Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As the Nazi Party emerged during the 1920s, it found commonalities
with the nature movement. They shared an esthetic sensibility, a dislike
of materialism and modernity, an idealization of peasants, and a call for
national regeneration. Both adhered to the motto of “Blood and Soil,”
meaning the connection between the German race and the environment
that nurtured it. Many of the young wandervogel hikers joined the Hitler
Youth. The League for Bird Protection said, “Joyously we stand behind
the Fuhrer,” and the Bavarian League for Nature Conservation praised
“converting the love of Nature into the great love of nation and Fatherland.” 9
The minister of agriculture and Fuhrer of the Peasants, Walther Darré,
advocated organic farming and worked to prevent erosion. 10
In constructing the autobahns, engineers were obliged to blend them
with the terrain and preserve the landscape. The Reich adopted a hunt-
ing law qualifying as one of the most progressive in the world in terms
of protecting animals. In 1935 it enacted the progressive Conservation
Law, codifying regulations and centralizing administration under the
Reich Forest Master, Hermann Goering. Goering was also the head of the
Gestapo (secret police), the air force, and the economics ministry. The new
law overrode the authority of the states. The government banned all bill-
boards in the countryside and established an unprecedented number of
nature preserves. 11 The Nazis cooperated with local nature clubs, protect-
ing sites and giving them patronage. Prior to ascending to power, the Nazis
had added to their electoral totals in 1930 by attracting peasant votes.
Adolf Hitler spoke numerous times of the importance of the land for
shaping the German people. For instance, he declared that “the German
countryside must be preserved under all circumstances, for it is and has
forever been the source of strength and greatness for our people.” 12 Hitler
himself was an animal lover, and a strict vegetarian, who hated the sight
of blood. In his book Mein Kampf , he argued that the German national
decline was due to its divergence from biological laws. He believed that in
the 19th century, the Germans had neglected these laws in their pursuit of
industrialization and materialism. To Hitler, existence was a Darwinian
struggle where the fittest survived. Yet Hitler's conception of the home-
land differed from the nature groups. It equated the German people with
a species in competition with other races. Racial mixing was a cause of
degeneration, and the influence of the Jewish race was the worst. Moreover
to Hitler, land was not just for inspiration and molding people; it was to
give living space to the German race. he land he sought extended out-
side the borders of the country to encompass parts of Czechoslovakia,
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