The barricade on Kronenstrasse and Friedrichstrasse on March 18 by an eyewitness
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| The barricade on Kronenstrasse and Friedrichstrasse on March 18 by an eyewitness |
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| FG Nordmann , 1848 |
| Colored lithograph |
| 28 × 32.5 cm |
| Historical Museum in Frankfurt am Main |
The lithograph “The Barricade on Kronenstrasse and Friedrichstrasse on March 18 by an eyewitness” shows a view of the fighting during the Berlin March Revolution of 1848 . The illustration is particularly important for historiography, as it provides information about the gender-specific division of tasks of the insurgents and the strongly idealized idea of the revolutionary struggle for freedom.
description
The scene shown takes place at the intersection between Friedrichstrasse and Kronenstrasse, not far from Gendarmenmarkt . The defensive battle of the Berlin barricade fighters against the royal troops advancing in the background is discussed. With the help of the clothing, the artist makes the social affiliation of the civil actors recognizable: with top hats he identifies the wearer as citizens . He puts black caps on the students . He shows the workers in their work clothes, mostly without headgear. The unprepared character of the battle is clearly emphasized: In the center of the lithograph, three boys sit around a fire and pour spheres from the hastily brought up lead glazing of the window. A woman smashes the window glass for this. To their right, two men are tearing stones from the pavement. The fighters standing on and at the barricade defend themselves with rifles, axes and bayonets. On the left side of the picture, a wounded man is being carried out of the line of fire. At the top right of the picture, civilians shooting out of the houses are indicated. Their shots hit an officer in the left half of the picture who “falls from [his] horse”. Stones are hurled at the royal soldiers from the roofs of the houses on the left, which can no longer be seen in the picture. Apart from the officer and a few shadowy figures in his immediate vicinity, the other royal soldiers cannot be recognized in the smoke from the guns. The title given below the lithograph reads “The Barricade on Kronenstrasse and Friedrichstrasse on March 18 by an eyewitness” .
interpretation
In contrast to the watercolor barricade after fights in the Breite Straße , the lithograph discussed here does not represent a historically credible “snapshot” (according to Christina Klausmann ). The illustration rather corresponds to an event image popular among the population, which idealizes the fighters in heroic pose. In order to achieve the highest possible print run, the alleged reference to reality to the event is asserted in the subtitle (“by an eyewitness”). In fact, the lithograph was more likely based on a report in the Berlin Revolution Chronicle . The injured person in the foreground is a common form of representation for the revolution of 1848 to underline the “willingness of the people to make sacrifices” (according to Thomas W. Gaehtgens ). Accepting death in the struggle for freedom was stylized into an ideal that this lithograph also takes up. The motif of the common struggle between citizens, students and workers is inspired by French models. In fact, relatively few members of the bourgeoisie were involved in the fighting. Another important component of the heroic interpretation of the fight is the black, red and gold flag, which is in the center of the picture and is raised high. Its bearer seems to “brave” the troops without any cover - a hardly realistic position. The lithograph also provides information about the roles of the sexes during the Berlin March Revolution. While the men fight at the front of the barricade, the young women stay under cover and, together with children, support the pouring of the lead balls. According to Rüdiger Hachtmann , according to the image of women of the time, they could only take part in "auxiliary services". On the other hand, they were excluded from the actual defensive battle.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Christina Klausmann: Revolutionary Awakening in Germany. In: Lothar Gall (ed.): 1848. Departure to freedom. An exhibition by the German Historical Museum and the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the 1848/49 revolution. Nicolai, Berlin 1998, pp. 115-184, here p. 120.
- ↑ Christina Klausmann: Revolutionary Awakening in Germany. In: Lothar Gall (ed.): 1848. Departure to freedom. An exhibition by the German Historical Museum and the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the 1848/49 revolution. Nicolai, Berlin 1998, pp. 115–184, here p. 121. The location of the chronicle is given by the LemO of the German Historical Museum .
- ↑ Thomas W. Gaehtgens : The revolution of 1848 in European art. In: Dieter Langewiesche (Ed.): The revolutions of 1848 in European history results and aftermath. Oldenbourg, Munich 2000, pp. 91-122, here pp. 96-97.
- ^ Rüdiger Hachtmann : The revolution of 1848 - a youth rebellion? In: 1848. Actors and scenes of the Berlin Revolution (= Revolution Revisited. Volume 1). Centaurus, Freiburg 2013, pp. 21–40, here pp. 25–26 (PDF) .