Josef Magnus Wehner

Josef Magnus Wehner (14 November 1891 in Bernbach – 14 December 1973 in Munich) was a German writer and playwright. Celebrated (locally, in Fulda) as a "great German poet" his reputation is criticized for the militarism displayed in his work and his allegiance to the NSDAP.

Josef Magnus Wehner
Born	(1891-11-14)14 November 1891 Bernbach
Died	14 December 1973(1973-12-14) (aged 82) Munich
Nationality	German
Occupation(s)	writer and playwright

Wehner was one of the 88 German authors who signed the Gelöbnis treuester Gefolgschaft, a 1933 "promise of most loyal obedience" to Adolf Hitler.^[1] After the war, he wrote a number of feast plays for religious occasions, including celebrations for Rabanus Maurus and Saint Boniface. In a 1988 study of Wehner, Joachim Hohmann concluded that Wehner's past was too easily forgotten and that his reputation as a Catholic Heimatdichter was undeserved and white-washed his national socialist past.^[2]

Works (selection)

• Das Fuldaer Bonifatiusspiel. Fulda: Parzeller, 1954.
• Die Versuchung des Rabanus Maurus. Fulda, 1956.