Das Dritte Reich. Die diskursive Sakralisierung in der NS-Propagandadichtung von Heinrich Anacker

[The Third Reich. Discursive Sacralization in the NS Propaganda Poetry of Heinrich Anacker]

Abstract

The main focus of this essay is the discursive analysis of “Reich” as an article of faith in the poetry volume Die Fanfare. Gedichte der deutschen Erhebung by Heinrich Anacker (1901-1971). Looking back to the original theological foundation of the concept “Third Reich” in connection with the debate about whether National Socialism could be consid­ered as a political religion, “Reich” is described as a possible article of faith of the Nazi creed. In Anacker’s National Socialist biased propaganda poetry, “Reich” appears, in fact, as a sacred and even as a quasi-religious entity.