Ideological trench warfare. Ludwig Klages and National Socialism from 1933-1938

Ludwig Klages' role in the Weltanschauungskampf during the Third Reich has been completely neglected by researchers, even though Klages was one of the most popular philosophers and psychologists in Germany from 1933 to 1945. Klages, who, since 1910, had openly expressed his antisemitic and anti-demo cratic beliefs, was highly regarded by the National Socialists. In 1933, im mediately after the Machtergreifung, he was invited by the National Sociali sts to give lectures as Friedrich-Wilhelm-University in Berlin. Klages' pop ularity compelled Alfred Rosenberg and Alfred Baeumler, after 1936, to be m ore openly antagonistic to the philosopher and his followers, but not even their hostility could keep numerous members of the NS elite, such as Baldur von Schirach, from accepting Klages' views. Consequently, the case of Ludw ig Klages is a clear example of the ideological disorder within the suppose dly tightly disciplined and rigid National Socialist system.