Lons - The Warwolf

The period of German history known as the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) can be described as an attempt by the German Protestant princes to remove themselves from the political and religious yoke of the Holy Roman Empire, as epitomized by the Catholic Hapsburg ruling elite. Foreign powers, especially France and Sweden, found political and economic advantages to be gained at the expense of both sides, making a prolonged and unconventional conflict inevitable. The general disorganization of the collective nobility in Germany and the range of religious and economic motives of opportunistic individuals and various strongmen and power brokers spelled disaster for the nation, especially its peasantry. The latter would be for three decades at the mercy of numerous domestic and foreign armies-many of which were comprised of mercenaries who, unchecked by local authorities and unpaid for long periods, ruthlessly scoured the countryside. Added to this mayhem was the general lawlessness of bands of marauders and desperate mobs of the newly displaced and impoverished. The loss of life during the Thirty Years War has been estimated at one-fifth the German population (some 21 million in 1618), while many authorities contend that the number is closer to one-third, including those who perished in battle or from disease, deprivation, and rapine. Such trauma upon civilian populationswould not be matched for another 300 years, until the 20th centurys world wars, which some historians have called The Second Thirty Years War.

The results of the Thirty Years War upon Europe are briefly (and admittedly too simply) summarized as the decline of the Hapsburg Dynasty and any viable semblance of a Holy Roman Empire, a greater degree of religious toleration between Catholics and Protestants (in so much as the peace of Westphalia marked the end of what might be termed religious wars, but also the beginning of a separation between Austria and Northern Germany among religious lines), and political settlements and alliances which would make France the dominant continental power for centuries to come. Focusing upon Germany alone, the Thirty Years War was unparalleled in its deleterious effects upon agriculture, industry, and commerce. The tremendous loss of life, and especially the vicissitudes endured by those who survived, would be indelibly etched upon the German psyche.

Yet for all the nonfiction resources available, it is in Hermann Lns historical novel, Der Wehrwolf (The Warwolf), first published in 1910, where the human perspective is made manifest; the tragedy and horrors of war in general and these times in particular. The novel chronicles the life of Harm Wulf and his North German farming communitys struggle for survival and how Wulf and his fellow farmers are forced to make difficult choices in order to protect their homes and families. An immediate bestseller in Germany, Lns novel remains in print in Germany and other European countries nearly a century after it first appeared and has sold more than one million copies.

Born on August 29, 1866 in Kulm, West Prussia, Hermann Lns, the son of a schoolteacher, spent his university years studying medicine and natural sciences. But the failure to complete his education caused a falling out with his family,and so he pursued poetry and journalism as a livelihood. His personal and professional life remained in turmoil with job instability, a divorce from his first wife, and bouts with alcoholism and depression. In 1901, he began to establish his reputation as Poet Of The Heath with the publication of My Golden Book and My Green Book. Later that decade, he turned to writing short stories and novels which encompassed themes and symbolism of ancient Germanic and Christian folklore, naturalism, and peasant life, particularly the landscape, wildlife, and people of his native Lneburger Heath of Lower Saxony. With the outbreak of World War I, Hermann Lns volunteered for military service at the age of 48. He was killed in frontline battle near Loivre, France, on September 26, 1914.