Kreppelzeitung

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Kreppelzeitungen or Krebbelzeitungen appear during the carnival season in various parts of the state of Hesse as satirical or at least humorous publications, mostly published by the local carnival associations. They often have a long tradition. It gets its name from the " crepe " baked in simmering fat , which at this time are preferred or are also privately baked.

Occasionally such Krebbel newspapers had even greater political effects: in 1936 the practice of the Klaa Pariser Carnival in Frankfurt-Heddernheim was banned by the National Socialists , because the cover picture of a Krebbel newspaper of the "Heddemer Käwwern" showed a linocut that obviously depicted Adolf Hitler with a fool's cap.

Historical background

In the Wilhelminian era, people looked for a counterbalance to the new, factual industrial world, Art Nouveau and the ephemeral romanticism by cultivating humor and humorous poetry - but also the power politics of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the always latent danger of war shaped the feelings of the citizens. The need for free speech and freedom of expression prompted the well-known old master of Main Franconian dialect, Friedrich Stoltze, to publish his Krebbelzeitung (in Frankfurt this was written with "bb") and the Frankfurter Latern , which was banned in 1866 as the free imperial city of Frankfurt am Main lost its political independence.

A case study: Hochstadt

The design of the newspaper is organized by members of the humor music association "Edelweiß" founded in 1896 e. V. Hochstadt. The basic idea of ​​the paper is to first poke fun at the Hochstädter fellow citizens with the Kreppelzeitung and to immortalize everyone who has become conspicuous in any way during the year in the "Humorous Witzblatt". However, the names of those affected were only hinted at or referred to in a humorous way. However, the person concerned and his immediate surroundings knew exactly who was meant.

While the copies of the first few years were still drawn or reproduced by hand and illustrated with ornaments and motifs because of the enormously high printing costs for such a small edition, the newspaper had to be printed from 1908 because of its great success. The first 140 hand-made copies cost 20 pfennigs, later the price of the now 300 newspapers was temporarily lowered to 10 pfennigs. This was at the expense of the illustration, which was a bit sparse.

The reduced price nevertheless corresponded to a monthly membership fee. The total income from newspaper sales in 1908 was RM 27.20 with simultaneous expenditures of RM 34.00 at a time when a 25-liter keg of beer cost comparatively RM 3.90. Ultimately, you had to add a barrel or two of beer to the cost of the newspaper and the newspaper sellers got a “Worscht” for a total of RM 1.71. When RM 9 was subsequently claimed for “the Kreppelzeitung”, the price had to be increased again to 20 pfennigs for the next year.

The influence of the two world wars

As can be seen from the cash book, which at that time was still called the “edition book”, the membership of the association had shrunk from 23 to 14 members at the end of 1913 as a result of being drafted into the military. With the beginning of the First World War, the association's activities and with it the publication of the Kreppelzeitung ceased. In March 1919 the association resumed operations and 13 new members were registered in the same year. However, it took two years before the Kreppelzeitung appeared again in 1921. How much the world had changed can be seen from the cost of RM 218 and the price of RM 1 per copy. In 1922 the costs doubled and the price of the Kreppel newspaper reached an all-time high of RM 2.00 with a total circulation of 400 copies. It is no longer possible to understand why the next and, for the time being, last edition did not appear until 1928. Another way of production had to be found. At a cost of RM 55 and a price of 35 pfennigs, a considerable profit was made. Although there was a lively, sociable club life until the dissolution of the club by the "Fachschaft Musikkammer" of the NSDAP in 1938, the activities of the Kreppelzeitung had fallen asleep.

At the beginning of January 1949, the new board of the association, which was founded for the second time on April 2, 1948, under the direction of Wilhelm Schröder, applied for approval to publish the “Hochstädter Kreppelzeitung”, which was published on January 31, 1949 by the “OFFICE OF MILITARY GOVERNMENT FOR HESSE INFORMATIONS SERVICES DIVISION PUBLICATIONS BRANCH 757 FRANKFURT ”. From this year onwards, the newspaper will appear on Shrove Saturday every year without interruption.

How is a Kreppel newspaper created and how does it get out there?

First, let's go back to the birth of the Kreppelzeitung. The chairman in 1902, Philipp Eibelshäuser and Philipp Hofacker, were the men who placed the humor in the foreground. Under her leadership the decision matured to publish a “Kreppelzeitung” - similar to the “Krebbelzeitung” Friedrich Stoltze, in which local and time-critical elements could mix without suspicion. First of all, local events were compiled in humorous poetry and provided with small drawings for the "Humorous Witzblatt" from 1902, written by hand on a matrix, reproduced and played on Shrove Tuesday.

It can be assumed that the editors' committee of five to seven members over many years in the year the Kreppelzeitung was born consisted only of the two named persons and that the handwriting of the first edition came from the pen of the then secretary Philipp Hofacker. The committee that meets every year is called the “Kreppelgericht” because it judges the acts of “sinners” or accuses them of “grievances” and then decides on their publication.

All year round, the Kreppelrichter (editors) keep their ears open to see who has eaten what, when and where. The notes are usually kept until after Christmas and then viewed together. After it has been determined which incidents are to be processed, the topics are distributed among the editors.

The type of presentation encompasses the entire range of rhyming verses and prose texts in (almost) High German or Low German, from caricatures to funny adverts. In addition to the purely personal topics, the time-critical part of the contributions, much to the chagrin of the original Hochstädter, takes on an ever larger scope in order to do justice to the new citizens. The financing of the newspaper represents a special task every year, which cannot be achieved with the price of € 1 per item alone. It is thanks to the honorary chairman and senior Kreppelrichter Philipp Mankel that he introduced the advertising, which was initially still humorous.

The editorial deadline is two weeks before Shrove Saturday and the proofs are proofread. Exactly at 10 a.m. on Shrove Tuesday, the Kreppel newspaper vendors swarm out in order to supply all the districts with newspapers, supported by the musicians of the club. Many a schnapps is already waiting for the brave troop here, because that too is a tradition in Hochstadt. Of course, the newspaper will also be sold at the Carnival parade in Maintal-Dörnigheim.