Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4hhp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-24T12:08:16.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

8 - Vegetarianism, Meat and Life Reform in Early Twentieth-Century Germany and their Fate in the ‘Third Reich’

from Part II - Meat, Politics and Culture

Ulrike Thoms
Affiliation:
Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Get access

Summary

It is well known that Hitler regarded himself as a vegetarian, and described himself as such. Albert Speer, for example, reported that Hitler opposed the hunt, regarding it as a relic of the feudal world. Hitler was also known to describe meat eaters as ‘corpse eaters’ and meat broth as ‘corpse tea’, and often ordered his personal chef to prepare him separate vegetarian dishes even as his retinue dined on schnitzel and goulash. Henry Picker's account of Hitler's Table Talks testifies to the fact that Hitler was not motivated purely by health concerns. Indeed, in his recorded dinnertime conversations with his followers, held at the Führer's headquarters, Hitler also was known to have reflected upon the historical development of contemporary eating and dietary habits, and to have debated whether herbivorous animals were better suited to tasks of physical endurance. He also reported on the positive personal effects he experienced as a result of his vegetarian diet, claiming that after switching to a strictly meatless diet, he no longer sweated as profusely while delivering speeches at major rallies. Only later, after his health began to deteriorate, did Hitler begin to mention stomach complaints in his discussions of vegetarianism. In one instance, he is recorded to have plaintively pointed to his vegetarian and very small plate, and complained, ‘How am I supposed to be able to survive on this? Just take a look!’

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Pickering & Chatto
First published in: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×