Professor Helmut A. Seidl has collected malicious advertisements from earlier times and has now published them in a book.
Augsburg / Ebenhausen - Helmut Seidl, for example, found this find fascinating: The allegations are serious: “Rügen! The landlady von Ebenhausen is asked: Firstly, to be more humane towards her guests ..... secondly, she should speak more quietly in the kitchen so that the guests, if they are reprimanded by the landlady, do not hear it in the garden. Thirdly, she would like to look around more after her guests and not show her stupid pride by doing so, because if the landlady wants to have a lot of gentlemen as guests in order to be able to write down that the chalk wants to bend, she should first be told that she is the few guests that gets lost now and then. "
Defamation was raised
This accusation of a dissatisfied guest was published in issue no. 80 of the "Latest News" in 1848. Professor Helmut A. Seidl, in his book "Schwindelköpfe, Schwätzer und Schmarotzer", has collected 302 of these insulting advertisements and the answers to them from old Munich and published.
In the revolutionary year of 1848, the prior censorship of the press was lifted in Bavaria.
"Now the citizens were able to publicly denounce defamation as well as alleged and actual grievances in classified ads," says Seidl.
Scoured the popular daily newspapers
He came across the advertisements in the course of other research, such as those about a blood relative whom Napoleon greeted with a handshake the day before the Battle of Abensberg and true spectacular murder cases in the Kingdom of Bavaria.
"After that, I spent about half a year looking through the 'Announcements' section in the most popular daily newspaper, the mass newspaper 'Latest News'," says Seidl, who taught New Languages in Nuremberg and Augsburg and has already published works on folklore, history and proverbs , "And from the around 14,000 classified ads of various kinds that appeared in 1848, we filtered out the most relevant malicious advertisements."
Even then, there was an enormous need for communication
The need for communication was enormous: a wife told her sex comrades where, or more precisely, in which bed she found her husband.
One guest complained that you only have to go to a certain tavern in order to be served “half a portion of half-cooked liver without salt and lard”.
Others were dissatisfied with the dance music at an event.
It was also warned against borrowing anything to a named “piano maker wife”, since “her husband has a piano in the works that will never be finished”.
The clergy also had to sweat
The authors did not even stop at the clergy: “One advises the clergyman CL.
in the S ... gasse Nro 68, if he wants to kiss his cook, walk away from the window.
Signed: An eyewitness. ”However, the advertisements also served as a warning against admirers with dishonest intentions, or the mistreatment of servants was denounced.
After each advertisement, Seidl explains the background, the location or expressions typical of the time and thus draws a picture of the society at that time.
One could also reply to diatribes
Incidentally, we could of course respond to every insulting advertisement - as in the case of Frau Wirthin zu Ebenhausen. The guests - 18 in number who visited the pub for the post office on the day in question - got together: "Reply to the complaint, rather a lie about Ebenhausen ... we read ... one, the good landlady of Ebenhausen deeply hurtful abusive article that only bears the imprint of a very malicious person. On the day in question a company of 18 people (not from higher ranks) was in Ebenhausen and was served with the greatest friendliness and to the utmost satisfaction .... by the woman hostess. "And in the direction of the author:" That there are unfortunately very many There are people who always claim educated treatment, but whose behavior is such that they do not deserve it,is all too well known. This to the consolation of the unworthily blasphemed landlady of Ebenhausen. "
The book
"Schwindelköpfe, Schwätzer und Schmarotzer" by Helmut A. Seidl has been published under ISBN 978-3-7526-1160-1 for 19.90 euros.
