Zarathustras Wiederkehr

In addition to the well-known time-critical appeal "The Return of Zarathustra," which Hesse published anonymously in February 1919 as a response to the Spartacist uprisings of the November Revolution of 1918 under the title "Word to the German Youth from a German" in the form of a pamphlet, this volume also contains other statements by the poet that were disseminated partly in newspapers and magazines, and partly as circulars, addressing the political polarizations in Germany and Europe from 1918 to after World War II. In a collective reply to the "Hate Letters" (1921) that Hesse received from the German nationalist camp, he reveals the cultural-political roots of nationalism as a precursor to fascism and National Socialism. With the circulars "To a Communist" (1931), he engages with the pros and cons of the ideological alternative and the various political groupings.