In all seriousness: Laughter in the German Reichstag, 1871–1914

ABSTRACT

The ideal of parliamentary debate is often construed in terms of a disimpassioned exchange of arguments. Yet in actual practice, emotions play a key role. As recent studies of French, British, and other parliaments have shown, a closer look at the uses of laughter in the plenary debates can provide a useful entry point for a better understanding of the atmospheric dimension of debates. Focusing on the early decades of the German Imperial Reichstag, this article considers the varying modes of parliamentary humour, laughter and ridicule and their significance in the context of rhetorical struggles and processes of political in- and exclusion. In comparative dialogue with research on other parliaments, it contributes to a more precise characterization of the internal dynamics of an institution still very much in flux. While contemporaries made a sharp distinction between exclusionary laughter and inclusionary mirth (Heiterkeit), a closer look at the plenary interactions shows that while parliamentary laughter performed many different functions, on the whole, it primarily constituted a mechanism of de-escalation. As such, parliamentary humour did not stand in opposition to (rational) debate, but played a key role in the management of difference and conflict that the parliament was created to facilitate.

KEYWORDS:

• Parliament
• laughter
• humour
• German history
• Reichstag
• debate
• in/exclusion

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 H. Frenz, Unter der goldenen Kuppel: Heitere Bilder aus dem Reichstag. Mit 6 humoristischen zeichnungen von Paul Halke (Berlin, 1913), pp. 168–84. The author had already broached the subject in H. Frenz, Unser Reichstag: Was ist im Reichstag los? Wie arbeitet er? Wie lebt man dort? Worüber lacht man? Farbige Skizzen (Leipzig, 1911), pp. 36–9.

2 Although I will not go into this case here, it is worth noting that one of the most famous parliamentary scandals of the late Imperial Reichstag, the journalists’ strike of 1908 was triggered by journalists’ laughter at a speech mentioning the ‘high significance of the negro’s immortal soul’. On this event, cf. A. Biefang, ‘Parlament ohne Publikum. Der “Journalistenstreik” von 1908', Geschichte in Wissenschaft und Unterricht 71, (2020), pp. 245–61.

3 L. Prütting, Homo ridens: Eine phänomenologische Studie über Wesen, Formen und Funktionen des Lachens (Freiburg i. Br., Munich, 2016).

4 D. Grieswelle, Die Rhetorik des Lachens in der politischen Kommunikation (Berlin, 2019).

5 Grieswelle, Rhetorik, p. 45.

6 P.J. Waller, ‘Laughter in the House. A Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Parliamentary Survey', Twentieth Century British History 5, (1994), pp. 4–37; A. de Baecque, ‘Parlamentarische Heiterkeit in der französischen verfassungsgebenden Versammlung (1789–1791)', in J. Bremmer and Roodenburg (eds), Kulturgeschichte des Humors: Von der Antike bis heute (Darmstadt, 1999), pp. 127–48; J.S. Meisel, ‘The Importance of Being Serious. The Unexplored Connection between Gladstone and Humour', History 84, (1999), pp. 278–300; Idem, ‘Humour and Insult in the House of Commons. The Case of Palmerston and Disraeli', Parliamentary History 28, (2008), pp. 228–45; D. Dupart, ‘Le Rire parlementaire. Une petite histoire des (Rires) de 1830 à 1851 ou l’apprentissage de la démocratie par le comique', in A. Vaillant and R.d. Villeneuve (eds), Le Rire moderne (Paris, 2013), pp. 95–110; M. Beyen, ‘De eerbiedwaardige onderbrekers. Ironie en pastiche in de Franse Kamer van Afgevaardigden, 1890', in M. Beyen and J. Verberckmoes (eds), Humor met een verleden (Louvain, 2006), pp. 253–72; M. Rapport, ‘Laughter as a Political Weapon. Humour and the French Revolution', in A. Chamayou and A.B. Duncan (eds), Le Rire européen (Perpignan, 2010), pp. 241–55; J. Ruhlmann, ‘Rire en Chambre. Le comique parlementaire au début de la IIIe République', in A. Vaillant and R.d. Villeneuve (eds), Le Rire moderne (Paris, 2013), pp. 111–29; J.C. Zobkiw, ‘Political Strategies of Laughter in the National Convention, 1792–1794' (University of Hull, PhD thesis, 2015); B. Nouws, ‘“De bulderlach van het halfrond”. Vlaamse parlementaire humor in historisch perspectief', Belgisch Tijdschift voor Nieuwste Geschiedenis 1, (2017), pp. 10–35; Marianthi Georgalidou, ‘Negotiating Im/politeness via Humor in the Greek Parliament’, Estudios de Lingüística del Español 43, (2021), pp. 99–121.

7 K. Hansen, Das kleine Nein im großen Ja: Witz und Politik in der Bundesrepublik (Wiesbaden, 1990); T. Mergel, Parlamentarische Kultur in der Weimarer Republik: Politische Kommunikation, symbolische Politik und Öffentlichkeit im Reichstag (Düsseldorf, 2002), pp. 306–9; R. Müller, ‘Fun in the German Parliament?', in V. Tsakona and D.E. Popa (eds), Studies in Political Humour: In Between Political Critique and Public Entertainment (Amsterdam, Philadelphia, PA, 2011), pp. 33–60.

8 M. Kessel, Gewalt und Gelächter: ‘Deutschsein’ 1914–1945 (Stuttgart, 2019).

9 Kessel, Gewalt, pp. 11–15; A.T. Allen, Satire and Society in Wilhelmine Germany: Kladderadatsch and Simplicissimus, 1890–1914 (Lexington, KY, 1984); M.L. Townsend, Forbidden Laughter: Popular Humor and the Limits of Repression in Nineteenth-Century Prussia (Ann Arbor, MI, 1992).

10 Kessel, Gewalt, pp. 12, 102, 173–4, 179, 259 et passim.

11 E. Müller-Meiningen, Parlamentarismus: Betrachtungen, Lehren und Erinnerungen aus deutschen Parlamenten (Berlin, 1926), p. 138.

12 RT VI/2/I (Dec. 14, 1885), p. 346 (Greve); VII/2/II (27 Feb.1888), p. 1129 (Meyer); XII/1/CCXXXIII (Nov. 11, 1908), p. 5437 (Lattmann); Frenz, Kuppel, pp. 36–8; [Anonymous], ‘Der Humor im deutschen Reichstage', Neuer General-Anzeiger: für Heidelberg und Umgegend (10 August 1894), p. [2].

13 [Anonymous], ‘Vom verlassenen Schwesterstamm. Offener Brief Deutscher Volksvertreter-Gattinnen an das Reichskanzleramt', Berliner Wespen, (23 May 1873), p. [2].

14 Frenz, Kuppel, p. 36.

15 F. Hofmann, ‘Ein Geschichtsschreiber der Wahrheit’, Die Gartenlaube 19, (1869), pp. 292–4, pp. 292–3.

16 De Baecque, ‘Heiterkeit’.

17 Remarkably, Ludwig Bamberger, who would go on to be recognized as one of the Imperial Reichstag’s funniest MPs, had in 1868 taken the view that while humour had been legitimate in the early nineteenth century struggle against political repression, it should be eliminated from the more mature party politics of the modern era. L. Bamberger, ‘Ueber die Grenzen des Humors in der Politik' [1868], in L. Bamberger, Gesammelte Schriften, 5 vols (Berlin, 1894–97), vol. III., pp. 267–90.

18 S.S. Cox, Why We Laugh (New York, 1876), pp. 186–8. France, to his mind, was a positive counterexample. Cf. also ‘Parliamentary Dulness', The Saturday Review, (29 Feb. 1870), pp. 238–40.

19 P. Löbe, Der Weg war lang: Erinnerungen (Berlin, 1990), p. 153.

20 A. Burkhardt, Das Parlament und seine Sprache: Studien zu Theorie und Geschichte parlamentarischer Kommunikation (Tübingen, 2003), pp. 526–9; D. Morat, ‘Parlamentarisches Sprechen und politisches Hör-Wissen im deutschen Kaiserreich', in Netzwerk Hör-Wissen im Wandel (ed.), Wissensgeschichte des Hörens in der Moderne (Berlin, Boston, MA, 2017), pp. 305–28, pp. 316–17. Cf. also A. Stein, under the abbreviation A., Friedrich der Vorläufige, die Zietz und die Anderen: Die Weimarer Nationalversammlung 1919 – Februar/August 1919 (Berlin, 1919), p. 18, in which Lachen is defined as ‘the opposition of embarrassment’ signifying ‘sneering rejection’, while Heiterkeit is understood as a ‘reflex movement vis-à-vis involuntary comedy’.

21 Quoted in Morat, ‘Parlamentarisches Sprechen’, p. 316.

22 PRA 1878/II (29 January 1879), p. 979. The satirical journal Berliner Wespen gave its own summary of the event: ‘The previous speaker will infer from the great merriment of the House – (Shouting: It was acclaim!) There was merriment! (Shouting: Acclaim!) It was merriment! (Laughter.) See, that was acclaim!’ ‘Parlaments-Feuilleton der Berliner Wespen', Berliner Wespen, (31 January 1879), p. [1].

23 R. Alemann, under the pseudonym ‘Anselmus Facetus’, Der Humor im Reichstage: Erstes Heft: Der Reichstag des Norddeutschen Bundes (Berlin, 1876), pp. 5–6.

24 [Anonymous], ‘Humor im deutschen Reichstag', Kladderadatsch (27 May 1877), no p.

25 [Anonymous], ‘Humor im deutschen Reichstag', Kladderadatsch (28 April 1878), no p.

26 T. Szafranski, Humor im Deutschen Reichstage: Aus den amtlichen stenographischen Berichten über die Verhandlungen des Deutschen Reichstages von 1871–1893 (Berlin, 1894); M. Erzberger, Der Humor im Reichstage: Eine systematisch geordnete Sammlung von Parlamentsscherzen (Berlin, 1910). Selections of Szafranski’s quotations were reprinted in H. Morré, Das Schwabenalter des Deutschen Parlaments: Eine heitere Chronik des Deutschen Reichstages (Berlin, 1909), pp. 143–9; W. Rullmann, Witz und Humor: Streifzüge in das Gebiet des Komischen (Berlin, 1910), pp. 167–70. Another noteworthy contribution to the genre is a review of the humour in the 1848/49 National Assembly in Frankfurt. W. Wichmann, under the pseudonym ‘W. de Porta’, Weltlicher Humor in Geschichte, Recht und Gesetzgebung (Münster, Paderborn, 1887), pp. 332–53; W. Wichmann, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem ersten deutschen Parlament (Hannover, 1890), pp. 532–54.

27 Erzberger maintains that his collection was ‘selected wholly objectively’, but does not elaborate on what that may mean. Erzberger, Humor, p. [3].

28 Cf. H.-P. Goldberg, Bismarck und seine Gegner: Die politische Rhetorik im kaiserlichen Reichstag (Düsseldorf, 1998), pp. 104, 115, 212–21, 312–20, 487–94 et passim.

29 A. Kohut, Fürst Bismarck als Humorist: Lustige Geschichten aus dem Leben und Schaffen des Reichskanzlers (Düsseldorf, [1889]), pp. 122–60; A. Gottwald, Bismarcks Humor: Heiteres aus dem Leben und Wirken des Altreichskanzlers (Leipzig, [1908]), pp. 60–64; F.H. Schmidt-Hennigker, Bismarck-Anekdoten: heitere Szenen, Scherze und charakteristische Züge aus dem Leben des ersten deutschen Reichskanzlers (Leipzig, 1909).

30 Schmidt-Hennigker, Bismarck-Anekdoten, p. [iii], 137. The author had previously published a popular collection of the Prussian king Friedrich II’s humorous phrases. F.H. Schmidt-Hennigker, Humor Friedrichs des Großen: Anekdoten, heitere Szenen und charakteristische Züge aus dem Leben König Friedrichs II (Leipzig, 1886), pp. 11–19.

31 W. Rathenau, ‘Politik, Humor und Abrüstung', Neue Freie Presse, (16 April 1911), pp. 7–8, p. 7.

32 Rathenau, ‘Politik’, p. 8.

33 See, for example, RT IV/4/I (29 April 1881), p. 907; VI/4/I (11 January 1887), p. 339.

34 Beyen, ‘Onderbrekers’.

35 Cf. T. Jung, ‘Der Feind im eigenen Hause. Antiparlamentarismus im Reichstag 1867–1918', in M.-L. Recker and A. Schulz (eds), Parlamentarismuskritik und Antiparlamentarismus in Europa (Düsseldorf, 2018), pp. 129–49.

36 RT V/4/I (20 March 1884), p. 164.

37 The word is derived from the Greek bánausos, signifying the lowly, uncultured craftsman.

38 RT V/4/I (9 May 1884), p. 481 (Bismarck), 493 (Richter), 505 (Bismarck), also for the quotations below.

39 For example, [Anonymous], ‘Parlaments-Feuilleton der Berliner Wespen', Berliner Wespen (16 May 1884), p. [1]; [Kladderadatsch], ‘Instructiver Wochenkalender', Kladderadatsch (18 May 1884), [1]; H.P. von Wolzogen, ‘Parlamentarische Heiterkeit und deutscher Ernst', Bayreuther Blätter 7, (1884), pp. 268–75.

40 Frenz, Kuppel, p. 37.

41 H.W. Lucy, ‘Humour in the House of Commons', The Windsor Magazine 33, (1910/1911), pp. 234–8, p. 236. Cf. also, with regret about the Irish absence: H. Furniss, Some Victorian Men (London, 1924), pp. 111.

42 RT V/2/III (6 April 1893), p. 1719 (Richter), 1724 (Reichensperger).

43 RT II/2/II (12 January 1875), p. 963 (Jörg).

44 RT I/1/I (22 April 1871), p. 323 (von Blankenburg).

45 M. Ring, ‘Eine Sitzung des Reichstages’, Die Gartenlaube 18, (1874), pp. 291–7, p. 293.

46 RT VIII/2/II (3 February 1893), p. 822 (von Stumm); XII/1/CCXXX (5 February 1908), p. 2915 (von Oldenburg).

47 RT VI/1/I (26 November 1884) p. 25 (Bismarck).

48 RT XI/1/I (10 December 1903), p. 58 (von Bülow).

49 Cf. [Anonym], ‘Im Reichstag III', Daheim. Ein deutsches Familienblatt mit Illustrationen, (18 February 1893), p. 315–8; D. Kasischke-Wurm, Antisemitismus im Spiegel der Hamburger Presse während des Kaiserreichs (1884–1914) (Hamburg, 1997), p. 49–50.

50 RT X/2/VIII (23 Jan. 1903), p. 7526–7 (Stoecker). See also A. Stoecker, Reden im Reichstag. ed. R. Mumm (Schwerin, 1914).

51 RT XI/1/V (9 December 1904), p. 3455 (Stoecker); Stoecker, Reden, p. 408.

52 On the common distinction between Jewish wit (Witz) and German temperamental humour (Gemütshumor), cf. Rullmann, Witz, pp. 79–80. For the historical scholarship on this question, cf. P. Jelavich, ‘When Are Jewish Jokes No Longer Funny? Ethnic Humour in Imperial and Republican Berlin', in M. Kessel and P. Merziger (eds), The Politics of Humour: Laughter, Inclusion, and Exclusion in the Twentieth Century (Toronto, 2012), pp. 22–51; J.S. Chase, Inciting Laughter: The Development of ‘Jewish Humor’ in 19th Century German Culture (Berlin, 2013); L. Kaplan, Vom jüdischen Witz zum Judenwitz: Eine Kunst wird entwendet, C. Döring (ed.), (Berlin, 2021).

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Theo Jung

Theo Jung is Professor of Modern History at the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg.