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The Politics of Humor: Adolph Glassbrenner and the Rediscovery of the Prussian Vormärz (1815–48)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 December 2008

Extract

In the postwar search for German national heroes, preferably committed democrats, scholars have rediscovered the Berlin wit and journalist Adolph Glassbrenner (1810–76). In the series of exhibitions about Prussia which flooded West Berlin in 1981 Glassbrenner's memorabilia surfaced with regularity. He even merited a small exhibition of his own and a biography in the series Preussische Köpfe. Berlin enthusiasts and aficionados of German folk culture praise him as a quaint, local humorist while others, primarily academic Germanists and historians, point to his activities as a liberal opponent of the Prussian state before the revolution of 1848. None of these many admirers would argue, however, that Glassbrenner was a major literary talent or a particularly original political thinker.

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Copyright © Conference Group for Central European History of the American Historical Association 1987

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References

I am pleased to acknowledge financial support for my research and writing by the Fulbright Commission, the International Research and Exchanges Board, the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon, and the American Association of University Women. For their comments on various drafts of this essay I would like to thank Peter Gay, Jeffrey L. Sammons, Ruth Gay, and Edward Harper. This article is dedicated to my father, W. Laird Townsend.

1. An exhibition by Ingrid Heinrich-Jost entitled “Adolf Glassbrenner” appeared 19 Feb.–22 Mar. 1981 in the Haus am Lützowplatz, and 25 Sept.–18 Oct. 1981 in the Lapidarium in Kreuzberg. See also Heinrich-Jost, Ingrid, Adolf Glassbrenner, Reihe Preussische Köpfe (Berlin[West], 1981)Google Scholar. I have chosen the spelling “Adolph” since this is what Glassbrenner used during the Vormärz. Later he began signing his name “Adolf.”

2. Glassbrenner in a letter to an unknown recipient, 5 Nov. 1873, Landesarchiv Berlin (West), Rep. 241, Acc. 566, Nr. 28. This phrase is also cited in Horst Denkler's introduction to Adolf Glassbrenner: Unterrichtung der Nation: Ausgewählte Werke und Briefe, ed. Denkler, Horst, Balzer, Bernd, Grosse, Wilhelm and Heinrich-Jost, Ingrid, Reihe “i L v [sic] leske republik,” Materialien zum Vormärz, vol. 10 (Cologne, 1981), 1: 18.Google Scholar

3. The major biographical source for Glassbrenner is his Nachlass, the larger portion of which is in the Ratsbibliothek section of the Berliner Stadtbibliothek in Berlin/GDR. The smaller portion is in the Landesarchiv Berlin in Berlin (West). Important printed sources are a pamphlet written by his colleague, Richard Schmidt-Cabanis, Adolf Glassbrenner: Eine biographischliterarhistorische Skizze (Berlin, 1881)Google Scholar, and a well-researched article by his later admirer, Brennert, Hans, “Die Ahnentafel von Adolph Glassbrenner,” Zeitschrifi des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins 2 (1941): 6367Google Scholar. Two recent editions of selected works are also useful: Unterrichtung der Nation, 3 vols., ed. Denkler, et al. Google Scholar, and Adolf Glassbrenner: Welt im Guckkasten, selected works in 2 vols., ed. Ueding, Gert (Frankfurt a/M., 1985)Google Scholar. For the best secondary studies see below, n. 31.

4. Berliner Don Quixote, no. 149 (24 Sept. 1833), [no pagination]: “Schämens sich nit?” sagte ein reicher Wiener Kaufmann zu seinem Buchhalter, “können's nit a mal addiren!” —“I bitt Ihne urn Verzeihung,” entgegnete dieser, “i kann abers guet subtrahiren, denn wann i Ihr Geld von Ihne abzich, bleibt Null.” Here and throughout I use Glassbrenner's original spelling and transliterations. All translations are my own; however, I am very much indebted to Prof. Peter Gay, who graciously helped me refine some of the more awkward phrases.

5. For Glassbrenner's conflicts with censorship officials over the Don Quixote see: Zentrales Staatsarchiv, Dienststelle Merseburg [hereafter: ZStA Merseburg], Ober-Censur-Collegium, Rep. 101 E, Spec. Lit. B, Nr. 41, Acta betr: Die Censur der von A. Glasbrenner in Berlin unter dem Titel: Berliner Don Quixote herausgegebenen Zeitschrift, v. 3. Dezbr. 1831, esp. Bl. 1–8, 31; ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Acta betr: Die von Adolph Glassbrenner herausgegebenen Zeit- und Flugschriften, deren Censur und Debit, v. 1. Aug. 1832–1852, Bl. 1–23; Staatsarchiv Potsdam [hereafter: StA Potsdam], Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 94 (10076), Acta des Königlichen Polizei-Präsidii zu Berlin betreffend den Schriftsteller Glasbrenner, 1845–67, Bl. 1–7. Again, I have retained the original spelling in these documents. Houben, H. H., Verbotene Literatur von der Klassischen Zeit bis zur Gegenwart (Berlin, 1924), 1: 205–8Google Scholar, summarizes some of Glassbrenner's quarrels with the censors.

6. Today the word Eckensteher is often translated as “loafer,” and this comes close to the historical reality. Somewhere on the borderline between the lowest strata of respectable workers and the disreputable riffraff and criminals of Berlin slouched the Eckensteher. He was a town porter who could be hired to carry heavy objects or even a lady's shopping basket. Sometimes he accepted other work on a day-to-day basis and thus might be called a day laborer. See Townsend, Mary Lee, “Language of the Forbidden: Popular Humor in Vormärz Berlin, 1819–1848” (Ph.D. diss., Yale Univ., 1984), esp. 170–94Google Scholar. See also Tennigkeit, Vally, “Een Mensch namens Nante: Zur Geschichte der Nante-Darstellung,” Jahrbuch für brandenburgische Landesgeschichte 19 (1968): 2144.Google Scholar

7. Letter to Veit und Co., 6 July 1837, Goethe- und Schiller Archiv, Nationale Forschungs- und Gedenkstätten der Klassischen Deutschen Literatur in Weimar, Abteilung II, Nr. 857. The letter is filed in Weimar under the date 1857, but its content makes clear that the semilegible date is 1837.

8. Ad. Brennglas, Berlin wie es ist und—trinkt, 6, part 2: Guckkästner, 2d ed. (Leipzig, 1840): 1415Google Scholar: “Dritter Junge: Sajen Se mal, wozu sind denn die vielen blauen Schilder an de Wege? Guckkästner: Die Alleen sind alle bezeichnet, damit man sich auch in Jottes freier Natur daran erinnert, dass man immer unter eine jerechte Obrigkeit steht.” 22–23: “Guckkästner:… Die Fijuren, welche Sie im Vorderjrunde bemerken, sind deutsche Auswanderer, die ihr heimathliches Vaterland verlassen haben, weil se sich nich mehr ernähren konnten und jedrückt wurden. Zweiter Junge: Na mein Vater hat ja aber immer aus de Zeitungen vorgelesen, det es so schlecht in Amerika is! Guckkästner: Det is richtig? Die Zeitungen lügen uns des vor, damit de Leute nich auswandern sollen, aber es ist doch besser in Amerika (er sieht sich urn). Da is Freiheit. Rrrr! ein anderes Bild!”

9. ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Bl. 39. Houben, , Verbotene Literatur, 1: 210Google Scholar, also cites this phrase.

10. This comment by K. A. Varnhagen von Ense is typical. See, e.g., Aus dem Nachlass Varnhagen von Ense: Tagebücher von K. A. Varnhagen von Ense (Leipzig, 1861) 2: 267–68Google Scholar; see also below pp. 41–44, 55.

11. Glassbrenner describes his fiancée's dismissal in a MS in the Stadtarchiv Hannover, Autografensammlung, Nr. 3416 (formerly in the Kestner Museum, Hannover). On Glassbrenner's battle to edit the Freimüthige see ZStA Merseburg, Ober-Censur-Collegium, Rep. 101 E, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 22, Acta betr: Die Censur und den Debit der von Adolf Glassbrenner herausgegebenen Schriften. 1. Aus den Papieren eines Hingerichteten, v. 5. Decbr 1834, Bl. 7–19. Houben, , Verbotene Literatur, 1: 211Google Scholar also describes the incident.

12. StA Potsdam, Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 94(10969), Acta des Königlichen Polizei-Präsidii zu Berlin betreffend Die Anordnungen zur Sicherheit Ihrer Majestäten des Kaisers und der Kaiserin, 1844–1866, Bl. 3; StA Potsdam, Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 94 (12879), Acta des Königlichen Polizei-Präsidii zu Berlin, betreffend den Lehrer Robert Schulte aus Elberfeld und Schriftsteller und Zeitungs-Correspondenten, welche der Umsturzpartei angehören, 1845–1878, Bl. 15.

13. Calendars were the one printed work, besides the Bible, found in almost every household. For government concern about Glassbrenner's calendars see, e.g., ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Bl. 195–247, 297 ff. For Glassbrenner's request to go to Berlin, see his Nachlass, Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), Geschäftliche Papiere-2.

14. On Reineke Fuchs see below p. 50 and n. 39.

15. See, e.g., Adolf Glassbrenner, “Zuruf an die armen Arbeiter, Landleute und Burger Deutschlands,” Plakat, 1848 (?), Nachlass Glassbrenner, Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), W–60. See also below pp. 51–52.

16. On the reliability o f statistics about Saphir see Townsend, “Language o f the Forbidden,” 23, esp. n. 16. On Prince von Wittgenstein see Houben, H. H., Der Ewige Zensor, reprint of Polizei und Zensur (1926), ed. Richter, Claus and Labuhn, Wolfgang (Kronberg/Ts., 1978), 79Google Scholar. Noyes, Paul H., Organization and Revolution: Working-Class Associations in the German Revolutions of 1848–1849 (Princeton, 1966), 31Google Scholar, calculates that in Berlin an artisan in the most skilled and exclusive trades might earn five or six thaler a week. In the best possible (and unlikely) case of full employment all year, this would yield 260 to 312 thaler annually. Reisner, Hanns-Peter, Literatur unter der Zensur: Die politische Lyrik des Vormärz (Stuttgart, 1975), 51Google Scholar, states that Hoffmann von Fallersleben earned 500 thaler a year between 1835 and 1842 as a professor at the University o f Breslau, while some professors at other universities earned 1,500 thaler plus extras.

17. Ad. Brennglas, , Herr Buffey in der Berliner Kunstausstellung (Berlin, 1838), 1: 3:Google Scholar “Hulda: Du gehst also Deiner Zeit voran, wie alle grossen Männer.” 4: “[Buffey]: Du siehst jut aus, Hulda,… Nach Dir werden de Mannsleute wieder wie doll sind…. Aber, Willem, mit Dir leg' ick nich viel Ehre in.”

18. For a more extensive discussion of the character Buffey see Steiner, Volkmar, Adolf Glassbrenners Rentier Buffey: Zur Typologie des Kleinbürgers im Vormärz, Europäische Hochschulschriften, Reihel, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur, vol. 638 (Frankfurt a/M., 1983), esp. 84 ff.Google Scholar

19. Schenda, Rudolf, Volk ohne Buch: Studien zur Sozialgeschichte der populären Lesestoffe 1770–1910 (Munich, 1977), 444–45Google Scholar; Engelsing, Rolf, Analphabetentum und Lektüre: Zur Sozialgeschichte des Lesens in Deutschland zwischen feudaler und industrieller Gesellschaft (Stuttgart, 1973), 96Google Scholar; Fischer, W., Krengel, J. and Wietog, J., Sozialgeschichtliches Arbeitsbuch I: Materialien zur Statistik des Deutschen Bundes 1815–1870 (Munich, 1982), 234Google Scholar, give census statistics which show that only 15.39% of those Berliners born in 1801 or earlier, and 8.60% of those born between 1802 and 1811, could neither read nor write.

20. Holtei, Karl von, Vierzig Jahre (Berlin, 1844), 4: 283Google Scholar, describes “Droschkenkutscher auf ihrem Bocke und Gemüseweiber vor ihren Körben.” Houben, , Verbotene Literatur, 1: 207Google Scholar, cites the censor Grano's description of “Laufburschen vor dem Zensurbureau.”

21. On technological innovations important to the book trade see Widmann, Hans, Geschichte des Buchhandels vom Altertum bis zur Gegenwart, 1Google Scholar: Bis zur Erfindung des Buchdruks sowie Geschichte des deutschen Buchhandels, 2d ed., rev. (Wiesbaden, 1975), 126–29Google Scholar and Goldfriedrich, Johann, Geschichte des Deutschen Buchhandels, 4Google Scholar: Vom Beginn der Fremdherrschaft bis zur Reform des Börsenvereins im neuen Dentschen Reiche (1805–1889) (Leipzig, 1913), 199200, 222–24, 285–87, 349.Google Scholar

22. Goldfriedrich, , Geschichte, 4: 212–14Google Scholar, describes some of these innovations. All the Vormärz volumes of the Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel und für die mit ihm verwandten Geschäftszweige are full of articles, commentaries, advertisements, and letters seething with genteel anger at the new penny literature. See, e.g., 1 (1834): 270, and 7 (1840): 999–1000.

23. On the Pfennigmagazin see Goldfriedrich, , Geschichte, 4: 209–10Google Scholar. Beginning in 1842 the publishing firm of Ignaz Jackowitz in Leipzig printed all new volumes in Glassbrenner's Berlin series (vol. 13 ff). For the 1841 contract to reprint earlier volumes see Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), Nachlass Glassbrenner, Geschäftspapiere-21. Volkmar Steiner's estimates of the circulation of Glassbrenner's Buffey volumes parallels my estimates for the Berlin series; see Buffey, 268–70.

24. Steiner, Buffey, 218–21, offers an excellent overview of Glassbrenner's earnings. Ludwig, Hans. ed., Theodor Hosemann (Berlin [West], 1980), 89Google Scholar, cites the income of Berlin's Bürgermeitferas 3,000 thaler, and that of the Oberbügermeister as 5,500 thaler. The correspondence between Glassbrenner and his wife indicates that the couple enjoyed an extremely happy married life; see, e.g., their letters in both parts of the Nachlass, in Berlin/GDR and Berlin (West) (see above, n. 3).

25. Dronke, Ernst, Berlin, reprint of the first ed. (1846), ed. Nitsche, Rainer (Darmstadt, 1974), 20Google Scholar, estimates four readers per publication; Engelsing, Analphabetentum, 57, cites an assertion made in 1840 that twenty people shared a newspaper. For an evaluation of prices and for police assessments of Glassbrenner's impact on the lower classes see Townsend, “Language of the Forbidden,” 115–17 and 270–77.

26. For police and censorship records about the pamphlet see: StA Potsdam, Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 165 (13405), Acta generalia des Königlichen Polizei-Präsidii zu Berlin, betreffend die polizeiliche Controlle über den Eingang und Debit der im Ausland in Deutscher Sprache erschienenen und als solche a priori verbotenen Schriften so wie derjenigen Schriften, deren Debit suspendirt ist, 1820–1848, Bl. 162; ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Bl. 107–39; ZStA Merseburg, Ober-Censur-Gericht, Rep. 101 H, Nr. 8, Acta des Staats-Anwalts beim Königlichen Ober-Censur-Gericht betreffend: Die Debits-Verbote von Schriften, vol. 2, 1845, Bl. 77–85.

27. Brennglas, Adolph, Berliner Gewerbe-Ausstellung (Leipzig, 1844), 2: 11:Google Scholar “Des is keen Kriegs-König, unser, wenn er ooch immer so anjezogen jeht. Des is en König, der im Frieden en jrösserer Siejer werden kann, als selbst der alte Fritze.” 25: “Man sei auch in allem Andern männlich: man ehre das gegebene Wort, man hasse Schmeichelei und … suche Gott durch schöne Thaten, nicht durch schöne Worte …” “Ich will mich dieser Worte erinnern, so oft ich Champagner trinke.”

28. Ibid.: 47: “… die Bedrückung der armen Arbeiter vorausgesetzt …” 65: “Indistrie-Ausstellung is sehr schön, aber zu essen muss der Mensch haben, des is de Hauptsache…. nu wird so'n dummer Junge bei die Zeiten, wo de besten Menschen jar nischt zu essen haben, ooch noch fragen, wat et jibt!”

29. Von Arnim requested a criminal investigation on the grounds that Glassbrenner had violated “PP 151, Tit. 20, Thl. II” of the Allgemeines Landrecht. The Criminal court rejected this, arguing that the pamphlet in question, “doch nicht der Art ist, dass darin eine Uebertretung der Strafgesetzte … gefunden werden könnte. Der Letztere insbesondere erachtet es für erforderlich, dass durch eine Verspottung der Anordnungen im Staate, Missvergnügen und Unzufriedenheit der Bürger gegen die Regierung veranlasst werden könne.” See ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Bl. 126. In its decree the Censorship Court cited many of the passages which von Arnim found objectionableallusions to a constitution, political reform, and the economic hardship of the weavers. See Bl. 137–39 of the same Akte.

30. In this short space I cannot offer a comprehensive discussion of Glassbrenner's intellectual development, only a very broad outline. To date no scholar has systematically analyzed his political thought or his relationship to contemporary thinkers.

31. Heinrich-Jost, Ingrid, Literarische Publizistik Adolf Glassbrenners (1810–1876): Die List beim Schreiben der Wahrheit, Dortmunder Beiträge zur Zeitungsforschung, vol. 31 (Munich, 1980),Google Scholar the best study of Glassbrenner to date, uses most of these sources. Heinrich-Jost examines his political rhetoric and publishing strategies and compares them to those of his contemporaries, arguing that Glassbrenner is a typical figure in the nineteenth-century bourgeois struggle for emancipation. Volkmar Steiner's Buffey is much more narrowly conceived. It is excellent in its analysis of the few Glassbrenner texts he has chosen to focus upon, and in its evaluation of the distribution and reception of this literature. The study is flawed only by a handful of factual errors and a surprising hostility toward all other Glassbrenner scholars.

For basic information Robert Rodenhauser's early biography is still useful, Adolf Glassbrenner: Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des “Jungen Deutschland” und der Berliner Lokal Dichtung (Nikolassee, 1912).Google Scholar Vol. 1 of Houben's Verbotene Literatur, with its descriptions of some of Glassbrenner's censorship conflicts, remains classic. Besides Rodenhauser and Houben, the only other study to incorporate material from Prussian police and censorship archives is Townsend, “Language of the Forbidden.” Exploratory essays and an anthology by Jost Hermand are also extremely valuable. See, e.g., Hermand, Jost, “Adolf Glassbrenner: Berlin wie es ist — und trinkt (1832 – 1850)” in Unbequeme Literatur: Eine Beispielreihe (Heidelberg, 1971): 6586Google Scholar, and Adolf Glassbrenner: Der politisierende Eckensteher, ed. Hermand, Jost (Stuttgart, 1969).Google ScholarBulmahn, Heinz, Adolf Glassbrenner: His Development from Jungdeutscher to Vormärzler, German Language and Literature Monographs, vol. 6 (Amsterdam, 1978)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, offers many literary insights, but because he relies almost exclusively on Glassbrenner's texts and consults few contemporary sources—not even the correspondence— his attempt to explore Glassbrenner's synthesis of politics and humor (e.g., 19–21) is less successful. Finger's, WilliAdolf Glassbrenner: Ein Vorkämpfer der Demokratie (Berlin/GDR, 1952)Google Scholar, written at the height of the cold war, is a predictable hagiography which strings together Glassbrenner's most revolutionary phrases, unfortunately without adequate attribution.

32. Glassbrenner's Tagebuch is in the Nachlass, Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek). For ease of reference I cite here and in the following notes the transcription of the journal found in Heinz Gebhardt, Glassbrenners Berlinisch, Schriften des Vereins für die Geschichte Berlins, Heft 54 (Berlin, 1933), 111–18; here: 112, 114, 113, 112Google Scholar.

33. Ad. Brennglas, , Buntes Berlin, 5: Der ächte Eckensteher Nante (Berlin, 1838), 7, 6.Google Scholar

34. Tagebuch, Gebhardt, Berlinisch, 116. Glassbrenner's niece claimed that he often went to Berlin markets and folk festivals to observe and make notes; see Ibid., 16, n. 25. See also Glassbrenner's letter to Kunstmann asking for information about the origins of a popular folk festival: 26 Nov. 1840, Stadtarchiv Hannover, Autografensammlung, Nr. 595 (previously in the Kestner Museum, Hannover).

35. Glassbrenner's relationship to Young Germany is discussed most fully in Bulmahn, Glassbrenner: His Development, passim, esp. 25–26, 41; Heinrich-Jost, Literarische Publizistik, 45–66; and Rodenhauser, Glassbrenner: Ein Beitrag, 89–96.

36. Letter dated 28 June 1836, in the Stadt- und Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main, Nachlass Karl Gutzkow, A 2 I, Nr. 36/178. The letter is reprinted in Denkler, et al. , eds., Unterrichtung der Nation, 3: 230–31.Google Scholar

37. Tagebuch, Gebhardt, Berlinisch, 118. See also Mundt's letters to Glassbrenner in the latter's Nachlass, Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), Briefe 110–12 (1856–58).

38. In Jahreszeiten, no. 5 (29 Jan. 1851), Glassbrenner describes his visit to Freiligrath in 1840. For some of Freiligrath's letters to Glassbrenner see the latter's Nachlass, Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), Briefe 58–59 (undated and 1868), and Literatur-Archiv, Lippische Landesbibliothek Detmold, 3 letters from Ferdinand Freiligrath to Adolf Glassbrenner (1867–68).

39. This and the following letters from Glassbrenner to Hoffmann are in the Handschriftenabteilung of the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin (West), Nachlass Hoffmann von Fallersleben. For ease of reference I cite here and in the following two notes the transcriptions now available in Denkler, et al. , eds., Unterrichtung der Nation, vol. 3.Google Scholar Here, Glassbrenner's letter to Hoffmann, 6 May 1845; Denkler et al., 3: 235. For censorship records on Neuer Reineke Fuchs see, e.g., ZStA Merseburg, Ministerium des Innern und der Polizei, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Spec. Lit. G, Nr. 27, Bl. 143 ff. Bulmahn, Glassbrenner: His Development, 106–26, gives a useful analysis of the form and content of the poem.

40. 25 May 1845; Denkler, et al. , eds., Unterrichtung der Nation, 3: 237–38Google Scholar.

41. 4 Nov. 1845; Ibid., 3: 241.

42. Briefly, this “fairy tale” describes a brother, Wealth, and his sister, Need. The sister, a servant to her brother for hundreds of years, suffers terribly. God does not answer her prayers for help, so one fine morning she kills her brother. Verbotene Lieder eines norddeutschen Poeten (Bern, 1844), 127–28; reprinted in Hermand, , ed., Eckensteher, 160.Google Scholar

43. Cited by Wolff, Adolf, Berliner Revolutions-Chronik: Darstellung der Berliner Bewegungen im Jahre 1848 nach politischen, socialen und literarischen Beziehungen (Berlin, 1852), 2: 256–57Google Scholar. Emphasis attributed to Glassbrenner.

44. Cited by Heinrich-Jost, Adolf Glassbrenner, 109.

45. On Albert Hopf, whose satirical broadsheets were among the most popular of the Berlin revolution, see Townsend, Mary Lee, Albert Hopf: Humor und Hochverrat (Berlin [West]: Edition Hentrich, forthcoming)Google Scholar. For a description of the Glassbrenners' social life in Hamburg see Feodor Wehl's article on the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary, in Deutsche Schaubühne 10 (10 1865)Google Scholar, cited by Heinrich-Jost, Adolf Glassbrenner, 115–16.

46. Feodor Wehl reprinted this letter from 27 Dec. 1859 in his Zeit und Menschen: Tagebuch-Auf-zeichnungen aus den Jahren 1863–1884 (Altona, 1889), 1: 232Google Scholar. The anti-Semitic dimension to Glassbrenner's thought has yet to be thoroughly investigated, although Heinrich-Jost, Literarische Publizistik, 174–75, briefly discusses his “Verhältnis zu den Juden.” Glassbrenner seems only to have occasionally indulged in such remarks, and one could not say that anti-Semitism was in any way fundamental to his social or political thought. On Kladderadatsch see Hoffmann, Rudolph, ed., Der Kladderadatsch and seine Leute 1848–1898: Ein Culturbild (Berlin, 1898)Google Scholar, and Koch, Ursula E., Berlin, Zentrum der politischen Witzblätter von der Märzrevolution (1848) bis zu Bismarcks Entlassung (1890): Eine Chronik Europas, Reihe “i L v [sic] republik,” Satire und Macht (Cologne, 1986)Google Scholar. An accessible anthology and brief history of the publication is Ingrid Heinrich-Jost, , ed., Kladderadatsch: Die Geschichte eines Berliner Witzblattes von 1848 bis ins Dritte Reich, Reihe “i L v [sic] republik,” Satire und Macht (Cologne, 1982).Google Scholar

47. Letter of 29 Aug. 1856, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz; reprinted in Denkler, et al. , eds., Unterrichtung der Nation, 3: 242.Google Scholar

48. “… dieser vormärzliche Eckensteher-Liberalismus …,” cited by Houben, , Verbotene Literatur, 1: 221.Google Scholar

49. Very roughly: “Back! Always a little backwards / To that old-[time] happiness of the [royal] subject.” Brennglas, Adolf, Komischer Volkskalender für 1849 (Berlin, 1848)Google Scholar; reprinted in Denkler, Horst et al. , eds., Unterrichtung der Nation, 2: 8489.Google Scholar

50. Letter to Franz Wallner, 24 Jan. 1863, Landesarchiv Berlin (West), Rep. 241, Acc. 828, Nr. 2. Curiously, in the letter Glassbrenner was indignant that his old rival, David Kalisch of the Kladderadatsch, believed that Glassbrenner had tried to insult him publicly in that year's calendar.

51. For imitations of the Berlin series see, e.g., advertisements in the Börsenblatt für den Deutschen Buchhandel 1 (1834): 507, 843–44Google Scholar. On the caricature called “Rummelpuff” and subtitled “Berlin wie es ist und—trinkt,” see ZStA Merseburg, Rep. 77, Tit. 2, Lit. K, Nr. 24, Acta betr: die Censur und den Debit der bei Gustav Kühn zu Neu-Ruppin erschienenen, anstössigen bildlichen Darstellungen und sittenverderblichen Lieder etc. Desgl. der bei W. Zuerges, in Leipzig, erschienen, v. 4. März 1836–1837, Bl. 1–8. Glassbrenner's letter to an unknown party, 21 Sept. 1842, mentions a stage production of one of his pamphlets; Freies Deutsches Hochstift, Negative 31805–6. Schadow's letter of 26 Apr. 1840 is in the Landesarchiv Berlin (West), Rep. 241, Acc. 313, Nr. 16.

52. A useful collection of obituaries and later commentaries can be found in Glassbrenner's Nachlass, Berliner Stadtbibliothek (Ratsbibliothek), Materialien und Zeugnisse, esp. nos. 1–41 and 55–62. On his “Pionierarbeit” see MZ-60, and as “founder etc.” see MZ—9.

53. For Glassbrenner's polizeiliche Anmeldung see StA Potsdam, Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 94 (10076), Bl. 76. On Glassbrenner's income and estate see Steiner, Buffey, 220–21.

54. Glassbrenner's letter of 21 July 1847, Deutsche Staatsbibliothek, Berlin/GDR, Handschnftenabteilung Autographen-Sammlung. For the police report on Preuss see StA Potsdam, Provinz Brandenburg, Rep. 30 Berlin, C Polizei Präsidium, Tit. 94 (12190), Acta des Königlichen Polizei-Präsidii zu Berlin betreffend den Barbiergehülfen Johann Florentin Gustav Preuss aus Berlin, 1854–1860, Bl. 1–10. For further evidence of Glassbrenner's works being read by the lower classes see above, p. 41–43. Springer, Robert, Berlin's Strassen, Kueipen und Clubs im Jahre 1848 (Berlin, 1850), 28Google Scholar, referring to Glassbrenner's booklets, claims that “selbst bei Hofelachte man darüber.” Several other contemporaries mention Glassbrenner pamphlets being read aloud in private homes, e.g., Ring, Max, Erinnerungen (Berlin, 1898), 1: 112–13Google Scholar, who speaks of dining at the home of a wealthy industrialist, where after dinner they often read aloud from Glassbrenner's latest jokes.

55. Letter to A. Stahr, 14 Dec. 1852, Landesarchiv Berlin (West), Rep. 241, Acc. 168 Nr. 1. For the letter of 1873 see above, n. 2.

56. There is not enough space here, but one could argue that there are parallels between the impact of forbidden literature in prerevolutionary France, as described by Darnton, Robert, The Literary Underground of the Old Regime (Cambridge, Mass., 1982)Google Scholar, and forbidden works in prerevolutionary Germany such as Glassbrenner's.

57. Approximate translation: “A thousand canons never lift a barrier / So easily as a thought / And no weapon is so sharp / And accurate as propitious wit.” Ad. Brennglas, , Berlin wie es ist und—trinkt, 19: Nante Nantino, der letzte Sonnenbruder oder die Entstehung der norddeutschen Volkspoesie (Leipzig, 1843).Google Scholar