Volume 32

Fragmente aus der Endzeit

How can history be understood from the vantage point of its potential end? The German-Jewish writer and philosopher Günther Anders (1902–1992) is known for his readings of the nuclear end of days. Anna Pollmann reconstructs Anders’ negative historical thought on the basis of his philosophical and literary oeuvre from its origins in the 1930s through to the reception of his prognoses of the end of days in the new social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. This book discusses the breakdown in the historical consciousness of the twentieth century and demonstrates the extent to which this breakdown is reflected in Anders’ work. The ruptures of Auschwitz and Hiroshima are here analyzed for the various meanings they hold for the boundaries of historical thought. Tracing the topography of Anders’ emigration and remigration, this study explores biographical waystations such as Paris, Los Angeles, Berlin, and Vienna along with the intellectual historical context of Anders’ historical thought.