George vs. Klages-Schuler: Context for Stefan George’s Poems “Nordics,” “Jews and Germans,” and “Templars”

In the Munich, the Cosmic Circle of Ludwig Klages and Alfred Schuler, deeming "the Jew the enemy of the human race," gave their erstwhile leader, Stefan George, this ultimatum: "What is your stand on Judah?" He replied that he wished he had more such Jewish disciples. George's views continued to overlap with those of the Cosmic Circle, especially in invoking the pagan earth mother of "Templars." Actually what first launched the George cult on a nationwide basis was Klages's own book, Stefan George, of 1902. The accusation of Klages's Nazism by indignantly pointing out that the Nazis distinctly distanced themselves from Klages. Though the Nazis shared Klages's basic metapolitics and had found him useful for propaganda among professors, they later found the Klages-Schuler cult embarrassing. The intensity of George's break with Klages-Schuler is paralleled by Nietzsche's break with the Jew-hater Richard Wagner; in both cases an intense friendship was severed on the grounds of civilized values higher than friendship.