»roast-beef humanität« und andere »engländereien«

Comments on the decline of the idea of Europe were rife towards the end of the First World War. From Georg Simmel to Hugo von Hofmannsthal, German-speaking intellectuals and artists reflected on what, if anything, was left of the substance of Europe. In this context Rudolf Pannwitz, one of the most colourful writers of the time but now largely forgotten, engaged in a stylistically and intellectually eccentric appraisal of this substance, arguing that »crisis« – and ways of dealing with it – was the hallmark of any cultural pursuit of any value. This article examines his comments on English culture and assesses their intellectual significance.