“Captain of Köpenick.”
A very famous example was the “Captain of Köpenick.” There is probably no example that is pointed to exemplifying militarism in imperial Germany than this. In this 1906 incident, a 54-year-old career petty criminal (Wilhelm Voigt) was kicked out of his job inthe city of Köpenick by the police for being an undesirable. He had been released from prison and was “going straight” living with his sister and working as a cobbler. As he had no passport he could not establish residency. Without residency he could not find work in the cobbler trade he had learned in prison. Without a passport, not only could he not gain residency, he discovered that the city did not process passport requests. After making a thorough reconnaissance, he went to several secondhand shops and pieced together a secondhand captain’s uniform. He commandeered 10 soldiers on the street, who obeyed him instantly, led them to the town hall, arrested the mayor, and demanded that the city treasury be turned over to him. Everyone complied immediately because he was a captain, and he stole 4,000 Marks. This farce eventually became a stage play. As a side note, Voigt became wildly popular. After a two-year prison term, he became a media personality, amassed significant personal wealth, but lost it during German hyperinflation. He died in Luxemburg in 1922. Continuing on to modern times, this incident has inspired movies, plays and books. There is even a statue of him at the Townhall.
The military was the nation’s highest source of pride, but this underestimated the position of the military in politics as well as in society. There was huge social status associated with wearing the uniform. Civilians were expected to step aside, allowing officers to pass on the street. Even Landwehr officers wore their uniforms on Sunday, a habit that continued throughout retirement for officers.
Militarism led to a series of constitutional struggles and attempts by the military to circumvent the civilian government. Militarism was inherent in all parts of German society; for example, schoolchildren were taught that the German victory over the French army in 1870 was the ultimate measure of success. Even the alphabet primer introduced in 1910 to the primary schools associated letters with lists of military objects such as P is for pistol. The Germans also believed that God directed their success over the French (beginning with the liberation from Napoleon in 1813 and continuing in the 1870-71 war). The Prussian soldiers (NCOs and enlisted men) had the motto “Gott mit uns” (May the Lord be with us) on their belt buckles. On their helmets, Prussian soldiers had the motto “Mit Gott für Koenig und Vaterland.”[1] The other states relied on God a little less. The Bavarians had “In Treue fest” (Be firm in faith) on their helmets and buckles; Württemberg soldiers had “Furchtlos und trew”[2] (Fearless and faithful—with “trew” being an old-fashioned spelling of the word treu) on their buckles and helmets; and the Saxons used the motto “Providentiae memor” (Latin: Remember providence).
It would be most informative to hear what our German members remember from their education as to whether this was taught in school and if so how?
