In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

BEING-IN-THE-WORLDS OF 1926 465
pearance of a leader can therefore be expected. 96 [see Individuality =
Collectivity (Leader)]
A Different Option for the Same
Compared to Heidegger, Hans Friedrich Blunck had no reason to complain
about 1926. Having worked for some time as a legal counsel in the
finance department of the city of Hamburg, he was now promoted to the
highly visible and influential position of Syndikus (provost) at the University
of Hamburg. Before assuming his new duties, Blunck took a
vacation. He and his wife traveled, as nonpaying guests of the Hamburg­
South America Line, from Hamburg to Rio de Janeiro in the recently
inaugurated tourist class.97 [see Ocean Liners] Thus, for two members of
the same generation, the same nationality, and comparable levels of
education, Heidegger and Blunck could not have experienced 1926 more
differently. Yet the concepts and values they applied to their own lives
and to human existence in general were strikingly similar. Whenever
Blunck thought about his future duties and projects as head administrator
of the University of Hamburg, his favorite concept was Sorge. 98 Like
Heidegger, he pretended to resent any superfluous use of words-and he
thus developed a prejudice against parliamentary forms of politics: "Despite
my strong social concerns, I do not fit into the parties of the Left.
Perhaps this is because I am too much of a northern German not to see
that loud Internationalism-like the noise of some groups which have
been sticking to our parties for the past seven years-is a tactical mistake."99
Given this suspiciously distanced way of viewing the world of
politics, it is not surprising that Blunck expressed as much distaste as
Heidegger for modern urban life, especially that of Berlin: "I've learned
to despise Berlin ... I hate the freedom of the bog. The things one sees
here! Advertisements for every kind of perversion, journals for sadists,
images of the most repellent sexuality-and all in the name of freedom!"lOO
Though it is likely that Blunck and Heidegger had heard of each other,
there is no reason to assume any mutual influence. Still, their lives have
so many events and aspects in common that Blunck's biography resembles
a north German version of Heidegger's.lol Blunck was born in
Hamburg-Altona on September 3, 1888, one year and twenty-three days