Der Untertan Add a review

Der Untertan (German: [deːɐ̯ ˈʔʊntɐtaːn]; literally "the underling", translated into English under the titles Man of Straw, The Patrioteer, and The Loyal Subject) is one of the best known novels of German author Heinrich Mann. The title character, Diederich Hessling, a dedicated 'Untertan' in the sense of a person subservient to a monarch or prince, is an immoral man who is meant to serve as an allegory of both the reign of Kaiser Wilhelm II and German society of his time.

The novel was completed during the July Crisis in 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I. Extracts had been published in the satirical magazine Simplicissimus from 1912 onwards, causing great controversy. Mann signed a contract with the magazine Die Zeit im Bild for the publication of the censored version of the novel from the beginning of 1914, but on 1 August the publication was stopped as "inappropriate". A book edition was not published until 1918 by Kurt Wolff in Leipzig.

In the novel, Hessling gains a doctorate of chemistry and then starts a business career as a paper manufacturer. He becomes an influential figure in local politics, but his inflexible ideals are contradicted by his own actions. He supports militarism, anti-socialism, and Christian morality, but he refuses to serve in the military, he regularly uses slander against his business rivals, and he acts as the main political supporter of a social democratic politician in order to advance his business schemes.