Which literary traditions helped carry the Nazis to power In which parts of Germany were these traditions strongest This study answers these questions by examining the life and career of one of the Third Reichs most influential literati the northern German poet Hans Friedrich Blunck 18881961. Infamous as a classic Blut und Boden blood and earth writer Blunck worked in neoRomantic traditional folk styles and was best known for his fairy tales and semihistorical works about his native SchleswigHolstein. From 1933 to 1935 he was president of the Third Reichs Reichsschrifttumskammer Reich Literary Chamber RSK a professional union that included all of Nazi Germanys acceptable and legally publishable writers. From 1936 to 1940 he was president of Die Stiftung des deutschen Auslandswerks Foundation for German Foreign Work DAW a cultural embassy of his own invention that sought to build informal diplomatic links between Germany and its neighbors. While numerous writers distanced themselves from the Nazi regime before the war Blunck maintained his ties until the end. His activities represent a consequential and arguably the most revealing story of literary complicity in the Third Reich. Moreover his life says a great deal about the cultural forces particularly the regional literary forces that helped propel the Nazis to power.