Walter Benjamin (1892 – 1940, DE), philosopher and cultural theorist

Walter Benjamin’s essay Hashish in Marseille is mostly a protocol from the 29th of September 1928, which registers Benjamin’s experiments with hashish. He considered these notes ‘a very worthwhile supplement to my philosophical observations’. Here, he tried to put himself in the romantic tradition outlined by Charles Baudelaire, who sought to marry dreams and reality. At the same time, however, Benjamin refused to give intoxication any mystical status and assumed a rather anthropological approach.

Benjamin made several visits to Marseille: in 1926, in 1928 and finally in 1940, when he tried to escape the war. His tour from his hotel room to the outskirts of Marseille can be understood as part of his sustained exploration of urban space. Hashish certainly gave this journey new contours, estranging the once familiar landscape and language.