Page "Hugo Ball" Paragraph 2

Hugo Ball was born in Pirmasens, Germany and was raised in a middle-class Catholic family.

He studied sociology and philosophy at the universities of Munich and Heidelberg ( 1906 – 1907 ).

In 1910, he moved to Berlin in order to become an actor and collaborated with Max Reinhardt.

At the beginning of the First World War he tried joining the army as a volunteer, but was denied enlistment for medical issues.

After witnessing the invasion of Belgium, he was disillusioned saying: " The war is founded on a glaring mistake, men have been confused with machines ".

Considered a traitor in his country, he crossed the frontier with his wife and settled in Zürich.

Here, Ball continued his interest in anarchism, and in Bakunin in particular ; he also worked on the book of Bakunin translations, which never got published.

Although interested in anarchist philosophy, he nonetheless rejected it for its militant aspects, and viewed it as only a means to his personal goal of enlightenment.