Der Kopf

Kopf, Der, a satirical novel by H. Mann, published in 1925. It is concerned with the ruling powers of Wilhelmine Germany, covers the period 1891-1914, and forms the third part of the trilogy known as the Kaiserreich-Trilogie. It is a roman à clef; the Emperor Wilhelm II appears by name, Lanna is the fictitious name for Bülow, Fischer for Tirpitz, Tolleben for von Bethmann-Hollweg, and Gubitz for F. von Holstein. Two important characters, Mangolf and Terra, are entirely fictitious. Mangolf, the so-called realist, and Terra, the devious idealist, both seek power. The former, to attain his ends, is willing to surrender his integrity by subservience to Lanna (Bülow). After the (fictitious) death of Tolleben (Bethmann-Hollweg) at the outbreak of the 1914-18 War, Mangolf becomes his successor. He recognizes that the German defeat at the Marne means that the war is lost, but he cannot stop it because the true power is held by the generals and admirals. Both Mangolf and Terra (whose personal affairs also occupy a substantial part of the novel) commit suicide.

The incongruity of the factual and the fictional may be one reason for the comparative neglect of this novel.