Gleichschaltung, Heidegger, and Trump.

A couple of days ago, I visited the Dokumentationszentrum Nationalsozialismus, a recently built museum dedicated to the history of the Nazi era in the city of Freiburg. The whole museum was impressive and, of course, very disturbing on many levels.

One aspect that was especially chilling concerned the process of Gleichschaltung during the early period of Nazi rule. The term literally means “same circuit”, and was coined to refer to the ideal that all social and cultural organizations should be in accord with Nazi ideology and policy.

 As the display pictured below explains, Martin Heidegger, philosopher and Nazi, was appointed as Rector of Freiburg University in 1933. (And, yes, it is fair to call Heidegger a Nazi; he literally joined the party and remained a member until the end of the war.) As Rector, Heidegger actively promoted the Gleichschaltung of the university.

Back in the United States in 2025, we have the Trump administration actively trying to force Harvard and other universities to be run in accord with his ideals, in particular his opposition to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion. He also recently issued an executive order requiring applicants for federal employment “write an essay in support of President Donald Trump's executive orders” (Newsweek, June 3, 2025). Such actions are best described in the original German.