Wilhelm Marr

Wilhelm Marr (1819-1904) was a German journalist and activist who is often regarded as the father of modern antisemitism. He coined the term 'Antisemitismus' in 1879, shifting the focus of anti-Jewish sentiment from religious grounds to racial ones. Marr founded the Antisemiten-Liga, the first political organization explicitly dedicated to anti-Jewish activism, and authored works that propagated his belief in a Jewish threat to German society. His writings, particularly 'Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum,' articulated a view that Jews were racially inferior and detrimental to German culture, helping to reshape antisemitism for the contemporary context of 19th-century Germany.