The Circle of Friends surrounding the »White Rose«

A portrait of the people associated with the resistance group led by Hans and Sophie Scholl.

Otmar Hammerstein (1917-2003), the author’s elder brother, belonged to the group of friends surrounding the resistance group »White Rose«, fervently participating in their activities and discussions. On the basis of his literary estate, the historian Notker Hammerstein gives us an exact insight into the group’s sphere of influence. He traces how cultural influences and the exchange with scholars and artists served to reinforce each member’s opposition to Nazi rule, and strengthened some of them in their resolve to take specific action.
Following the arrest of the resistance group led by Hans and Sophie Scholl in February 1943, Otmar Hammerstein became a target of the Gestapo. His transfer to the Netherlands removed him from imminent danger. There, he joined the active resistance movement against occupying Nazi forces. Notker Hammerstein describes these events, and also his brother’s view of his own actions and public attitudes towards resistance once the war was over.

Notker Hammerstein, born in 1930, was a professor of medieval and contemporary history at the University of Frankfurt a. M. until 1995. He has published books and essays on the history of universities and science, early modern jurisprudence and political science and the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.