German Youth Movement
Encyclopedia
The German Youth Movement (In German: Die deutsche Jugendbewegung) is a collective term for a cultural and educational movement that started in 1896. It consists of numerous associations of young people that focus on outdoor activities. The movement included German Scouting
and the Wandervogel
. By 1938, 8 million children had joined associations that identified with the movement.
was founded in Berlin
and soon they crystallized many vital concepts from the ideas of earlier social critics
and Romantics that came to reach great and extensive influence on many fields at the onset of the 20th century.
To escape the repressive and authoritarian society of the end of the 19th century and the adult values of a new modern German society increasingly transformed by Industrialism, Imperial militarisms and British and Victorian influence, groups of young people searched for free space to develop some healthy life of their own away from the increasingly contaminated cities growing all around and from where most of them came to be disappointed. Also a romantic
longing for a pristine state of things and older cultural diverse traditions played a part. For this they turned to Nature, confraternity and adventure. Soon the groups split and there originated ever more organisations, which still all called themselves Wandervogel, but were organisationally independent. Nonetheless the feeling was still of being a common movement, but split into several branches.
Scouting
. So both movements started to influence each other heavily in Germany. From the Wandervogel came a stronger culture of hiking, adventure, bigger tours to farther places, romanticism and a younger leadership structure. Scouting brought uniforms, flags, more organisation, more camps and a clearer, more rational ideology. There was also an educationalist influence from Gustav Wyneken
.
Together this led to the emergence of the Bündische Jugend, a movement of many different youth associations. There were Wandervogel groups, Scouting associations and others, all of which mixed the elements described above with new ingredients. New styles and groups developed. A new tent form, the Kohte
, was invented, which are still the typical black tents of German scouts on international scout camps. The Deutsche Freischar
and then the Jungenschaft
was founded.
. Many welcomed it as a freedom movement to break free of the perceived injustice of the Treaty of Versailles
and make Germany strong again. The notion of a 'Volksgemeinschaft', a people's community, was also popular. On the other hand there were also many in the German Youth Movement who saw their associations as an elite superior to the more primitive Nazis. Some groups were genuinely democratic, or even left wing. Many more, even some of those who tended to the right, still wanted to carry on their independent work and existence as organisations. This led inescapably to a confrontation with the Nazi state, since the Nazi state did not allow any youth groups separate from the Hitler Youth
, which itself adapted many of the outer forms of the Bündische Jugend after 1933. The groups remaining outside the Hitler Youth were outlawed and pursued, while some of them (e.g., the Edelweiss Pirates
) tried to carry on.
One thing which might have been different from other sections of German society is the following: The Youth Movement was very idealistic, romantic and moral. Therefore its members tended to take greater risks in following and acting upon their beliefs and persuasions. This might be the reason why one can find significant members of the Youth Movement on both sides, among the Nazis
and among the Widerstand.
Examples for this are the following: Adolf Eichmann
was one of their members from 1930 to 1931. Hans Scholl
was a member of the Jungenschaft, an especially independent-minded association of the Bündische Jugend. Claus von Stauffenberg was a member of the Scout
association of the Neupfadfinder, also an association of the Bündische Jugend.
, when the allies allowed it. In East Germany the Communist government did not allow it but instead outlawed all independent youth organisations. On the other hand there were some connections between the German Youth Movement and the Free German Youth
.
In West Germany the Youth Movement became strongly dominated by Scouting
, although Wandervogel
, Jungenschaft
and other groups were also refounded. In contrast to the situation before the war, all groups tried to have a more rational ideology and declared their support of the new Basic Law
. German Scouting also approached world Scouting (the World Organization of the Scout Movement
and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
) and was admitted to the world organisations for the first time.
Scouting in Germany
The Scout movement in Germany consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides.Scouting in Germany started in 1909. German Scouting later became involved with the German Youth Movement, of which the Wandervogel was a part...
and the Wandervogel
Wandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
. By 1938, 8 million children had joined associations that identified with the movement.
Wandervogel
In 1896 the WandervogelWandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
was founded in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and soon they crystallized many vital concepts from the ideas of earlier social critics
Social criticism
The term social criticism locates the reasons for malicious conditions of the society in flawed social structures. People adhering to a social critics aim at practical solutions by specific measures, often consensual reform but sometimes also by powerful revolution.- European roots :Religious...
and Romantics that came to reach great and extensive influence on many fields at the onset of the 20th century.
To escape the repressive and authoritarian society of the end of the 19th century and the adult values of a new modern German society increasingly transformed by Industrialism, Imperial militarisms and British and Victorian influence, groups of young people searched for free space to develop some healthy life of their own away from the increasingly contaminated cities growing all around and from where most of them came to be disappointed. Also a romantic
Romanticism
Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...
longing for a pristine state of things and older cultural diverse traditions played a part. For this they turned to Nature, confraternity and adventure. Soon the groups split and there originated ever more organisations, which still all called themselves Wandervogel, but were organisationally independent. Nonetheless the feeling was still of being a common movement, but split into several branches.
Bündische Jugend
After the first world war, the leaders returned disillusioned from the war. The same was true for leaders of GermanGermany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
. So both movements started to influence each other heavily in Germany. From the Wandervogel came a stronger culture of hiking, adventure, bigger tours to farther places, romanticism and a younger leadership structure. Scouting brought uniforms, flags, more organisation, more camps and a clearer, more rational ideology. There was also an educationalist influence from Gustav Wyneken
Gustav Wyneken
Gustav Wyneken was a German educational reformer, free thinker and charismatic leader. His ideas and practice on education and youth became highly influential but were also controversial.-Early life:He was born to a Christian family, and studied Theology and Philology in Berlin...
.
Together this led to the emergence of the Bündische Jugend, a movement of many different youth associations. There were Wandervogel groups, Scouting associations and others, all of which mixed the elements described above with new ingredients. New styles and groups developed. A new tent form, the Kohte
Kohte
The Kohte is the typical tent of German Scouting and the German Youth Movement. It was developed about 1930 by Eberhard Koebel as a variation of the Sami lavvu and became very quickly popular within the Bündische Jugend...
, was invented, which are still the typical black tents of German scouts on international scout camps. The Deutsche Freischar
Deutsche Freischar
The Deutsche Freischar – Bund der Wandervögel und Pfadfinder is a German youth organization. Originating from the merger of several small Wandervogel and Scouting groups, it was one of the largest and most important associations of the Bündische Jugend of the Weimar Republic besides the Deutscher...
and then the Jungenschaft
Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929
The Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929, abbreviated dj.1.11., was a youth group within the German Youth Movement, founded by Eberhard Köbel on November 1, 1929. It demerged from the Deutsche Freischar after some disagreements of the organisation's course. The dj.1.11...
was founded.
Nazi Germany
In the German Youth Movement one can find all the different reactions of German society as a whole to the rise of the NazisNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. Many welcomed it as a freedom movement to break free of the perceived injustice of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and make Germany strong again. The notion of a 'Volksgemeinschaft', a people's community, was also popular. On the other hand there were also many in the German Youth Movement who saw their associations as an elite superior to the more primitive Nazis. Some groups were genuinely democratic, or even left wing. Many more, even some of those who tended to the right, still wanted to carry on their independent work and existence as organisations. This led inescapably to a confrontation with the Nazi state, since the Nazi state did not allow any youth groups separate from the Hitler Youth
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung...
, which itself adapted many of the outer forms of the Bündische Jugend after 1933. The groups remaining outside the Hitler Youth were outlawed and pursued, while some of them (e.g., the Edelweiss Pirates
Edelweiss Pirates
The Edelweiss Pirates were a loose group of youth culture in Nazi Germany. They emerged in western Germany out of the German Youth Movement of the late 1930s in response to the strict regimentation of the Hitler Youth...
) tried to carry on.
One thing which might have been different from other sections of German society is the following: The Youth Movement was very idealistic, romantic and moral. Therefore its members tended to take greater risks in following and acting upon their beliefs and persuasions. This might be the reason why one can find significant members of the Youth Movement on both sides, among the Nazis
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
and among the Widerstand.
Examples for this are the following: Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Eichmann
Adolf Otto Eichmann was a German Nazi and SS-Obersturmbannführer and one of the major organizers of the Holocaust...
was one of their members from 1930 to 1931. Hans Scholl
Hans Scholl
Hans Fritz Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany.-Biography:...
was a member of the Jungenschaft, an especially independent-minded association of the Bündische Jugend. Claus von Stauffenberg was a member of the Scout
Scouting in Germany
The Scout movement in Germany consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides.Scouting in Germany started in 1909. German Scouting later became involved with the German Youth Movement, of which the Wandervogel was a part...
association of the Neupfadfinder, also an association of the Bündische Jugend.
After the war
After the war many associations were refounded in West GermanyWest Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, when the allies allowed it. In East Germany the Communist government did not allow it but instead outlawed all independent youth organisations. On the other hand there were some connections between the German Youth Movement and the Free German Youth
Free German Youth
The Free German Youth, also known as the FDJ , was the official socialist youth movement of the German Democratic Republic and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany....
.
In West Germany the Youth Movement became strongly dominated by Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
, although Wandervogel
Wandervogel
Wandervogel is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 onward. The name can be translated as rambling, hiking or wandering bird and the ethos is to shake off the restrictions of society and get back to nature and freedom...
, Jungenschaft
Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929
The Deutsche Jungenschaft vom 1.11.1929, abbreviated dj.1.11., was a youth group within the German Youth Movement, founded by Eberhard Köbel on November 1, 1929. It demerged from the Deutsche Freischar after some disagreements of the organisation's course. The dj.1.11...
and other groups were also refounded. In contrast to the situation before the war, all groups tried to have a more rational ideology and declared their support of the new Basic Law
Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of Germany. It was formally approved on 8 May 1949, and, with the signature of the Allies of World War II on 12 May, came into effect on 23 May, as the constitution of those states of West Germany that were initially included...
. German Scouting also approached world Scouting (the World Organization of the Scout Movement
World Organization of the Scout Movement
The World Organization of the Scout Movement is the Non-governmental international organization which governs most national Scout Organizations, with 31 million members. WOSM was established in 1920, and has its headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland...
and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is a global association supporting the female-oriented and female-only Scouting organizations in 145 countries. It was established in 1928 and has its headquarters in London, England. It is the counterpart of the World Organization of the Scout...
) and was admitted to the world organisations for the first time.
Today
Today there exist still many groups and organisations which see themselves as part of this movement. German Scouting is still heavily influenced by this history, although the historical influence varies from group to group. Most distinctive features of German Scouting trace from this history.Literature
- Peter D. Stachura, The German Youth Movement, 1900-1945: An Interpretive and Documentary History (London: Macmillan, 1981).
- Walter LaqueurWalter LaqueurWalter Zeev Laqueur is an American historian and political commentator. He was born in Breslau, Germany , to a Jewish family. In 1938, Laqueur left Germany for the British Mandate of Palestine. His parents, who were unable to leave, became victims of the Holocaust...
: Young Germany: A History of the German Youth Movement, Transaction Pub, 1984, ISBN 0-87855-960-4 - There are many articles in the German Wikipedia about these topics. Start with :de:Jugendbewegung or the category :de:Kategorie:Jugendbewegung.