Brunswick friend of the people

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Volksfreund - edition of August 20, 1914, three weeks after the start of the First World War

The Braunschweiger Volksfreund was founded by Wilhelm Bracke in Braunschweig and is one of the oldest social democratic newspapers in Germany. The first edition appeared on May 15, 1871, the last on March 2, 1933. The newspaper was aimed at readers in the entire area of ​​the Duchy and Free State of Braunschweig .

First years in the empire

At first the newspaper appeared weekly, from October 2, 1871 daily. From September 8, 1871 to 1880, the sheet was printed by Brackes Verlag and had between 600 and a maximum of 2,700 subscribers during this period .

Due to the Socialist Law , all workers' newspapers in the empire were banned, including the Braunschweiger Volksfreund on October 28, 1878 . But just five days later, on November 2, 1878, the paper appeared again - this time under the code name Braunschweigisches Unterhaltungsblatt . This made it the only "social democratic organ in Germany [that] could appear during the entire twelve years of the Socialist Law". The newspaper appeared under the "camouflage title" until November 27, 1890. From November 30, it again carried its original name, which it retained until December 30, 1906. In 1898, the Braunschweiger Volksfreund became the property of the SPD . The number of subscribers had risen to 7442 by 1906. In 1907 the newspaper was renamed Volksfreund and from now on it was produced in the party's own printing house. By the beginning of the First World War , the circulation rose to 16,000 copies.

End of the German Empire and Weimar Republic

November Revolution in Braunschweig : Front page of the Volksfreund from November 8, 1918.

In 1914 they moved into the Volksfreund-Haus , the newly built party, trade union, publishing, printing and editorial building on the corner of Schloßstraße 8 / Ölschlägern 29, located on the southwest side of the Ackerhof . The building was soon given the name “Red Castle”, as it is only about 100 m from Braunschweig Castle .

During the First World War, Der Volksfreund was one of the few social democratic newspapers in which opponents of the war and the peace policy of the SPD party leadership still had their say after the war began . In fact, the position of the Volksfreund became more radical as the war went on, which was due to the fact that the left wing of the SPD had gathered in its editorial office under the temporary leadership of August Thalheimer . From around 1915 the positions of Hugo Haase and Karl Kautsky were represented, and the even more radical opponents of the war, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht , had supporters in the editorial team. The Braunschweig SPD became the opposition within the SPD throughout the empire.

When the SPD split into USPD and MSPD in 1917, there was a considerable radicalization of the workforce in Braunschweig - in contrast to most of the rest of Germany. a. thus showed that of the former 3,000 SPD members in the city after the split, only about 100 remained in the more moderate MSPD (among them e.g. Heinrich Jasper ), but the others switched to the more radical USPD. The Volksfreund was edited by Carl Minster during this time . The party right managed to remain in the possession of the Volksfreund in the course of the split , which deepened the rifts between the USPD and MSPD in the city, caused the number of subscribers to drop dramatically and was finally referred to by the USPD as the "Volksfreund robbery".

In 1919 the Volksfreund was merged with the MSPD newspaper Der Sozialdemokrat and in 1922 with the USPD newspaper Die Freiheit . The two newspapers existed from December 2, 1918 to September 30, 1919 and from January 1, 1919 to October 31, 1922 and emerged from the split in the SPD.

Ban by the National Socialists

The Volksfreund-Haus 2011

After the NSDAP came to power in the Free State of Braunschweig in 1930 and ruled in a coalition government with bourgeois parties, the political pressure on the left friend of the people gradually increased . In 1931 there was a first publication ban for ten days. After the Reichstag fire on 27./28. February 1933 and the subsequent ordinance of the Reich President for the protection of the people and the state , the people's friend was banned by the National Socialist Interior Minister of the Free State, Dietrich Klagges , for two weeks on March 1, 1933. Since this ban was not lifted again, the SPD newspaper did not appear until the liberation in 1945.

On March 9, SS troops stormed the “Red Castle”, destroyed the interior and, in some cases, severely abused the Volksfreund personnel. One person was shot dead in this action, which was led by Friedrich Alpers . The building was occupied by the SS and in the following months abused as a detention room, in which Matthias Theisen was beaten to death, among others .

post war period

After 1945 the Volksfreund was published almost regularly on a monthly basis by the SPD's district executive. At no point did the newspaper regain the importance it had before the ban. The publication was discontinued in the late 1960s.

For several years now, an information leaflet has been published several times a year under the title Braunschweiger Volksfreund , which is distributed to all households in Braunschweig. The publisher is the sub-district executive committee of the SPD.

After the liberation in 1945 , the Braunschweiger Presse appeared in place of the Braunschweiger Volksfreund , not as an SPD organ but as an SPD-related daily newspaper until 1967. Editing, printing and publishing were in the Braunschweiger Volksfreund-Haus of the SPD, the so-called "Red Castle".

Inserts and local editions

Side dishes

  • Braunschweiger flares. A cheerful sheet in serious times , 1872–1878
  • Braunschweiger Sylvesterzeitung , 1891–1932
  • The new world. Illustrated entertainment journal for the people , 1876-1919 (weekly or bi-weekly)
  • From the armory of socialism. A collection of old and new propaganda writings , 1902–1910 (every six months)
  • After work. Entertainment Supplement , 1903–1906
  • Entertainment Gazette , 1908–1916
  • The parish , 1920–1929
  • Women's supplement , 1921–1922
  • Settlement and allotment garden , 1921
  • Entertainment Supplement , 1921–1922
  • For our women , 1923–1926
  • In free hours. Entertainment Gazette , 1923-1924
  • Youth Country , 1923–1926
  • The torch. Election supplement , 1924
  • Sport - game. Official organ of the workers' sports cartel for the city and state of Braunschweig , 1924–1931
  • People and time. Illustrated supplement , 1924–1931
  • Braunschweiger Volkskalender , 1929–1933, continued after 1945 (annually)
  • Free time. Weekly entertainment supplement , 1930–1933
  • Workers' Sport , 1932–1933

Local editions

Known employees

literature

  • Britta Berg: Newspapers and magazines from Braunschweig including Helmstedt (until 1810) and Wolfenbüttel (until 1918). In: Braunschweiger workpieces. Publications from the city archive and the city library, Series A, Volume 40, the whole series Volume 93, Braunschweig 1995, ISBN 3-930459-08-6 .
  • Camerer, Garzmann, Schuegraf, Pingel (eds.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon. Braunschweig 1992, ISBN 3-926701-14-5 .
  • Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Gerhard Schildt (Hrsg.): Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia. Braunschweig 2000, ISBN 3-930292-28-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dieter Fricke: On the organization and activity of the German labor movement (1890-1914). Data and materials. Leipzig 1962, p. 166
  2. ↑ a b Camerer, Garzmann, Schuegraf, Pingel: Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon. Braunschweig 1992, p. 42
  3. ^ Britta Berg: Newspapers and magazines from Braunschweig including Helmstedt (until 1810) and Wolfenbüttel (until 1918). In: Braunschweiger workpieces. Volume 93, Braunschweig 1995, p. 46 f.
  4. ↑ Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Gerhard Schildt (Ed.): Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia. Braunschweig 2000, p. 838
  5. ^ A b Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (ed.): Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia. Braunschweig 2000, p. 930
  6. ^ A b c Britta Berg: Newspapers and magazines from Braunschweig including Helmstedt (until 1810) and Wolfenbüttel (until 1918). In: Braunschweiger workpieces. Volume 93, Braunschweig 1995, p. 47
  7. ↑ Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Gerhard Schildt (Ed.): Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte. A region looking back over the millennia. Braunschweig 2000, p. 982 f.
  8. ^ Digitized version (username: Richard, password: Wagner).

Web links