German novelist, pastor, writer on racial theory.

Career Summary

Frenssen studied theology at the Universities of Tübingen, Berlin, and Kiel, after which he became a pastor. He rapidly became a successful novelist with Die Sandgräfin (1896) and Jörn Uhl (1901). In 1914, he was a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature. His Peter Moors Fahrt nach Südwest (1906) showed early signs of his racial ideas. He became a member of Friedrich Naumann's National Socialist Society in 1896, and spoke out for Germany's need to have its own colonies, becoming interested in contemporary writings on racial biology. From 1923, his works began to show marked signs of antisemitism, and from the later 1920s on he was a supporter of Hitler and his euthanasia policies. His racial beliefs caused him to turn away from Christian religion.

Frenssen and Schenker

In 1923, Schenker quoted from his Briefe aus Amerika (Berlin: G. Grote, 1923) in a letter to Moriz Violin (OJ 8/4, [23]).

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