Grimm, Hans

Writer

born: 22.03.1875 in Wiesbaden

died: 27.09.1959 in Lippoldsberg

Grimm studied literature in Lausanne and underwent commercial training in Nottingham and London. From 1897 to 1908, he lived in South Africa as a merchant, port agent and farmer. In 1910, he traveled through German Southwest Africa as a press reporter. He wrote about his experiences in "South African Novellas" (1913) and "The Oil Seeker of Duala" (1918), among others. His historical novella "Die letzte Nonne von Klarenthal" (Old Nassau Calendar for 1914) is set in Wiesbaden. He published three Nassau novellas written around 1910 in "Was wir suchen ist alles" (1933).

In 1911 he married Adelheid Gräfin von der Schulenburg-Wolfsburg in Berlin, moved to Pasing and studied political science in Munich. In 1918, he acquired a former monastery in Lippoldsberg on the Weser, where he settled as a freelance writer. It was here that he wrote his main work, the novel "Volk ohne Raum" (1926). In it, he interpreted the First World War as a struggle for living space, among other things. The novel was praised by critics and achieved high circulation.

It provided the National Socialists with a cue, and after 1933 it became compulsory reading in secondary schools. In 1927, Grimm received an honorary doctorate from the University of Göttingen. He had a positive attitude towards the Nazi "movement". From 1933-35 he was a member of the Presidential Council of the Reichsschrifttumskammer. However, his relationship with the regime remained tense and he did not belong to the party. From 1934-39, he organized the annual Lippoldsberg Poetry Festival, which was attended by up to 3,000 guests. After 1945, he defended Hitler and National Socialism. The poetry festival, which was revived in 1949, developed into a center of the extreme right-wing scene and continued after his death until 1981.

In 1952, Grimm published his autobiography "Leben in Erwartung - Meine Jugend", in which he described his youth in Wiesbaden and his conservative parental home.