Völkisch movement

People and Race (Volk und Rasse) magazine, October 1937

The völkisch movement (sometimes voelkisch movement in English) is a German ideology/movement that had great influence during the 19th and first half of the 20th century.

German völkisch movement

SS Weltanschauung: “From the realization that the preservation and increase of good, healthy blood can only be achieved through the strictest selection and union of the bearers of Nordic blood, the man voluntarily assumes, upon his entry into the Schutzstaffel, the obligation that in choosing his life partner, the mother of his children, he must set aside all superficial considerations such as wealth, dowry, and social status in favor of racial purity and hereditary health. He must therefore be fully aware, in making his choice, of the significance of his marriage for the future of his Volk.”

The term völkisch derives from the German term "Volk", somewhat similar to English "folk" and "people" (Volksgemeinschaft). "Völkisch", as used by the völkisch movement, has been described as untranslatable, with no direct English equivalent. It may refer to combination of

• ethnicity (culture),
• race (genetics,
• racial hygiene), and
• nation (politics).

Sometimes there were also mystical elements. The völkisch movement had its origins in German Romantic nationalism. It included interest in, for example, German culture, German history, and German folklore. German paganism/heathenry, sometimes viewed as a more German religion, was also an interest, sometimes developing into neopaganism and mysticism/occultism. The völkisch movement was nationalist and influenced National Socialism.

"Neo-völkisch movements"

Some recent movements have been described as "neo-völkisch movements", claimed to have similarities with the German völkisch movement. Politically correct, woke sources, such as the leftist Wikipedia, only list "White" organizations as "neo-völkisch", notably religious and/or occult ones. "Satanist" organizations are given a prominent place, despite being nonexistent in the völkisch movement.

Organizations influenced by, for example, Jewish culture, Jewish folklore, Jewish Kabbalah and/or Jewish nationalism are not listed as "neo-völkisch" by Wikipedia. Organizations interested in European folklore/folk music and neofolk music bands are also not listed as "neo-völkisch". As such, Wikipedia seems to use it as a label only on disliked organizations as a form of guilt by association label, similar to the "neo-fascism" and "neo-Nazism" labels

See also

• Addresses to the German Nation
• Armanism and Ariosophy
• Blood and Soil
• Brothers Grimm
• Folklore
• Conservative Revolutionary movement
• National Socialism and occultism
• Racial genetic interests
• Völkischer Beobachter

Further reading

• Hans Belstler: Du stehst im Volk, 1943