German Visions of India, 1871-1918

The wide-ranging fascination with India in Wilhelmine Germany emerged during a time of extraordinary cultural and political tensions. This study shows how religious (denominational and spiritual) dilemmas, political agendas, and shifting social consensus became inextricably entangled in the wider German encounter with India during the Kaiserreich.

Perry Myers is Associate Professor of German Studies at Albion College in Michigan, USA. His publications include The Double Edged Sword: The Cult of Bildung, Its Downfall and Reconstitution in Fin-de-Siècle Germany (Rudolf Steiner and Max Weber) (2004) and articles on various literary topics such as Ludwig Tieck's gestiefelter Kater, Thomas Mann's Fiorenza, and Waldemar Bonsels' Indienfahrt, as well as numerous essays on travelers to India (Ernst Haeckel, Joseph Dahlmann and others) during the Wilhelmine era.