House painter (nickname)
Politicians who appeared loud and self-assured and who did not live up to the expectations that they themselves aroused through their populist demeanor and who disappointed the hopes placed in them by uncritical supporters were referred to by the critical vernacular as painters . A saying by Erich Kästner illustrates the importance: “Again and again statesmen come along with large pots of paint and declare that they are the new builders. And again and again it's just house painters. "
This designation was coined in particular on Adolf Hitler , with a funny double meaning as an additional punch line, since the name could also be understood as an allusion to Hitler's artistic ambitions. As is well known, Hitler considered himself a talented painter, but had never produced artistically recognized achievements, only published a few postcards. Bertolt Brecht wrote the song about the painter Hitler .
Like all critical jokes about Hitler, the use of such mockery was not without danger during the National Socialist era , as denunciations and a ruthlessly radical Nazi judiciary had to be expected.
From a post-war perspective, Rudolf Augstein criticized Hitler's designation as a “house painter”, which was popular even after 1945, as belittling and inappropriate, as it played down Hitler's historical role.
Individual evidence
- ^ Greetings from the President of the National Council, Hansjörg Walter ( Memento from September 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Lucerne, January 19, 2012.
- ↑ Bertolt Brecht : The song of the house painter Hitler .
- ^ The painter In: Augsburger Allgemeine , November 5, 2008.
- ↑ Rittmeister Werner Kleffel was denounced by two young lieutenants in Russia because of defeatist statements, because he had described Adolf Hitler as a syphilitic and paranoid figure and said: "Nobody can be a painter, painter, architect, general and statesman at the same time." On December 11th In 1943, the war judge sentenced Klein Kleffel to five years in prison. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel ordered a new hearing. Otto Wöhrmann sentenced Kleffel to death on August 30, 1944 after a brief trial. Due to the intervention of lawyers known to Kleffels, the execution of the death sentence was suspended on probation in a punitive battalion . Kleffel survived and later worked as a senior public prosecutor in Hildesheim (source: Richter. Unreservedly in action. In: Der Spiegel 28/1959, July 8, 1959, pp. 26-28 ).
- ^ Rudolf Augstein : Dear Spiegel reader. In: Der Spiegel 5/1964, January 29, 1964, p. 3 .