Oskar Loerke

Oskar Loerke (13 March 1884, Jungen – 24 February 1941, Berlin) was a German poet, prose writer, literary critic and essayist.

Loerke paved the way for nature poetry with his formally strict poems characterized by intense imagery, musicality and mythical traits.

[3] From 1910 to 1917, Loerke was a member of the Donnerstags-Gesellschaft ("Thursday Society") in Berlin, a circle for artists and intellects to discuss literature, music and painting.

However, later that year, he had signed the Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft ("pledge of the most loyal followers"), a declaration of allegiance to Hitler, reportedly to protect his Jewish publisher Samuel von Fischer.

[1] Loerke retreated to his house in Frohnau, Berlin, and remained as chief editor of S. Fischer Verlag, which he tried to defend against ever new repressions and censorship measures.

[3] In 1940, few months before his death, Loerke wrote an obituary for his former friend, Silesian poet and National Socialist Hermann Stehr, which was published in the newspaper Das Reich.