. Johst studied medicine and philosophy and - later - history of art. He volunteered for the army in 1914. In 1918 he settled down at the Starnberger See. His early work is influenced by Expressionism (e.g. Der Anfang (1917), Der König (1920)). Later, he turned to a naturalism (philosophy) philosophy ( Wechsler und Händler (1923), Thomas Paine (1927)). Bertholt Brecht's first play Baal (play) was written in response to Johst's play Der Einsame, a dramatisation of the life of anti-Semitic playwright Christian Dietrich Grabbe. In 1928 Johst joined Alfred Rosenberg's "Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur" (Pressuregroup for German Culture) designed to combat "Jewish" influence in German culture. In 1932 he joined the Nazi party, explaining his his agreement with Hitler's ideology in the essay "Standpunkt und Fortschritt" (1933). When the Nazis achieved power in 1933, Johst wrote the play Schlageter, an expression of Nazi ideology performed on Hitler's birthday to celebrate his victory. It was a heroic biography of the proto-Nazi martyr Albert Leo Schlageter. The line "when I hear the word culture, I reach for my gun", often quoted by Nazi leaders, derives from this play. The original line is slightly different: "Wenn ich Kultur höre ... entsichere ich meinen Browning," "Whenever I hear of culture... I release the safety-catch of my Browning!" (Act 1, Scene 1). It is spoken by another character in conversation with the young Schlageter. The famous line is regularly misattributed, sometimes to Hermann Göring and sometimes to Heinrich Himmler. It has also been parodied, for example by Stephen Hawking as "When I hear of Schrödinger's cat, I reach for my pistol." In 1935 Johst became the President of the Reichsschrifttumskammer and of the Deutsche Akademie für Dichtung - organisations for German writers, but at this time just for writers who were producing pro-Nazi work. He achieved many other positions of importance within the Nazi state, including president of the Writer's Union. During the war he held various positions within the SS. After the war Johst was interned by the Allies. In 1949 he was tried for his activities, and was imprisoned for three and a half years. On his release he was unable to restablish his career as a writer. Category:1890 births Category:1978 deaths Category:Nazi leaders de:Hanns Johst nl:Hanns Johst no:Hanns Johst sv:Hanns Johst

                       

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