Socialist Mysticism, Mystical Socialism: Social Reform and Alternative Religiosity in the Decades Around 1900

Since the nineteenth century, religious and socialist movements have intersected in complex ways. Previous research has shown that socialist movements were often perceived as “heretical” and “mystical,” and that they overlapped with alternative religious movements such as Spiritualism and Theosophy. However, such connections remain largely unexplored in religious studies. The project fills this research gap by tracing the links between religion and socialism in the decades around 1900.

One sub-project by Konstantin Moser is dedicated to the transformation of Jewish messianism from Moses Hess (1812–1875) to Martin Buber (1878–1965), while the other sub-project by Felix Janina Gräsche focuses on the work of Gustav Landauer (1870–1919) and Hugo Ball (1886–1927). A doctoral project by Mikheil Kakabadze at the University of Stockholm, which deals with Ernst Bloch (1885–1977), is closely associated with the DFG project.

The “mystical” conceptions of “socialism” that can be found in the sources are explained in their religious-historical context, which opens up new perspectives on the authors’ work as well as on larger developments at the interface of religion and socialism. In addition, a critical analysis of the terms “socialism,” “mysticism,” “esotericism,” and “occultism” in contemporary social reform circles will make a critical contribution to the theoretical and terminological repertoire of religious studies.

The project is headed by Prof. Dr. Julian Strube.


Doctoral project by Konstantin Moser, M.A.

Metamorphoses of Messianism – An Entangled History between Jewish Saint-Simonism and Moses Hess in the Context of Socialist Religion

In the Vormärz period, under the auspices of secularization and assimilation, there were heated debates within the Jewish community about a “renewal” of Judaism, in which a modern reinterpretation of the theological concept of the “Messiah” played a central role. German Reform Jews and the Jewish representatives of the French early socialist school of the “Saint-Simonists” engaged in an exchange of ideas in their search for a redefinition of the “chosen people,” which was characterized by the hopes of a transitional period towards the secularized “messianic kingdom.” In this process of Jewish self-assurance, the constructions of Jewish messianism, “mysticism,” and the “feminine” shaped by Romanticism were charged with a religious-socialist meaning by the Jewish Saint-Simonists.

Against this background, it is interesting to note the extent to which this constellation of ideas was received by the Rhineland Jew Moses Hess (1812–1875). He was one of the first to attempt to popularize socialism in Germany, which he incorporated into a Spinozist world view. Hess later introduced a completely new element into the debate surrounding the “renewal” of Judaism when he linked the Jewish belief in the Messiah and the socialist-humanist redemption of humanity with the return of the Jewish people to Palestine – the history of the impact of this anticipation of a strand of Zionist ideas will finally be traced with a view to Martin Buber (1878–1965).

The research desideratum is based on the question of how the secularization of messianism was interwoven with socialism and a redefinition of Jewish identity in the Vormärz – in the Franco-German field of tension between marginalized Jewish intellectuals. It is assumed that Moses Hess’ exchange with French socialism, which has not yet been systematically researched, represents a key element in the genesis of the idea of messianism in Hess’ late national Jewish writings.

To the homepage of Konstantin Moser.


Doctoral project by Felix Janina Gräsche, Mag.Theol.

Critical Religiosity: On the Relationship between Mysticism and Socialism in Gustav Landauer and Hugo Ball

As part of the DFG project “Socialist Mysticism, Mystical Socialism,” the relationship between mysticism and socialism is being examined on the basis of the works of Gustav Landauer and Hugo Ball. The methodological focus is on historical reconstruction and critical analysis of the concepts and motifs

Gustav Landauer (1870–1919) was a socialist writer (“Die Revolution,” “Aufruf zum Sozialismus,” “Skepsis und Mystik,” editor of the magazine “Der Sozialist”) and political actor in the German Empire and the Munich Soviet Republic of 1919. As a Jew, he also studied medieval Christian mysticism (Meister Eckhart) and Hasidic mysticism.

Hugo Ball (1886–1927) is best known for his leading role in the emergence of the DADA art movement (founding the “Cabaret Voltaire” together with Emmy Hennings, “Galerie DADA”), his sound poems (“Karawane”) and as a biographer of Hermann Hesse. However, he also wrote political and theological works (“Zur Kritik der Deutschen Intelligenz” and “Byzantinisches Christentum: Three Lives of the Saints”), which are of particular interest for this study.

Both works contain references to mystical literature and the inclusion of mystical motifs, as well as a socialist-influenced critique of society. The research examines the interface between socialist thought and mystical religiosity in the critique of (bourgeois) society. It also examines the relationship between institutionalized religion and the state (German Empire and Weimar Republic), as well as the intellectual milieus in which Gustav Landauer and Hugo Ball moved (including Martin Buber, Margarete Susman, Erich Mühsam).

To the homepage of Felix Janina Gräsche.


Associated doctoral project of Mikheil Kakabadze, M.A. (Stockholm University)

Apocalypse, Religion, and Marxism in the 20th Century: Revolution and Revelation in the Work of Ernst Bloch.

Link to the project page