Heimatschutz is a German word which literally translated means 'homeland protection'. The Heimatschutz movement arose in the late 19th century in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, with a focus on nature and landscape conservation as well as the care of historic townscapes, cultural heritage and traditions, folklore and regional identity.
The term was coined in 1897 by the conservationist Ernst Rudorff; [1] referring to the German term Heimat which had become popular since the Napoleonic Wars of Liberation and gained increasing political meaning during the rise of Romantic nationalism. Numerous historical and folk art societies arose, such as the bourgeois Wandervogel youth movement in 1896. On 30 March 1904, Rudorff founded the Bund Heimatschutz association in Dresden; the architect Paul Schultze-Naumburg being its first head. In 1916, Austrian Max Dvořák's Katechismus der Denkmalpflege appeared. In this book Dvorak builds upon the ideas of fellow-countryman Alois Riegl and extends the idea of "homeland protection" beyond simply protection of geographical borders to encapsulate a society's culture.
A distinct early modernist Heimatschutz architectural style, characterised by traditional and regional building structural shapes, became common mainly in residential constructions up to World War II and continued until the late 1950s. The homeland literature of the late 19th century, opposing the prevalent naturalist movement, was popularised by authors like Berthold Auerbach, Ludwig Ganghofer, Peter Rosegger, or the "Heath Poet" Hermann Löns. In the Wilhelmine era, the middle-class educated Heimatschutz milieus increasingly adopted an anti-Modernist stance and developed strong ties with nationalist and chauvinist Völkisch circles. On the other hand, the idea of 'homeland protection' also became the concept of labour movements such as the German Friends of Nature (Naturfreunde).
During the interwar period in Austria, the Heimatschutz concept was adopted by paramilitary Heimwehr forces, first in the Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia at the end of the World War I. Upon the 1930 legislative election, their Heimatblock organisation became part of the Austrian government and later was merged into the Fatherland Front, the austrofascist single party. After the Anschluss annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938, the Vaterländische Front was disbanded; several Heimwehr members were deported to concentration camps by the SA and later the SS. By the cultural policy of the German regime, a "Blood and Soil" ideology in literature and film was promoted as an integral part of Nazi propaganda.
After World War II, the Heimat concept remained the basis of numerous light novels and Heimatfilm movies. During the Cold War era, Heimatschutz reserve battalions were deployed by the West German Bundeswehr for homeland defense. Today, the word is also used to translate the English expression "homeland security" used by the US federal government after the September 11 attacks of 2001. [2]
In Switzerland, the term Heimatschutz is widely considered free from historic burden and refers to preservation order and fostering of traditions in a general sense. The Schweizer Heimatschutz (SHS), best translated as Swiss Heritage, a nonprofit organisation established in 1905, is dedicated to the advancement of Switzerland's building culture. Its focus is on the preservation of important landmarks, the development of the structural environment, and the promotion of good architectural design. [3]
Engelbert Dollfuß was an Austrian Fatherland Front politician who served as Chancellor of Austria between 1932 and 1934. Having served as Minister for Forests and Agriculture, he ascended to Federal Chancellor in 1932 in the midst of a crisis for the conservative government. In early 1933, the so called "Selbstausschaltung des Parlaments" happened, which made the Austrian parliament unable to govern. Suppressing the Socialist movement in February 1934 during the Austrian Civil War and later banning the Austrian Nazi Party, he cemented the rule of authoritarian conservatism through the First of May Constitution. Dollfuss was assassinated as part of a failed coup attempt by Nazi agents in 1934. His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained the regime until Adolf Hitler's Anschluss in 1938.
A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nationalist connotations. A homeland may also be referred to as a fatherland, a motherland, or a mother country, depending on the culture and language of the nationality in question.
The Heimwehr or Heimatschutz was a nationalist, initially paramilitary group that operated in the First Austrian Republic from 1920 to 1936. It was similar in methods, organization, and ideology to the Freikorps in Germany. The Heimwehr was opposed to parliamentary democracy, socialism and Marxism and fought in various skirmishes against left-wing and foreign groups during the 1920s and 1930s. Some of its regional groups also opposed Nazism while others favored it. In spite of its anti-democratic stance, the Heimwehr developed a political wing called the Heimatblock that was close to the conservative Christian Social Party and took part in both the cabinet of Chancellor Carl Vaugoin in 1930 and in Engelbert Dollfuss' right-wing government from 1932 to 1934. In 1936 the Heimwehr was absorbed into what was at the time the only legally permitted political party in Austria, the Fatherland Front, and then later into the Frontmiliz, an amalgamation of militia units that in 1937 became part of Austria's armed forces.
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Pan-nationalism is a specific term, used mainly in social sciences as a designation for those forms of nationalism that aim to transcend traditional boundaries of basic or historical national identities in order to create a "higher" pan-national (all-inclusive) identity, based on various common denominators. Pan-nationalism can occur as a specific variant of all common forms of nationalism. In relation to classical state nationalism, pan-nationalism manifests itself through various political movements that advocate the formation of "higher" (pan-national) forms of political identity, based on a regional or continental grouping of national states. In terms of ethnic nationalism, pan-nationalism can also manifest itself through specific ethnic movements that advocate setting up "higher" (pan-national) forms of common identity that are based on ethnic grouping. Other forms of nationalism also have their pan-national variants.
The Austrian Civil War, also known as the February Uprising, was a series of skirmishes between the right-wing government and socialist forces between 12 and 16 February 1934 in the First Austrian Republic. The clashes started in Linz and primarily took place in Vienna, Graz, Bruck an der Mur, Judenburg, Wiener Neustadt, and Steyr, as well as in other industrial cities of eastern and central Austria.
Heimat is a German word translating to 'home' or 'homeland'. The word has connotations specific to German culture, German society and specifically German Romanticism, German nationalism, German statehood and regionalism so that it has no exact English equivalent.
Jakob Schaffner was a leading Swiss novelist who became a supporter of Nazism.
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Emil Fey was an officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army, leader of the right-wing paramilitary Heimwehr forces and politician of the First Austrian Republic. He served as Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 1933 to 1934, leading the country into the period of Austrofascism under Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuß. Fey played a vital role in the violent suppression of the Republikanischer Schutzbund and the Social Democratic Workers' Party during the 1934 Austrian Civil War.
Volkstum is the entire utterances of a Volk or of an ethnic minority over its lifetime, expressing a "Volkscharakter" which the people of such an ethnicity allegedly have in common. It was the defining idea of the Völkisch movement.
Walter Pfrimer was an Austrian politician and leader of the Heimwehr in Styria. He was the leader of a failed putsch in 1931.
Richard Steidle was an Austrian lawyer and the leader of the paramilitary Heimwehr in Tyrol. He was a leading representative of the pro-independence tendency on the far right of Austrian politics and as such was opposed to the Nazi Party which supported the incorporation of Austria into a Großdeutschland.
Ernst Julius Waldemar Pabst was a German soldier and political activist, involved in extreme nationalist and anti-communist paramilitary activity in both the Weimar Republic and in Austria. As a Freikorps officer, Captain Pabst gained notoriety for ordering the summary executions of Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg in 1919 as well as for his leading role in the attempted coup d'etat by Wolfgang Kapp. In Austria he played a central part in organising rightist militia groups before being deported due to his activities. Pabst subsequently faded from public life in Nazi Germany as he was never more than loosely associated with the Nazis.
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Walther Schoenichen was a German biologist and a prominent proponent of nature conservation within Nazi Germany.
Heimatschutz Architecture, or the Heimatschutzstil or Heimatstil is a style of architectural modernism that was first described in 1904 and had its prime until 1945. Various buildings were built after the war until around 1960. The main areas of work were settlement building, house building, garden design, industrial building, church building and monument preservation.