1st Edition

Workers' Culture in Imperial Germany Leisure and Recreation in the Rhineland and Westphalia

By Lynn Abrams Copyright 1992
    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    224 Pages
    by Routledge

    Workers Culture in Imperial Germany represents the first alternative approach to the study of workers' culture in Imperial Germany. It is also the first comprehensive historical analysis of the emergence of Germany's modern leisure industry. The central concern of the book is the emergence of a distinct workers' culture which provided a disparate and heterogeneous working class with a focus of identity in an alien and hostile society. Lynn Abrams focuses on the leisure activities enjoyed by workers in the major cities of Bochum and Dusseldorf. She provides a comprehensive coverage of a whole range of popular amusements and recreations on offer including festivals, pubs, Tingel-Tangels, dance halls, clubs and cinema. The book is also a major contribution to the social history of working-class life in the nineteenth century, contributing to the debate over the role of a working class culture in Imperial Germany.

    Preface Introduction Part I: A Time and a Place for Leisure The Industrial Environment Time and Inclination Ability to Pay Conclusions Part II: The Industrialization of Popular Culture The Traditional Festival The Working-Class Parish Fair Conflicts and Resolutions The Segregation of Festival Culture Conclusions Part III: The Lubricant of Leisure Patterns of Consumption Workplace Drinking Drink and the Family Drink and the Labour Movement Conclusions Part IV: From the Street to the Stage Street Entertainment The Taming of Popular Entertainment Tingel-Tangels and Music Halls The Dance Craze Conclusions Part V: The Organization of Leisure Preconditions of Organization Beginnings of Associational Life An Alternative Associational Movement Club Life Conclusions Part VI: The Struggle for Control The Social Question and Rational Recreation Useful Pursuits Lungs of the City Conclusions Part VII: From Control to Commercialization Entertaining the Masses The Rise of the Cinema Commercial Culture versus Working-Class Culture The Triumph of Commercial Culture? Conclusions Part VIII: Conclusions Bibliography; Index

    Biography

    Lynn Abrams