Ahasver, der Ewige Jude

A culturally informed presentation of the explosive topic in text and pictorial documents from the early modern period to the modern age.It is a myth firmly anchored in the collective memory: the fate of Ahasver, the Eternal Jew, who is said to have begrudged the Christ languishing on the Way of the Cross a rest and was condemned to eternal wandering for it. The roots of the tradition go back to the Middle Ages, but it was not until the beginning of the 17th century that the material began to unfold its great potential. Ahasver became a vivid and at the same time miraculous figure who began his triumphal march across Europe. There is no mistaking the anti-Judaic tone. And even if, in the course of time, identificatory forms of appropriation permeate the myth, the danger of anti-Jewish updating remains present, as shown not least by Nazi propaganda.This book traces the astonishing as well as tremendous career of this figure from the early modern period to the modern age, paying particular attention to the explosive documents of the German cultural area. Whether Goethe, Heine, Wagner or Celan - they are all voices in a chorus that testifies precisely in its dissonance that myth and protagonist share the fate of not being able to die.