Editing Oswald Spengler (section)

=== Early life and family ===
Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler was born on 29 May 1880 in [[Blankenburg (Harz)|Blankenburg]], [[Duchy of Brunswick]], [[German Empire]], the oldest surviving child of Bernhard Spengler (1844–1901) and Pauline Spengler (1840–1910), [[Birth name|née]] Grantzow, the descendant of an artistic family.{{Sfn|Naeher|1984|p=19}}{{Sfn|Engels|2019|p=4}} Oswald's elder brother was born prematurely in 1879, when his mother tried to move a heavy laundry basket, and died at the age of three weeks. Oswald was born ten months after his brother's death.<ref>Koktanek, Anton Mirko, Oswald Spengler in seiner Zeit, Beck, 1968, p. 10</ref> His younger sisters were Adele (1881–1917), Gertrud (1882–1957), and Hildegard (1885–1942).{{Sfn|Naeher|1984|p=19}} Oswald's paternal grandfather, Theodor Spengler&nbsp;(1806–1876), was a metallurgical inspector (''Hütteninspektor'') in [[Altenbrak]].<ref>Koktanek, Anton Mirko, Oswald Spengler in seiner Zeit. Beck, 1968, p. 3, 517</ref>

Spengler's maternal great-grandfather, Friedrich Wilhelm Grantzow, a tailor's apprentice in Berlin, had three children out of wedlock with a Jewish woman named Bräunchen Moses ({{circa}} 1769–1849) whom he later married, on 26 May 1799.<ref name="selfimage">{{cite book|last1=Awerbuch|first1=Marianne|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALhtAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Br%C3%A4unchen+Moses%22|title=Bild und Selbstbild der Juden Berlins zwischen Aufklärung und Romantik|last2=Jersch-Wenzel|first2=Stefi|publisher=Colloquium|year=1992|isbn=9783767808058|place=Berlin|page=91|language=de|trans-title=Image and self-image of the Jews of Berlin between the Enlightenment and Romanticism}}</ref> Shortly before the wedding, Moses was baptized as Johanna Elisabeth Anspachin; the surname was chosen after her birthplace—[[Ansbach|Anspach]].<ref name="beck1968">Koktanek, Anton Mirko, Oswald Spengler in seiner Zeit. Beck, 1968, p. 5</ref> Her parents, Abraham and Reile Moses, were both deceased by then. The couple had another five children,<ref name="selfimage" /> one of whom was Spengler's maternal grandfather, Gustav Adolf Grantzow (1811–1883)—a solo dancer and ballet master in Berlin, who in 1837 married Katharina Kirchner (1813–1873), a solo dancer from a Munich Catholic family;<ref name="beck1968" /> the second of their four daughters was Oswald Spengler's mother Pauline Grantzow.<ref>{{cite book|last=Spengler|first=Oswald|title=Ich beneide jeden, der lebt|year=2007|publisher=Lilienfeld|page=126|isbn=9783940357021|language=de|trans-title=I envy anyone who lives}}</ref> Like the Grantzows in general, Pauline was of a [[Bohemianism|Bohemian]] disposition, and, before marrying Bernhard Spengler, accompanied her dancer sisters on tours. In appearance, she was plump. Her temperament, which Oswald inherited, was moody, irritable, and morose.<ref>Fischer, Klaus P., ''History and Prophecy: Oswald Spengler and The Decline of the West''. P. Lang, 1989, p. 27</ref>