Turning to Nature in Germany: Hiking, Nudism, and Conservation, 1900–1940 (review)

Most scholars in modern German studies know that Nazi ideology and Third-Reich politics to some extent sought to capitalize on aspects of nature movements in Germany before 1933. But how easy or difficult was the integration of these reform movements into the Nazi state? And what happened to their members and leadership, some of them rather independent-minded and highly idealistic? John Alexander Williams's Turning to Nature in Germany seeks to answer these questions. His book offers a comprehensive overview of reform, youth, and nature movements in Germany during the first four decades of the twentieth century with a thematic focus on three areas: nudism, youth hiking, and nature conservation.

Freikörperkultur (nudism) started around the turn of the century as a middleclass, but elitist branch of the life reform movement which believed that the racial health of the German nation could benefit from outdoor exercises in the nude. The movement caught on quite rapidly; by 1906 approximately 230 municipal fenced-in bathing areas for nudists existed in Germany (25). During the Weimar years socialists discovered nudism and changed its ideological outlook by emphasizing its beneficial effects for factory workers and their children. In defense against criticism, in particular from the Catholic Church, nudists emphasized a natural approach to sexuality (including a natural control of the sexual urges) as an alternative to the capitalist exploitation of strip joints and prostitutes (44). The Nazis initially sought to ban nudism, even though some prominent Nazis (Himmler) voiced their support (60). Eventually, starting in 1936, nudism was allowed again and given legal protection against attacks from its conservative critics (63).

Social Democrats propagated social hiking through an organization called Touristenverein "Die Naturfreunde". The organization built up a network of houses to serve as shelter for hikers—230 by 1933 (69). Nature was supposed to show how unnatural capitalism was, but also to build community (83). The most important hiking group, however, was the Wandervögel (Ramblers), a highly idealistic movement emphasizing freedom that was strongly critical of adult authority; most of its members were Protestant and male. Around 1914 the Wandervögel came under heavy criticism (141) which had of course much to do with World War I and the decline of moral values—especially of young people—it supposedly had led to.

A counter-movement to the Wandervögel was the so-called Jugendpflege movement which, from 1911 on, was state-supported. Jugendpflege started to push an agenda of pre-military training in an attempt to battle the "youth emergency" created by World War I (153, 158). This element was given up during the Weimar Republic in favor of efforts focused on exercise (168), but it returned at the onset of the Third Reich. Jugendpflege also sought to separate activities for men and women in an attempt to control sexuality (175). Jugendpflege was relatively easily assimilated into the Nazi movement. Interestingly, Catholic youth movements were able to maintain their independence the longest (195).

Naturschutz (conservation) was a predominantly right-wing and elite affair in early twentieth-century Germany. It was a movement fed by nostalgia in which politically ambiguous concepts like Heimat and Heimatkunde played a major role. In 1935 the new regime passed a Reichsnaturschutzgesetz that had long been a desideratum of conservationists (246). In practice though, little was done to protect nature. The Nazis' concept of nature was very utilitarian (255). Naturschwärmerei—an over-identification with nature associated with earlier nature movements—was frowned upon (262). During the Third Reich the movement developed racist elements and was involved in plans to resettle Eastern Europe with 'pure-blooded Germans' (253).

One thing that Williams's study makes abundantly clear is that the idea of a 'return to nature' was associated with very different values from those we think of today. An interest in the actual protection of nature was moderate before and during the Third Reich; nature movements were primarily seen as tools to improve...