Dive bar
Spelunke is the somewhat contemptuous term for a bad, disreputable pub or gambling den .
term
The word Spelunke comes from the Latin spelunca or the Greek spḗlygx (for cave ). For example, the Romans of late antiquity called the Mithraea - underground temples of the Mithras cult .
In Pierer's Universal Lexikon of 1863, Spelunke is a "dirty, unsightly place where common people gather" and Meyer's Large Conversation Lexicon of 1909 states that the term means a "cavernous, dark, hidden space".
description
Since the use of the word "Spelunke" is very subjective, such a place can only be shown in general, as it is often described in the literature. According to this, dives are usually found in badly reputed parts of the city, often in port areas or entertainment areas of large cities. Not necessarily, but often, stairs lead to the restaurant in the basement. The lighting is dim, the ceiling is low, and the furniture is old and worn. The air appears stuffy and is mostly completely smoky. The clientele of these pubs often consists of shady people. The drinks are not expensive, but inexperienced guests can be taken advantage of.
The service in Spelunken leaves a lot to be desired, the ambience is often dirty and uninviting. Newcomers are eyed and assessed suspiciously by other guests. Half-worlds and petty criminals are often the regulars.
In the old days - and that's where the word comes from - a visit to a pub could have life-threatening consequences. On the one hand, there were repeated attempts to shanghai people (in the 18th and 19th centuries), on the other hand, in many cases they were simply made drunk and then robbed. The fact that these are not just purely literary reports is shown by actual reports from the Middle Ages , of which later variants such as Das Wirtshaus im Spessart only give a vague idea of the actual conditions.
Songs to the dive bar
- We sat in Johnny's dive bar is a song that was often sung by the Bundische Jugend and later also by the Edelweiss Pirates . Originally it was a hit that was made around 1932 under the title You sat in Bobby's dive bar . In 1933 the song spread in numerous text versions. One begins with the words:
- We sat in Johnny's den
- with card games and schnapps.
- Jim Baker, the brown scoundrel
- and Dong, the yellow jap….
- Werle & Stankowski made a remake of the song Wir sat in Johnnys Spelunke in 2004 as part of the Edelweißpiraten project . It was released on the compilation It was in Shanghai .
- Trude Herr sang the hit title In der Spelunke "Zur alten Unke" in the 1960s .
- As honky-tonk Jenny from Bertolt Brecht thus designated role in the Threepenny Opera played and sang for the first time Lotte Lenya .
- In the text of the song Karamba, Karacho, a whiskey by Heino from 1969, there is several mention of "Don Fillipo, the old pub landlord".
- The content of the Rolling Stones song Honky Tonk Woman , from 1969, which can be translated as a pub woman , is about such.
Goethe and Spelunke
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote as epigram number 69 in his as epigrams. Venice 1790 poetry book about the dive bar:
- What is Spelunke now, you ask to know? There will be
- Almost to the lexicon of this epigrammatic book.
- There are dark houses in narrow streets; to the coffee
- Beauty leads you and she shows herself busy, not you.
Other meanings
- Tavern is also the name of a memory game by Uwe Rosenberg , two characters are searched in which each that are tolerated . It is a card game and was first published by Lookout Games .
- Halunken und Spelunken is the name of a board game by Alex Randolph , which was published by Kosmos-Verlag.
- Spelunke in vivo is the name of the annual quarter festival in Gattikon in Switzerland.
- In 1929 the Austrian director EW Emo made a silent film with the title "Spelunke" with Paul Otto (see also here ).
- There is a tavern tower in Bad Pyrmont
