1876: Mainländer - Commitment to the homeland in the name
Mainländerstraße is hidden between Taunusring and Blumenstraße. The Mainländer memorial stone is hidden under bushes in Dreieichpark. There are memories of the thinker Philipp Mainländer, who voluntarily gave up his life in 1876. But these memories are not vivid. Only a few people can relate to the name.
Things were different when the stone in the park was unveiled in May 1912. It was paid for by admirers of Aminländer's work of thought, but the city council undertook to maintain it permanently. Mayor Andreas Dullo emphasized this solemnly at the unveiling ceremony.
Johann Philipp Batz, who adopted the pseudonym Mainländer as a commitment to his homeland, came from a family of Offenbach factory owners. He was the youngest of six siblings, two of whom took their own lives. It may have been a family trait that Johann Philipp died in mental confusion. He was only 34 years old, but had completed his main work "The Philosophy of Redemption". Born in 1841, the autodidact never attended university. Mainländer was working in Naples in his learned profession as a merchant when he became acquainted with the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. On his return to Offenbach in 1863, he saw himself as a student of Schopenhauer.
Batz initially worked in his father's store in Offenbach, then went to Berlin as a bank clerk, where he adopted the pseudonym Mainländer. He spent his free time studying, working on his philosophy and writing poems and novellas.
In 1874, he was forced to join the army. Although his parents had bought him out of military service, he joined the Halberstadt cuirassiers as a volunteer. It must have been a disappointment. After a few months, he applied for his discharge. This was followed by a short period of fruitful work in Offenbach before his mind darkened. He completed a work about which Friedrich Nietzsche, for example, expressed his respect. Influenced by Schopenhauer, it developed into a deeply pessimistic view: "The whole world, the universe, has one goal, non-existence." Being only comes into being for the purpose of destroying itself. In the 21st century, this view cannot seem outdated.
On the morning of April 1, 1876, Mainländer was found dead in front of his bookshelf at Waldstraße 13. When he had unpacked the first copies of his magnum opus the day before, the 34-year-old considered his life to be fulfilled.
