Der Weltuntergang: Eine Phantasie aus dem Jahre 1900

At the close of the 19th century Europe trembles on the brink of unprecedented change. Inventions have finally conquered the skies, daring flights to the North Pole stir the public imagination, while the great powers exhaust endless budgets on ever‑more lethal armaments. Nations stand locked in a feverish arms race, their parliaments deaf to dissent, and the masses swirl in a restless mix of nationalist fervor and apocalyptic dread.

Against this backdrop, a quiet narrator witnesses a startling shift high above the world—an eerie “revolution in the firmament” that hints at a calamity beyond any battlefield. As diplomats debate peace congresses and societies cling to familiar routines, the strange celestial phenomenon begins to reshuffle the rules of politics, science, and belief, forcing characters to confront a future that could rewrite the very fate of humanity.