From “Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies” by David P. Gushee
Blood and soil. Alienated by the rapid pace of German industrialization and urbanization, the Germanic ideologues identified the real Germany with its agrarian roots. The term Blut und Boden, “blood and soil,” was coined in the late nineteenth century to name the purported mystical connection between the Germanic “race” and their land, and this romantic-agrarian concept later became central in Nazi ideology and policy. As Stern puts it: “They indulged in nostalgic recollection of the uncorrupted life of earlier rural communities, when men were peasants and kings true rulers”.