The three studies presented here on the history of fascination share a common theme: the secret death wish in the history of the human species, which our civilization carries like a hidden explosive. Self-destruction – the experience with which my generation grew up during the Nazi era – remains for me the central theme of a realistic theory of civilization and a philosophy of religion that enlightens it beyond its needs. This equally secretive and obvious center is what the three studies revolve around. Content Preface I "Consciousness is not a sufficient weapon." On the fascination of elective affinities today II The dust and thought. On the fascination of Sophocles' Antigone after the war III Holding on to Freud. A Heine-Freud miniature on the still relevant role of the enlightener Freud.