Obligation and Libido : Hannah Arendt in Wiesbaden, 1949-1950

Abstract: The article focuses on Arendt’s stay in Germany between late 1949 and early 1950. It discusses her attempts to conduct a thorough survey and find the best solution (beyond Germany) for the books, archival materials, Judaica artifacts and works of art looted by the Nazis from Jewish communities and private collections which were upon their discovery stored by the US army in central collecting points since 1945. It reflects on these four winter months in Arendt’s life as revealed through her official reports to her superiors in New York and in her personal correspondence with her husband Heinrich Blücher and her close friends, hoping to shed new light on a hitherto less familiar chapter in the life of this fascinating and controversial woman. During these months, Arendt paid several visits to her former PhD instructor Karl Jaspers in Basle. She also harbored a more clandestine wish to meet another former university professor of hers – the controversial philosopher Martin Heidegger. B.... https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/transfer/article/view/101811

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Obligation and Libido ; volume:2 ; number:1 ; day:20 ; month:12 ; year:2023 ; Transfer ; 2, Heft 1 (20.12.2023)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Steinberg, Shlomit

Further information

• DOI: 10.48640/tf.2023.1.101811
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2502131317073.864785877119
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:37 AM CEST