Postwar German spiritual seeking responded to metaphysical emptiness, not present chaos

Evidence

Kracauer was one of Those Who Wait'. In an article with this title published in the Frankfurter Zeitung in 1922, the style of which was inspired by Nietzsche, he sketched out some of the paths along which many people at that time believed they had found a new spiritual home, not so much (he believed) in reaction to the chaos of the present time’ as in reaction to a metaphysical suffering from the lack of deep meaning in the world'. Examples were the anthroposophical teaching of Rudolf Steiner, the messianic communism of Ernst Bloch and others, the belief in structure held by the George circle, and the renewed sense of community, not only in the Protestant and Catholic churches, but also in Judaism. — <cite>Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 273</cite> (#corroborates`, via linked claim)

The war had made people realise that they and their fellow humans were capable of departing entirely from civilised norms; no wonder the idea of a fixed human nature seemed questionable. Whatever new world was going to arise out of the old one, it would probably need to be built without reliable guidance from sources of authority such as politicians, religious leaders, and even philosophers — the old kind of philosophers, that is, in their remote and abstract worlds. But here was a new kind of philosopher, ready to wade in and perfectly suited to the task. — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 40 (#expands, via linked claim)

he realized that once he had closed this door a line was drawn, an epilogue had been pronounced: his brief wartime adventure had come to an end. What surprised him was the void created around him: a ghostly, yawning, stale void that drew him in. — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 509 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Postwar Weimar spiritual movements grew from metaphysical suffering rather than political chaos. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 273; Postwar disillusionment about fixed human nature created existentialism’s opening — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café: Freedom,…, 40; The end of a war experience produces emptiness rather than resolution or relief — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 509 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Postwar Weimar spiritual movements grew from metaphysical suffering rather than political chaos. #corroborates (0.98) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 273
• Postwar disillusionment about fixed human nature created existentialism’s opening #expands (0.85) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 40
• The end of a war experience produces emptiness rather than resolution or relief #expands (0.82) — Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, 509
• Post-war existentialism thrived on the excitement of a shattered world #complicates (0.78) — Sarah Bakewell, At the Existentialist Café, 529
• Group Experiment was the first penetrating postwar analysis of Germans’ inability to mourn #qualifies (0.71) — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School, 2037