„Es wehte homerische Luft“

Zur Antikenrezeption in den Werken Erhart Kästners von 1941 bis zum Kriegsende 1945

Abstract

Based on several of his works, this article deals with Erhart Kästner’s image of Greece. As such, it is part of the general history of the German reception of Greece, which began in the 18th century and reached its peak in the 19th century. Although Kästner sees himself as part of this tradition, his stay in Greece from 1941 to 1945 served the propaganda of the National Socialist rulers in Germany. In the books he agreed to write about his stay for the soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, the traditional bourgeois image of Greece merges with racist and National Socialist ideological elements. As a result, these books act as propaganda for the war (Griechenland. Ein Buch aus dem Krieg), or as legitimization for the right of the German occupiers to remain in Greece (Kreta). After the war, the “offensive” passages were removed from the text and the books were reworked. Today they are presented as belletristic travel literature. This uncritical approach is not appropriate to Kästner’s works. The article aims to provide a basis for an historical contextualization of the two works Griechenland. Ein Buch aus dem Krieg and Kreta, written during the Second World War.