Friedrich Wolters became acquainted with Stefan George through a man already in George's circle: a man named Berthold Valentin (pictured with Wolters below). Wolters was a close friend of Valentin, but once Wolters started getting more intimate with George, his whole behavior and outlook became directed towards serving the poet. Wolters navigated his way into George's inner circle and renounced earthly pursuits to better serve his master. In many ways, George's fame within his lifetime can be partially predicated on the devotion of Wolters. Robert Norton states, "Wolters enacted what he had abstractly envisioned, focusing his talents, hopes, and prodigious energies on explaining and magnifying the meaning of George to the world" (Norton 349). He wrote for George's literary journal and even completed a biography of George before his death (he died even before George). 

 

According to Norton, "Wolters was perhaps the most militant of George's followers, the most radical in his national commitments, and the one most interested in the political ramifications of their shared ideology" (Norton 349). While this digitization project does not tackle political governance as a major theme, the positive display of George's homosexuality (and the homosexuality of many men within his Circle) is in itself a political statement. LGBTQ representation is such an important concept, especially in a historical context, so I think Wolters may have been proud of my motivation to voice a political opinion.