Were young people in Weimar Germany more rebellious?
Introduction:
Struggle for control over behaviour and development of German youth = key battleground in Weimar Republic’s ‘culture wars’.
Widespread concern that young people in Weimar Germany were breaking free of constraints of family, school and religion, and turning increasingly to life of crime and anti-social behaviour.
Gymnasium schools: a selective school that provided a classical education. Children would remain at a Gymnasium for 9 years before taking university entrance examination. Teaching methods were very authoritarian and discipline was maintained through corporal punishment. The curriculum was rigid.
Most children from working-class families didn’t attend Gymnasium schools + were supposed to leave school at 14 and begin apprenticeship/employment.
Youth Problems and Unemployment:
Young people in Weimar Germany, many of whom had lost fathers in the war, had to face no. of difficulties: long-term industrialisation had generated social pressures.
In Weimar Germany there were fewer apprenticeships and more youth unemployment → loss of direction for many of Germany’s youth.
Young people suffered disproportionately from rise in unemployment after 1924 → in 1925/6 17% of unemployed were in 14-21 age group.
This was partly b/c there had been a demographic shift in the population, a baby boom between 1900 and 1910, so many more young people were seeking employment at a time when employers were reducing workforces.
Benefits system provided some help for young people and day centres were established to help youths acquire skills needed to find work but couldn’t compensate for lack of employment opportunity.
Result = many young, working-class Germans living in big cities joined gangs to find comradeship, mutual support and sense of adventure otherwise lacking in their lives.
Although in Hamburg, juvenile crime reached its peak in 1917 with nearly 1600 incidents - by 1928 this had dipped to just over 400.
Attempts to deal with ‘youth problem’:
● National Youth Welfare Law 1922: declared every child had ‘right to education, spiritual, physical and social fitness’.
● Programmes for young from poor backgrounds were established, as well as provision for youth clubs and sports facilities.
● Divided into 2 broad categories: ‘youth service’ for majority and ‘youth welfare’ for ‘deviant’ young people.
Youth ‘cliques’ in Hamburg and Berlin:
● Youth ‘cliques’ (another name for gangs) = prevalent in working-class districts of large German cities, also known as ‘wild cliquen’ (wild cliques).
● Wanted to break away from tradition and constraints of parents’ generation.
● In Hamburg there were cliques with names such as Farmers’ Fear, Red Apaches, Tartar’s Blood and Eagle’s Claw → each group associated with particular district of the city.
● Names reflected importance of projecting image of physical toughness, aggressive masculinity and anti-social attitudes.
● Cliques often used taverns as meeting places b/c alcohol played an important role in their sub-culture.
● Prospective recruits were required to undertake initiation tests e.g. stealing or vandalism to demonstrate willingness to break the law.
● Each group had own uniform and flag.
Traditional Education:
● Germany prided itself on having one of the best education systems in Europe, developed in Prussia and then extended to the rest of Germany after 1871.
● Alongside the Gymnasiums for those aiming at university, there were Realschule, which provided 6 years of schooling for children who would go on to apprenticeships.
● Although there were v. few elite private schools in Germany, state education system was divided along class lines → majority of those at Gymnasiums were middle and upper class.
● System was also divided along religious lines, since Protestant and Catholic churches had powerful influence over religious education.
Education Reform:
● Education reformers in W. Republic aimed to break down class and religious divides and provide a comprehensive, non-sectarian education free to all pupils → only partially successful in achieving this.
● Main educational reform of Weimar period = introduction of elementary schools, which all children would attend for first 4 years of education.
● Those who didn’t then pass entrance examination for Gymnasium would continue at elementary school for further 4 years.
● h/e reformers didn’t succeed in aim of removing influence of churches from schools → both Catholic and Protestant churches vigorously + successfully defended right to promote religious teachings through state education system, supported by respective political parties.
Youth Groups:
● Establishment of organisations catering for young people began in 1890s and continued throughout Weimar period.
● 3 main types of youth groups:
i) Wandervogel:
● First Wandervogel group, or ‘wandering birds/ birds of passage’ set up in 1896 by Berlin schoolteacher.
● Movement quickly spread + groups consisted of mainly middle-class boys
● Although Wandervogel were non-political, they were highly nationalistic, particularly after WW1, with v. romanticized view of Germany’s past.
● Hated industrialisation and big cities and spent much of the time hiking in forests, swimming in lakes and rivers and sleeping under canvas, rejecting middle-class social conventions and sought freedom of wild spaces.
● Some adopted unconventional lifestyles e.g. nudism and vegetarianism.
ii) Church youth groups:
● Both Catholic and Protestant churches had youth groups → focus mainly on promoting church attendance and respect for family and Christian values.
● Catholics had many different groups aimed at different sections of young people e.g. New Germany, founded in 1919, aimed at middle-class youth.
● Protestants didn’t give youth work high priority + groups had far fewer members.
● In both religions, the tasks of youth groups = to promote religious observance and instill respect for church, family and school.
iii) Political Youth Groups:
● All main political parties had youth sections e.g.:
● Social Democratic Youth Movement (SPD) founded in 1925 → had the most members of any political youth groups in Weimar period.
● Young Communist League founded in 1925 → for children of KPD members.
● Bismarck Youth, linked to DNVP, founded in 1922 → membership of 42,000 by 1928. Strongest appeal among upper and middle class youths in Protestant areas, but also had strong working-class following in Berlin.
● Hitler Youth, linked to Nazi Party → growth was slow in 1920s, only had membership of 13,000 in 1929.