Wenceslas (ethnophaulism)

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Michel: Now, Wenzel, let's two talk to each other ... Wenzel: I'm fine, but only bohemian!
Music MPs

Wenzel was a stereotype for Czechs in Austria and Germany . Like the German Michel or “Iwan” for a Russian , the ethnophaulistic designation had a touch of ironic disdain.

background

Wenceslas was a common given name in the Czech Republic, derived from Saint Wenceslaus of Bohemia . With his long hairstyle and his unusual clothes, "Wenceslas" stood out in traffic and in every restaurant. He wore a hat with a very small brim that he had put on one ear and pulled over his forehead.

“The Bohemian Wenceslas appears in the German and Austrian caricatures with a broad, cunning and slightly stupid face. He is often portrayed as a dissatisfied, cheeky and ungrateful child (as a parallel to the perception of the Czechs in the Danube Monarchy, when the Czechs were dissatisfied with many things - for no reason in German eyes). Usually only musical instruments appear as attributes. The Czechs wear peasant hats and caps of servants, policemen or sokolturner as headgear . "

- Jozo Džambo

Since the Czech MPs in the Austrian Reichstag pursued an obstructive policy and the Bohemian minstrels were known for their love of brass music , Figaro caricatured the Bohemian MP.

Wenceslas female counterpart was Marianka .

The German Schimpfwortbuch (Arnstadt, 1839) lists "Wenzel" as a dirty word .

literature

  • Jozo Džambo: The Slavs - German and Austrian caricatures , in: Peter Becher , Jozo Džambo: Same pictures, same words. Austrians and Czechs in the caricature (1848–1948) . Munich 1997.
  • Katrin Berwanger: History myth and literature with Josef Linda - strengthening the Wenzel legend instead of eternal German-Czech antagonism , in: Steffen Höhne and Andreas Ohme: Processes of cultural integration and disintegration. Germans, Czechs, and Bohemians in the 19th century . R. Oldenbourg Verlag , Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-944396-47-7 , pp. 115-133.
  • Jiří Kořalka : Czechs and Germans in reciprocal caricatures from 1848 to 1938 , in: W. Kosünsch, M. Nekula, J. Rogall (eds.): Germans and Czechs. History-culture-politics . Munich 2001, pp. 512-516.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adalbert Sladek, in: Herbert Kater: The inactive and holiday associations of the Kösener SC Association . Einst und Jetzt , Vol. 16 (1971), p. 200.
  2. ↑ Džambo (1997), pp. 32-35
  3. ↑ a b Regina Wonisch: The Czech minority in Vienna , in: MT Vogt and others (2010)