Ruhleben P.O.W. Camp
Encyclopedia
Ruhleben P.O.W. Camp was a civilian detention camp during World War I
. It was located in Ruhleben, then a village 10 km (6.2 mi) to the west of Berlin
, now split between the districts of Spandau
and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
. The camp was originally a horse racecourse.
living, studying, working or on holiday in Germany
at the outbreak of World War I
. They also included the crews of several civilian ships stranded in German harbors or captured at sea. There were also quite a number of fishermen captured from trawlers which were sunk in the North Sea in the first days of the war - these were mainly men from Hull, Grimsby and Boston. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners, most of them British
. Life in the camp has been described in several books and essays subsequently written by detainees. These include To Ruhleben – And Back by Geoffrey Pyke
, who successfully escaped from the camp in 1915, and Life in Ruhleben, 1914–1918 by Frederick Keel
.
The German authorities adhered to the Geneva Convention and allowed the camp detainees to administer their own internal affairs. Gradually, a mini-society evolved in the camp. Letters, books, sports equipment and a printing press were all allowed into the camp and the detainees organised their own police force, magazine, library and postal service. The latter, known as the Ruhleben Express Delivery, was organised by Albert Kamps and began operating in July 1915. Soon it was handling over 6000 pieces of mail per month and 16 different postage stamps, which have since become collectors items, were issued. In April 1916 however the German postal authorities declared the service illegal and it ceased operating. In addition, a number of independent businesses, including a casino, also developed within the camp.
, later to become a conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
. MacMillan was a prominent member of the Ruhleban Musical Society and directed performances of Mikado
and a pantomime
version of Cinderella
. MacMillan transcribed the music for the former from memory with the help of four other musicians. Among those who attended these performances were James Gerard, the United States
ambassador. MacMillan also gave lectures on each of Beethoven’s symphonies, which were followed by piano duet performances played by him together with composer Benjamin Dale
. MacMillan was also a member of the Ruhleban Drama Society and acted in productions of Othello
, Twelfth Night and The Importance of Being Earnest
.
including four former England
internationals, Fred Spiksley
, Fred Pentland
, Samuel Wolstenholme
and Steve Bloomer
, a Scotland
international, John Cameron, a German
international Edwin Dutton
and John Brearley
, once of Everton
and Tottenham Hotspur
. The Ruhleben Football Association was formed with Pentland as chairman and Cameron as secretary. Cup and league competitions were organised and teams adopted the names of established teams such as Tottenham Hotspur
and Oldham Athletic. As many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. On May 2 1915 an England XI featuring Pentland, Wolstenholme, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron. Towards the end of the war an international triangular tournament called the Coupe de Allies , featuring a British XI, a French XI and a Belgium XI, was organised. Other sports such as cricket
, rugby
, tennis
and golf
were also popular within the camp. In May 1915 a Rubleben XI, featuring Bloomer and Brearley, played a Varsities XI
in the Rubleban Cricket League. In July 1916 a Lancashire XI, featuring Bloomer, beat a Yorkshire XI that included Wolstenholme.
During the 1936 Summer Olympics
, it hosted the shooting competitions of the modern pentathlon
event.
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. It was located in Ruhleben, then a village 10 km (6.2 mi) to the west of 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...
, now split between the districts of Spandau
Spandau
Spandau is the fifth of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is the fourth largest and westernmost borough, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and along the western bank of the Havel, but the least populated.-Overview:...
and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is the fourth borough of Berlin, formed in the 2001 administrative reform by merging the former boroughs of Charlottenburg and Wilmersdorf.-Overview:Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf covers the western centre of the City of Berlin...
. The camp was originally a horse racecourse.
Detainees
The camp detainees included male citizens of the Allied PowersAllies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
living, studying, working or on holiday in Germany
Germany
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...
at the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. They also included the crews of several civilian ships stranded in German harbors or captured at sea. There were also quite a number of fishermen captured from trawlers which were sunk in the North Sea in the first days of the war - these were mainly men from Hull, Grimsby and Boston. The camp contained between 4,000 and 5,500 prisoners, most of them British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Life in the camp has been described in several books and essays subsequently written by detainees. These include To Ruhleben – And Back by Geoffrey Pyke
Geoffrey Pyke
Geoffrey Nathaniel Joseph Pyke was an English journalist, educationalist, and later an inventor whose clever, but unorthodox, ideas could be difficult to implement...
, who successfully escaped from the camp in 1915, and Life in Ruhleben, 1914–1918 by Frederick Keel
Frederick Keel
James Frederick Keel was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic. Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He combined scholarly and artistic interest in English songs and their history. His free settings of Elizabethan and...
.
The German authorities adhered to the Geneva Convention and allowed the camp detainees to administer their own internal affairs. Gradually, a mini-society evolved in the camp. Letters, books, sports equipment and a printing press were all allowed into the camp and the detainees organised their own police force, magazine, library and postal service. The latter, known as the Ruhleben Express Delivery, was organised by Albert Kamps and began operating in July 1915. Soon it was handling over 6000 pieces of mail per month and 16 different postage stamps, which have since become collectors items, were issued. In April 1916 however the German postal authorities declared the service illegal and it ceased operating. In addition, a number of independent businesses, including a casino, also developed within the camp.
Arts and culture
The camp detainees also arranged their own entertainment. Among them were several musicians including Ernest MacMillanErnest MacMillan
Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, CC was an internationally renowned Canadian orchestral conductor and composer, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the 1920s through the 1950s...
, later to become a conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
. MacMillan was a prominent member of the Ruhleban Musical Society and directed performances of Mikado
Mikado
Mikado may refer to:* Mikado, alternative term for Emperor of Japan* The Mikado, a 1885 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan- Foods :* Mikado, the European brand name for Pocky, a Japanese chocolate-covered breadstick...
and a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
version of Cinderella
Cinderella
"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
. MacMillan transcribed the music for the former from memory with the help of four other musicians. Among those who attended these performances were James Gerard, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
ambassador. MacMillan also gave lectures on each of Beethoven’s symphonies, which were followed by piano duet performances played by him together with composer Benjamin Dale
Benjamin Dale
Benjamin James Dale was an English composer and academic who had a long association with the Royal Academy of Music. Dale showed compositional talent from an early age and went on to write a small but notable corpus of works...
. MacMillan was also a member of the Ruhleban Drama Society and acted in productions of Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
, Twelfth Night and The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
.
Sports at Ruhleben
As well as music and drama, sports also played a major role in the life of the camp detainees. Among the detainees were several former professional footballersFootball (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
including four former England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
internationals, Fred Spiksley
Fred Spiksley
Fred Spiksley was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday F.C. and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford and in 1907 became the only professional footballer to play for the Corinthians...
, Fred Pentland
Fred Pentland
Frederick Beaconsfield Pentland was an English footballer and manager. He played as a forward for, among others, Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough and England. However he is best remembered for his career as a manager in Spain where he coached several clubs including Athletic...
, Samuel Wolstenholme
Samuel Wolstenholme
Samuel Wolstenholme was an English footballer who played for, among others Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and England. He played alongside Steve Bloomer and Vivian Woodward in the England teams that won the British Home Championship in 1904 and 1905...
and Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer
Steve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...
, a Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
international, John Cameron, a German
Germany national football team
The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
international Edwin Dutton
Edwin Dutton
Edwin Dutton is a former Anglo-German footballer and coach. Dutton played as a forward for Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen, Newcastle United and Germany. During the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany...
and John Brearley
John Brearley
John Brearley is a former English footballer and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He was able to play in at least five outfield positions, but had a preference for playing inside-right...
, once of Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
. The Ruhleben Football Association was formed with Pentland as chairman and Cameron as secretary. Cup and league competitions were organised and teams adopted the names of established teams such as Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
and Oldham Athletic. As many as 1,000 attended the bigger games. On May 2 1915 an England XI featuring Pentland, Wolstenholme, Brearley and Bloomer played a World XI captained by Cameron. Towards the end of the war an international triangular tournament called the Coupe de Allies , featuring a British XI, a French XI and a Belgium XI, was organised. Other sports such as cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, rugby
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
were also popular within the camp. In May 1915 a Rubleben XI, featuring Bloomer and Brearley, played a Varsities XI
Varsity match
A varsity match is a sporting fixture between two university rivals; in its original and most common form, it is used to describe meetings between Oxford University and Cambridge University.-Popular British and Irish Varsity matches:*University of Oxford v...
in the Rubleban Cricket League. In July 1916 a Lancashire XI, featuring Bloomer, beat a Yorkshire XI that included Wolstenholme.
During the 1936 Summer Olympics
1936 Summer Olympics
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...
, it hosted the shooting competitions of the modern pentathlon
Modern pentathlon at the 1936 Summer Olympics
At the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, a single modern pentathlon event was contested.-Medalists:-Results:The method of scoring was point-for-place. First place received one point, second place received two, and so on. The athlete with the fewest points won the event.-Riding:-Fencing:Each athlete...
event.
Notable prisoners at Ruhleben
- F. Charles AdlerFrederick Charles AdlerFrederick Charles Adler was an English-German conductor....
- Edgar BaintonEdgar BaintonEdgar Leslie Bainton was a British composer, most celebrated for his church music. Perhaps his most famous piece is the liturgical anthem And I saw a new heaven, but during recent years Bainton's other musical works - neglected for decades - have been increasingly often heard in the concert...
- Winthrop Pickard BellWinthrop Pickard BellWinthrop Pickard Bell was a Canadian academic who taught philosophy at the University of Toronto and Harvard. He is however perhaps best known for his work as a historian of Nova Scotia....
- Arthur BenjaminArthur BenjaminArthur Leslie Benjamin was an Australian composer, pianist, conductor and teacher. He is best known as the composer of Jamaican Rhumba, composed in 1938.-Biography:...
- Steve BloomerSteve BloomerSteve Bloomer was an English footballer and manager who played for Derby County, Middlesbrough and England during the 1890s and 1900s. Bloomer remains a legend at Derby County and the club anthem, Steve Bloomer's Watchin', is played before every home game...
- John BrearleyJohn BrearleyJohn Brearley is a former English footballer and manager. He played as a forward for several clubs, most notably Millwall Athletic, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He was able to play in at least five outfield positions, but had a preference for playing inside-right...
- John Cameron
- Sir James ChadwickJames ChadwickSir James Chadwick CH FRS was an English Nobel laureate in physics awarded for his discovery of the neutron....
- Dr. Hugo Cimino
- Benjamin DaleBenjamin DaleBenjamin James Dale was an English composer and academic who had a long association with the Royal Academy of Music. Dale showed compositional talent from an early age and went on to write a small but notable corpus of works...
- Sefton DelmerSefton DelmerDenis Sefton Delmer was a British journalist and propagandist for the British government. Fluent in German, he became friendly with Ernst Röhm who arranged for him to interview Adolf Hitler in the 1930s...
- Edwin DuttonEdwin DuttonEdwin Dutton is a former Anglo-German footballer and coach. Dutton played as a forward for Britannia Berlin 92, BFC Preussen, Newcastle United and Germany. During the First World War he was interned at Ruhleben, a civilian detention camp in Germany...
- Sir Charles D. Ellis
- Frederick KeelFrederick KeelJames Frederick Keel was an English composer of art songs, baritone singer and academic. Keel was a successful recitalist and a professor of singing at the Royal Academy of Music. He combined scholarly and artistic interest in English songs and their history. His free settings of Elizabethan and...
- Dr J. Alexander Lloyd
- Dr Allan Grant Lochhead, FRSC
- Peter Carl Mackay Prince MonoluluPrince MonoluluRas Prince Monolulu , whose real name was Peter Carl Mackay , was something of an institution on the British horse racing scene from the 1920s until the time of his death...
- Ernest MacMillanErnest MacMillanSir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, CC was an internationally renowned Canadian orchestral conductor and composer, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the 1920s through the 1950s...
- John Cecil MastermanJohn Cecil MastermanSir John Cecil Masterman was a noted academic, sportsman and author. However, he was best known as chairman of the Twenty Committee, which during World War II ran the Double Cross System, the scheme that controlled double agents in Britain.-Academic background:Masterman was educated at the Royal...
- Fred PentlandFred PentlandFrederick Beaconsfield Pentland was an English footballer and manager. He played as a forward for, among others, Blackburn Rovers, Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough and England. However he is best remembered for his career as a manager in Spain where he coached several clubs including Athletic...
- Geoffrey PykeGeoffrey PykeGeoffrey Nathaniel Joseph Pyke was an English journalist, educationalist, and later an inventor whose clever, but unorthodox, ideas could be difficult to implement...
- R. M. SmyllieR. M. SmyllieRobert Maire "Bertie" Smyllie , was editor of The Irish Times from 1934 until his death in 1954.Short-sighted, massively overweight, given to wearing a poncho and sombrero, and cycling to work with his typewriter slung over the bars of his bicycle and a half bottle of Scotch sticking out of his...
- Fred SpiksleyFred SpiksleyFred Spiksley was an English footballer and coach, who played as a forward for Sheffield Wednesday F.C. and England. He also played for Gainsborough Trinity, Glossop North End, Leeds City, Watford and in 1907 became the only professional footballer to play for the Corinthians...
- Samuel WolstenholmeSamuel WolstenholmeSamuel Wolstenholme was an English footballer who played for, among others Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Norwich City and England. He played alongside Steve Bloomer and Vivian Woodward in the England teams that won the British Home Championship in 1904 and 1905...
General references
- Foreman, Lewis (2011). 'In Ruhleben camp'. First World War Studies, vol 2, no 1 (March), pp 27-40.
- Keel, Frederick (1920). 'Life in Ruhleben, 1914-1918'. In: Williamson, George Charles, ed. Roll of ye members of ye Sette of Odd Volumes, vol. II, pp 87–110. London: Sette of Odd Volumes, No LXXII.
- Ketchum, David (1965). Ruhleben: a prison camp society. University of Toronto Press.
External links
- Maurice Ettinghausen Collection of Ruhleben Civilian Internment Camp Papers, 1914-1937 at Harvard Law School Library
- John Masterman Collection of Ruhleben Civilian Internment Camp Papers, 1914-1937 at Harvard Law School Library
- Ruhleben Internment Camp - A British community in war-time Germany
- 1936 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 2. pp. 827-36.
- The Ruhleben Story.
- Ruhleben P.O.W. Camp Stamps
- Sir Ernest MacMillan at Ruhleben
- Ruhleben at National Library of Scotland
- Ruhleben Postcard Collection