Der Untertan

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Der Untertan is the most famous novel by German author Heinrich Mann. It has been translated into English under the titles "Man of Straw," "The Patrioteer," and "The Loyal Subject" (translation by Helmut Peitsch). The title poses a problem for the non-German reader since there is no effective translation of the word 'Untertan' in the sense it was employed by Mann. The 'Subject' of the title conveys a sense of unthinking servility to the state.

The novel was completed two months before the outbreak of World War I, although it was not published until 1916. After the war, the novel enjoyed considerable popularity, given its critiques of the ultra-nationalism of Wilhelmine Germany.

"Der Untertan" portrays the life of Diederich Hessling, a slavish and fanatical admirer of Kaiser Wilhelm II, as an archetype of nationalist Wilhelmine Germany. Hessling is unthinkingly obedient to authority and maintains a rigid dedication to the nationalist goals of the German state.

Throughout the novel, Hessling's inflexible ideals are often contradicted by his actions: he preaches bravery but is a coward; he is the strongest proponent of the military but seeks early relief from service; his greatest political opponents are the revolutionary Social Democrats, yet he uses his influence to help send his hometown’s SPD candidate to the Reichstag to defeat his Liberal competitors in business; he starts vicious rumours against the latter and then dissociates himself from these; he preaches and enforces Christian virtues upon others but lies, cheats and regularly commits infidelity.

Diederich’s ideals: blood and iron, and the might of opulent power are exposed as hollowness and weakness. Diederich Hessling, the informer child (and later adult), the Neo-Teuton, the doctor of chemistry, the paper manufacturer, and eventually the most influential man in town, is a critical allegory depicting German society’s increasing susceptibility to chauvinism, jingoism, ultra-nationalism, anti-Semitism and proto-fascism. His character is often juxtaposed, in both words and appearance to another man of straw, the Emperor, Prince Wilhelm II. In one instance` 'It almost seems to me. You look so very much like - His ...'

Mann uses the moral bankruptcy and shallow ridiculousness of Hessling's life to critique Wilhelmine German society generally. Like other novels of the period, such as Theodor Fontane's Effi Briest, or even his brother Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks, the principal target is the hypocrisy of bourgeois society and the risk of social collapse in a nation of loyal 'Untertan' citizens.

The book was made into a movie in 1951, directed by Wolfgang Staudte and starring Werner Peters as Diederich Hessling.