ABSTRACT
In 1812 Franz Pforr died and Peter Cornelius took his place as co-leader, with Friedrich Overbeck, of the Lukasbund or the Brotherhood of St Luke, now frequently referred to as the Nazarenes. A critical point of no return has been created, beyond it the Brotherhood either comes to an end or loses its focus, splintering into two factions, a religious one led by Overbeck and a classical/nationalist one led by Cornelius. This chapter turns to the notion of Gemeinschaft (community), which Ferdinand Tönnies brought into sociological use in his 1887 book Gemeinschaft und Gesellschaft, and which has often been employed to describe the Lukasbund. The Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft opposition stems from a distinction between inner life and outer world: the internally focused life is led in accordance with one's true natural self as compared with a life focused on the outer world, characterized by artificiality and custom.
