Scientist, Sorcerer, or Servant of Humanity

Like many of the German writers and philosophers of the Romantic age, Achim von Arnim showed a keen interest in the supernatural, the occult, the magical, and in those forces and phenomena which exert a decisive influence on man's existence, while defying rational comprehension and explanation. Arnim's inquiries into the causal factors and manifestations of various physical and metaphysical powers covered a broad range of subjects. Early in his career, while he was still a student of law in Halle, he became interested in the study of natural phenomena, which preoccupied him for the first few years after his matriculation in 1798. 1 But even after his interests shifted to endeavours of a literary nature, he continued to incorporate into his writings views and conclusions which he had attained in the course of scientific research. Thus the hypothetical principle of the `formative power' (`gestaltende Kraft') , which he had first posited in his 'Versuch einer Theorie der elektrischen Erscheinungen,' reappears in slightly varied form on the literary level as the major life-sustaining and progressive element in his characters. Similarly, his familiarity with the theories of Friedrich Hufeland, Anton Mesmer, and John Brown e is

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