Background
Lepenies was born near Allenstein, East Prussia (now Olsztyn, Poland), in 1945 his family fled from the Soviet Army"s assault on East Prussia to Schleswig-Holstein and from there to North Rhine-Westfalia. He eventually grew up in Koblenz.
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book
The Seduction of Culture in German History
( During the Allied bombing of Germany, Hitler was more d...)
During the Allied bombing of Germany, Hitler was more distressed by the loss of cultural treasures than by the leveling of homes. Remarkably, his propagandists broadcast this fact, convinced that it would reveal not his callousness but his sensitivity: the destruction had failed to crush his artist's spirit. It is impossible to begin to make sense of this thinking without understanding what Wolf Lepenies calls The Seduction of Culture in German History. This fascinating and unusual book tells the story of an arguably catastrophic German habit--that of valuing cultural achievement above all else and envisioning it as a noble substitute for politics. Lepenies examines how this tendency has affected German history from the late eighteenth century to today. He argues that the German preference for art over politics is essential to understanding the peculiar nature of Nazism, including its aesthetic appeal to many Germans (and others) and the fact that Hitler and many in his circle were failed artists and intellectuals who seem to have practiced their politics as a substitute form of art. In a series of historical, intellectual, literary, and artistic vignettes told in an essayistic style full of compelling aphorisms, this wide-ranging book pays special attention to Goethe and Thomas Mann, and also contains brilliant discussions of such diverse figures as Novalis, Walt Whitman, Leo Strauss, and Allan Bloom. The Seduction of Culture in German History is concerned not only with Germany, but with how the German obsession with culture, sense of cultural superiority, and scorn of politics have affected its relations with other countries, France and the United States in particular.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0691121311/?tag=2022091-20
Soziologische Anthropologie. Materialien
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3446115013/?tag=2022091-20
Melancholie und Gesellschaft.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/351828567X/?tag=2022091-20
Die drei Kulturen. Soziologie zwischen Literatur und Wissenschaft.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3596155185/?tag=2022091-20
Soziologische Anthropologie: Materialien (Ullstein-Buch) (German Edition)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3548033857/?tag=2022091-20
Geschichte der Soziologie, 4 Bde.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/3518070916/?tag=2022091-20
Wolf Lepenies
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Education
He studied sociology and philosophy at the University of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia and graduated with a promotion in 1967.
Career
In 1970 he habilitated at the Free University of Berlin. He traveled abroad, first to the Maison des sciences de l’homme in Paris, then to the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. In 1984 he joined the faculty of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin before becoming a professor of sociology at the Free University of Berlin.
He frequently returned to Princeton to conduct research.
In 1986 he succeeded Peter Wapnewski as president of the Wissenschaftskolleg. In 2001 he was succeeded by Dieter Grimm.
In 2006 he became a professor emeritus.
Achievements
Works
book
-
The Seduction of Culture in German History
( During the Allied bombing of Germany, Hitler was more d...)
- Melancholie und Gesellschaft
- Soziologische Anthropologie. Materialien
- Melancholie und Gesellschaft.
- Die drei Kulturen. Soziologie zwischen Literatur und Wissenschaft.
- Soziologische Anthropologie: Materialien (Ullstein-Buch) (German Edition)
- Geschichte der Soziologie, 4 Bde.
-
The Seduction of Culture in German History
Membership
German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
Academia Europaea.
Deutsche Akademie für Sprache und Dichtung. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Akademie der Künste Berlin]
Lepenies is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Since 2004 he has been a member of the supervisory board of Axel Springer AG.
Education
Awards
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State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia; Gay-Lussac-Humboldt-Prize; Peace Prize of the German Book Trade Humboldt Prize; Leibniz Medal
The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars.The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars.
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State Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia; Gay-Lussac-Humboldt-Prize; Peace Prize of the German Book Trade Humboldt Prize; Leibniz Medal
The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars.The Humboldt Prize, also known as the Humboldt Research Award, is an award given by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to internationally renowned scientists and scholars.