Bernhard Kummer (1897–1962). The Study Of Religions Between Religious Devotion For The Ancient Germans, Political Agitation, And Academic Habitus

Looking at Bernhard Kummer's writings, one could easily get the impression that the impact of National Socialist ideology could severely damage a thinking subject and its expressions. The ideological character of Kummer's reasoning was not always obvious, neither for Kummer nor for his readers. Like other contemporary authors, Kummer drew a picture of the ancient Germans which had more to do with his anti-modern and culture-pessimistic worldview than with the scantily preserved historical sources. In Kummer's idealized perception of the ancient Icelandic society, the Third Reich was the perfect expression of the Nordic attitude to life. Kummer had a vision of the German university system and his place in it. He aspired to a new type of scholarship as part of the new political university which was frequently postulated by the NS regime. Kummer's career and place in the academic fi eld seems contradictory and paradox.Keywords: ancient Germans; culture-pessimistic; Kummer writings; National Socialist ideology