itiesofColonelHeinrichvonHoff(18 78 – 194 1)areillustrativeinthisregard.Hoff
servedintheministryofwarintheKingdomofWürttemberg.Afterthefounda-
tionoftheBJD,hebecametheliaisonofficerbetweentheWürttembergcontin-
gentoftheGermanarmyandthelocalBJDassociationinStuttgart.Heroseto
oneofthemostactiveandinfluentialmilitaryofficialsintheBJDthroughhis
publishingactivities.AccordingtoHoff,thetaskoftheBJDwasquiteclear:
“[...][T]hatinthisleagueatrulyGerman[kerndeutsch]peoplewillbeeducated,apeople
withstrongarmsandstrongmind,readyfortremendousperformance,capableofgreat
deeds,neverdiscouraged,insurmountableinbattleandfilledwithloyaltyandbelief,
withasenseofhonorandofduty,withadorationforthegreatfatherland!”³⁵HoffusedhispositionintheministrytosupporttheactivitiesoftheBJD.³⁶Buthe
wasalsoaninfluentialpublisher.InhisintroductiontotheBJDhandbook,Hoff
outlinedhisunderstandingoftheleague’spurposes.Heclaimedthattheasso-
ciationwouldservethewholesocietybyeducatingastrongyoutheventhough
headmittedthatthearmywouldhavethemosttogain.IntheneighboringEuro-
peancountries,stateauthoritieshadalsostartedtopreparetheiryouthphysical-
lyandmorallyfortheinevitablewar.TheGermanyouthwastobereadyformili-
taryservicealreadyattheageof12.TheBJDshouldalsocontributetoovercome
theclasscontradictionsandhelptounitetheGermannationagainsttheper-
ceivedforeignthread.³⁷Inthisregard,theBJDcontributedtotheimagination
oftheethnicallyhomogenousnation,asexpressedbytheheadoftheBJD
localbranchinHameln.TheyoungmembersoftheBJDweretogetusedto
theideaof“discoveringthenationalcomradeintheplayfellow.”³⁸Asameans
ofachievingthisaim,therathercasualandvoluntarycharacterofthelocal
BJDbrancheswastobereplacedbyamandatoryGerman-wideorganization
inthefuture.InhisconceptualstudypublishedpriortohisdeparturetotheOt-
tomanEmpire,Hoffstatedthat“[A]certaincompulsionhastobeinsertedinthat
HeinrichvonHoff,Jungdeutschland:LichtbildervortragimAuftragderLeitungdesBJDStutt-
gart,n.d.[c.1913], 26 etseq.HStASM660– 115.
HofftoWürttembergMinisterofWarMarchthalerregardingtheBJD,12December 1912 ,
HStASM1–3Bü6 67 ,9– 10 .SeealsoHoff’sreportontheBJDmeetinginStuttgartinJune
191 4;HeinrichvonHoff,“BildervondergroßenTagungJungdeutschlandsinStuttgart,”inJung-
deutschland-Post,1July 191 4, 193 – 194.
HeinrichvonHoff,Jungdeutschland-Taschenbuch(Stuttgart,Berlin,Leipzig:UnionDeutsche
Verlagsgesellschaft,1913), 3 – 13.
‘‘[...]indemSpielgenossenauchdenVolksgenossenzuerkennen.”QuotedafterReinhard
Höhn,SozialismusundHeer.vol.3:DerKampfdesHeeresgegendieSozialdemokratie(BadHarz-
burg:VerlagfürWissenschaft,WirtschaftundTechnik, 196 9), 56 2.
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