, 216
Nestroy, Johann, 1801–1862, Austrian dramatist, xxxviii, 266, 277–78
Nguyen-Trong-Hiep, author of Paris, Capital of France, 155
Nietzsche, Friedrich, 1844–1900, German philosopher, xxxvii, 33, 202, 219, 254, 281, 322
Niobe, figure in Greek mythology, 309–10, 312
O
Offenbach, Jacques, 1819–1888, French composer, 163, 266, 275–79
Ottwald, Ernst, 1901–1943, German socialist, 226
Oud, Jacobus Johannes Pieter, 1890–1963, Dutch architect, 200
P
Paul, Jean (Jean Paul Friedrich Richter), 1763–1825, German poet, 158
Péladan, Joséphin, 1859–1918, French writer, 174
Peter the Great, 1672–1725, Russian czar, 126
Petrarch, 1304–1374, Italian scholar and poet, 153
Pfemfert, Franz, 1879–1954, German editor and writer, 20n, 23
Pilniak, Boris (Boris AndreyevichVogau), 1894–1938, Russian novelist, 114, 126
Pindar, ca. 522–ca. 443 BC, Greek poet, 47
Plato, 427?–347 BC, 232, 245
Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809–1849, American poet, 67, 165–66, 199
Pompey, 106–48 BC, Roman statesman, 34–35
Prévost, Jean, 1462–1529, Flemish painter, 159
Prometheus, 309
Proust, Marcel, 1871–1922, French novelist, xii, xxxix, xlii, 6, 127
Pufahl, Helene, first teacher of Walter Benjamin, 46–47
R
Radek, Karl (Karl Sobelsohn), 1885–1939, Russian socialist politician, xxxvi
Radt, Fritz, husband of Jula Cohn, 35n
Radt, Grete, Walter Benjamin’s first fiancée, wife of Alfred Cohn, 34, 35n
Raimund, Ferdinand, 1790–1836, Austrian actor and dramatist, 281
Rembrandt, 1606–1669, 149
Renger-Patzsch, Albert, 1897–1966, German photographer, 242
Renvers, Professor R., Benjamin family physician, 41
Riefenstahl, Leni, 1902–2003, German actress and film director, xxxv
Riegl, Alois, 1858–1905, Austrian art historian, 33
Rilke, Rainer Maria, 1875–1926, German poet and prose writer, xviii, 9
Rimbaud, Arthur, 1854–1891, French symbolist poet, 171, 188–89, 197, 199, 202, 216
S
Sacco, Nicola, 1891–1927, anarchist, executed for murder, 190
Sainte-Beuve, Charles Auguste, 1804–1869, French literary critic, vii
Saint-Germain, count of, 18th-century Portuguese adventurer, 92
Saint-Pol Roux (Paul Roux), 1861–1940, French symbolist poet, 189, 196
Scheerbart, Paul, 1863–1915, German writer, 157–58, 195, 287
Scheu, Robert, 1873–1964, Austrian poet, 260, 273
Schiller, Friedrich von, 1759–1805, 56, 284
Schliemann, Heinrich, 1822–1890, German archaeologist, xvii
Schober, Johannes, 1874–1932, Austrian statesman, 277
Schoen, Ernst, 1894–1960, German musician, poet, and translator, 34
Scholem, Gershom (Gerhard), 1897–1982, professor of Jewish mysticism in Jerusalem, viii–ix, xii–xiv
Scipio Africanus, 237–183 BC, Roman general, 95
Seghers, Anna, 1900–1983, German novelist, 229
Seligson, Carla, 1893–1956, friend of Walter Benjamin, 20n
Seligson, Rika, d. 1914, 20n
Seligson, Traute, d. 1915, sister of Rika and Carla Seligson, 20n
Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616, xxxviii, 96, 127, 230, 252, 266, 277–78, 284
Simenon, Georges, 1903–1989, Belgian novelist and short-story writer, xlii
Sorel, Georges, 1847–1922, French socialist, xxv, xlii, 306–7, 311
Sôren, Paul, 1879–1940, German painter, xxxvii
Soupault, Philippe, 1897–1990, French surrealist poet and novelist, 187, 198–99
Southey, Robert, 1774–1843, English poet, historian, and man of letters, 198
Spinoza, Baruch, 1632–1677, 292
Stalin, Joseph, 1879–1953, 225, 227
Stampflinger, K. A., pseudonym of Benjamin, xiv
Steffin, Margarete, 1908–1941, bookkeeper, friend of Brecht’s, 226
Stein, Gertrude, 1874–1946, American poet, xxiv
Stendhal (Henri Beyle), 1783–1842, French novelist, xx
Stifter, Adalbert, 1805–1868, Austrian author of novels and novellas, xii, xxxix, xlii, 258–59, 284, 286
Swift, Jonathan, 1667–1745, xxxvii, 213, 275
Szondi, Peter, 1929–1971, German literary historian, xx
T
Taine, Hippolyte, 1828–1893, French historian and philosopher, 161
Toussenel, natural scientist, 162
Tretiakov, Sergei, 1892–1939, Russian writer, xxix, xxxv–xxxvi, 218, 226, 235–36
Trotsky, Leon (Lev Davydovich Bronstein) 1879–1940, 202, 227–228, 239n
Tucholsky, Kurt, 1890–1935, German satirist and journalist, 245
U
Ullstein, Ilse, schoolmate of Walter Benjamin’s, 46
Unger, author of Politik und Metaphysik, 303n, 305n
V
Valentin, Karl, 1882–1948, German comic, 226
Vanderbusch, coauthor of Louis et le Saint-Simonien, 161
Vanzetti, Bartolomeo, 1888–1927, anarchist, executed for murder, 190
Viertel, Berthold, 1885–1953, Austrian dramaturgist and director, 264, 280
Virgil, 70–19 BC, 225
Vogt, Karl, 1817–1895, German scientist and materialist, 202
W
Wagner, Richard, 1813–1883, German composer, 168
Walzel, Oskar, 1864–1944, German literary historian, 127
Weber, Marianne, 1870–1954, German writer of feminist works, wife of the economist Max Weber, 18
Wedekind, Frank, 1864–1918, German dramatist, 278
Weininger, Otto, 1880–1903, Austrian philosopher and psychologist, 278
Wellek, René, 1903–1995, American literary critic, ix
Wertmüller, Lina, ca. 1930–, Italian film director, xx
Wiertz, Antoine J., 1806–1865, Belgian painter, 160
Wittgenstein, Ludwig, 1889–1951, Austrian philosopher, xxxvii
Wyneken, Gustav, 1875–1964, German pedagogue and school reformer, x–xi
Z
Zola, Émile, 1840–1902, 158
Zoroaster (Zarathustra), 6th century BC, founder of ancient Persian religion, 213
About the Author
Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) was a German-Jewish Marxist literary critic, essayist, translator, and philosopher. He was at times associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory and was also greatly inspired by the Marxism of Bertolt Brecht and Jewish mysticism as presented by Gershom Scholem.
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Footnotes
* Benjamin is referring to Paris.—ED.
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* The beginning of this passage is missing in the manuscript; Benjamin is talking about his school experiences.—ED.
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* Die Aktion, a political journal of revolutionary tendency, founded in 1911 by Franz Pfemfert, dedicated to the revolution in literature and the visual arts.—ED.
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† Traute, Carla, and Rika Seligson.—ED.
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* Alfred Cohn.—ED.
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* Jula Cohn married Fritz Radt, whose sister, Grete Radt, became the wife of Alfred Cohn.—ED.
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† The sentence breaks off without punctuation at the end of a page, and the continuation is no doubt missing. The sonnet is likely to have been by Benjamin but has not been preserved.—ED.
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* See Hauff�
��s fairy tale, “The Cold Heart.”—ED.
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* Professor R. Renvers lived at 24 Nettelbeckstrasse.—ED.
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* NEP—New Economic Policy.—ED.
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* Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.—ED.
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* The name, probably of the intended intermediary, is not clearly legible; perhaps Hans Henny Jahnn?—ED.
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† Uncertain reading.—ED.
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* Address at the Institute for the Study of Fascism in Paris on April 27, 1934.—ED.
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* Benjamin himself; see Schriften, Frankfurt/M., 1955, vol. I, p. 384.—ED.
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* In place of this sentence there was in the manuscript originally a different one that was deleted: “Or, to speak with Trotsky: ‘If the enlightened pacifists attempt to abolish war by means of rationalistic argument, they simply make fools of themselves, but if the armed masses begin to use the arguments of reason against war, that means the end of war.’”—ED.
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* See Introduction, pp. xxxv–xxxvi.—ED.
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* Karl Kraus translated and edited Offenbach’s La Vie Parisienne.—ED.
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* Granat means “pomegranate”; Granate, “grenade” or “shell.”—TRANS.