Dall’Oecologie al Blut und Boden: interpretazioni ecologiste da Haeckel al Nazionalsocialismo

This contribution reconstructs a particular period in the history of ecological thought in Germany from the end of the 19th century to Nationalsocialism. Indeed, some key concepts used largely in ecological thought are formulated at this time: Oecologie, Umwelt, milieu and Lebensraum. The reconstruction of the meaning, use of these pivotal concepts, as the consideration of the political and intellectual milieus where they were developed are the object of this contribution, that considers their further development and appropriation during the phase of Nationalsocialism. In particular the changing meaning of the ideas of Oecologie, Umwelt, Oecumene and Lebensraum will be explored from the works by Ernst Haeckel and Friedrich Ratzel, to the Nationalsocialist ecological movements, supported by Rudolf Hess and Richard W. Darré.