Kabarett (; from French ''cabaret'' =

tavern A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that h ...

) is satirical revue, a form of

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

which developed in France by

Rodolphe Salis Louis Rodolphe Salis (29 May 1851 – 20 March 1897) was the creator, host and owner of the Le Chat Noir ("The Black Cat") cabaret (known briefly in 1881 at its beginning as "Cabaret Artistique"). With this establishment Salis is remembered as the ...

in 1881 as the ''cabaret artistique''. It was named Le Chat Noir and was centered on political events and satire. It later inspired creation of Kabarett venues in Germany from 1901, with the creation of Berlin's Überbrettl venue and in Austria with the creation of the Jung-Wiener Theater zum lieben Augustin housed in the

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

. By the Weimar era in the mid-1920s it was characterized by

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where Political discourse analysis, political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing ...

and

gallows humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

. It shared the characteristic atmosphere of intimacy with the French cabaret from which it was imported, but the gallows humor was a distinct German aspect.

Difference from other forms

Kabarett is the German word for the French word ''

'' but has two different meanings. The first meaning is the same as in English, describing a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre (often the word "cabaret" is used in German for this as well to distinguish this form). The latter describes a kind of

. Unlike comedians who make fun of all kind of things, Kabarett artists (german: link=no, Kabarettisten) pride themselves as dedicated almost completely to political and social topics of more serious nature which they criticize using techniques like

cynicism Cynic or Cynicism may refer to: Modes of thought * Cynicism (philosophy), a school of ancient Greek philosophy * Cynicism (contemporary), modern use of the word for distrust of others' motives Books * ''The Cynic'', James Gordon Stuart Grant 1 ...

, sarcasm and

irony Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

.(1997
''The new encyclopaedia Britannica''
Volume 2, p.702 quote:

History

The first Kabarett venue was the Le Chat Noir in France, founded in 1880 by

. It later inspired similar venues in Germany and Austria such as the " Überbrettl", the first Kabarett venue (Berlin, 1901) in Germany and the "Jung-Wiener Theater zum lieben Augustin" in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Ernst von Wolzogen Ernst von Wolzogen (23 April 1855 – 30 August 1934) was a cultural critic, a writer and a founder of Cabaret in Germany. Biography Wolzogen came from a noble Austrian family; he studied Literature, Philosophy, and the history of art in Strasb ...

founded in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

the first German cabaret called ''Überbrettl'' (literally ''Superstage'', a play of words on

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's '' Übermensch'', ''Superman''), later known as ''Buntes Theater'' (colourful theatre), in January 1901. In the foundation of the ''Überbrettl '', von Wolzogen was inspired by Otto Julius Bierbaum's 1897 novel ''Stilpe''. In

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, the ''Die Elf Scharfrichter'' was co-founded by

Otto Falckenberg Otto Falckenberg (5 October 1873 in Koblenz25 December 1947 in Munich) was a German theatre director, manager and writer. In April 1901, he co-founded ''Die Elf Scharfrichter'', the first political ''kabarett'' (a form of cabaret which developed ...

and others, in April 1901. It is sometimes considered the first political ''kabarett''. Kabarett rohrstock

All forms of public criticism were banned by a censor on theatres in the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

, however. This was lifted at the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, allowing the kabarett artists to deal with social themes and political developments of the time. This meant that German kabarett really began to blossom in the 1920s and 1930s, bringing forth all kinds of new cabaret artists, such as

Werner Finck Werner Finck (2 May 1902 – 31 July 1978) was a German ''Kabarett'' comedian, actor and author. Not politically motivated by his own admission but just a "convinced individualist", he became one of Germany's leading cabaret artists under the co ...

at the ''Katakombe'',

Karl Valentin Karl Valentin (born Valentin Ludwig Fey, 4 June 1882 in Munich – 9 February 1948 in Planegg) was a Bavarian comedian. He had significant influence on German Weimar culture. Valentin starred in many silent films in the 1920s, and was sometimes c ...

(died 1948) at the ''Wien-München'',

Fritz Grünbaum Franz Friedrich 'Fritz' Grünbaum (7 April 1880 in Brünn (Brno), Moravia – 14 January 1941 at the Dachau concentration camp, Germany) was an Austrian Jewish cabaret artist, operetta and popular song writer, actor, and master of ceremonies ...

and

Karl Farkas Karl Farkas (28 October 1893 – 16 May 1971) was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer. Biography In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage. After attending the Academy of ...

at the Kabarett ''Simpl'' in Vienna, and

Claire Waldoff Claire Waldoff (21 October 1884 – 22 January 1957), born Clara Wortmann, was a German singer. She was a famous kabarett singer and entertainer in Berlin during the 1910s and 1920s, chiefly known for performing ironic songs in the Berlin dialect ...

. Some of their texts were written by great literary figures such as

Kurt Tucholsky Kurt Tucholsky (; 9 January 1890 – 21 December 1935) was a German journalist, satirist, and writer. He also wrote under the pseudonyms Kaspar Hauser (after the historical figure), Peter Panter, Theobald Tiger and Ignaz Wrobel. Tucholsky was on ...

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including '' Emil and the Detectives''. He received ...

, and

Klaus Mann Klaus Heinrich Thomas Mann (18 November 1906 – 21 May 1949) was a German writer and dissident. He was the son of Thomas Mann, a nephew of Heinrich Mann and brother of Erika Mann, with whom he maintained a lifelong close relationship, and Golo ...

. When the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

came to power in 1933, they started to repress this intellectual criticism of the times. Kabarett in Germany was hit badly. (

Kander and Ebb Kander and Ebb were a highly successful American songwriting team consisting of composer John Kander (born March 18, 1927) and lyricist Fred Ebb (April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004). Known primarily for their stage musicals, which include ''Cab ...

's Broadway musical, ''

Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

'', based on the

Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood (26 August 1904 – 4 January 1986) was an Anglo-American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, autobiographer, and diarist. His best-known works include '' Goodbye to Berlin'' (1939), a semi-autobiographical ...

novel,

Goodbye to Berlin ''Goodbye to Berlin'' is a 1939 novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood set during the waning days of the Weimar Republic. The novel recounts Isherwood's 1929–1932 sojourn as a pleasure-seeking British expatriate on the eve of Ad ...

, deals with this period.) In 1935

was briefly imprisoned and sent to a concentration camp; at the end of that year Kurt Tucholsky committed suicide; and nearly all German-speaking kabarett artists fled into exile in Switzerland, France, Scandinavia, or the United States. When the war ended, the occupying powers ensured that the kabarett portrayed the horrors of the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

regime. Soon, various kabarett shows were also dealing with the government, the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

and the ''

Wirtschaftswunder The ''Wirtschaftswunder'' (, "economic miracle"), also known as the Miracle on the Rhine, was the rapid reconstruction and development of the economies of West Germany and Austria after World War II (adopting an ordoliberalism-based social marke ...

'': Cabaret Ulenspiegel in

, the university cabaret ''Tol(l)leranten'' in

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...

,Hans Dieter Hüsch biography
hüsch.org Retrieved 24 January 2012 the ''

Kom(m)ödchen The Kom(m)ödchen is a cabaret stage in Düsseldorf. The Kom(m)ödchen was created in 1947 as a political-literary cabaret by Kay Lorentz, Kay and Lore Lorentz. Other participants in the initial program ''"Positiv dagegen"'', which had its premiere ...

'' in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

and the

Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft The Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft (; Munich laughing and shooting company) is a German political ''kabarett'' (satirical revue) that runs at its own theatre in Schwabing, Munich. It was founded in 1956 by journalist Sammy Drechsel and ...

. These were followed in the 1950s by television cabaret. In the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

, the first state kabarett stage was opened in 1953,

's ''Die Distel''. It was censored and had to be very careful in criticizing the state (1954: ''Die Pfeffermühle'' in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

). In the 1960s, West German kabarett was centred on

, and

. At the end of the decade, the students' movement of May 1968 split opinion on the genre as some old kabarett artists were booed off the stage for being part of the old establishment. In the 1970s, new forms of kabarett developed, such as the television show ''

Notizen aus der Provinz ''Notizen aus der Provinz'' (German for "news from the province") was a political cabaret program hosted by Dieter Hildebrandt and broadcast by ZDF from 1973 to 1979. After its cancellation, it would be the last such program on the channel until ' ...

''. At the end of the 1980s, kabarett was an important part of social criticism, with a minor boom at the time of

German reunification German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

. In eastern Germany, kabarett artists had been growing more and more daring in their criticism of politicians in the time leading up to 1989. After reunification, new social problems, such as mass unemployment, the privatization of companies, and rapid changes in society, meant that cabarets rose in number.

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, for example, gained two new cabarets alongside the popular ''Herkuleskeule''. In the 1990s and at the start of the new millennium, the television and film comedy boom and a lessening of public interest in politics meant that television kabarett audiences in Germany dropped. In order to increase interest again the Walk of Fame of Cabaret in Mainz is honoring selected cabaret celebrities; many past cabaret celebrities are honored by stars and each year a star for a living one is added. As of 1999, contemporary active political kabarettists and satirists in Germany include:

Urban Priol Urban Priol (born 14 May 1961) is a German people, German Kabarett artist and comedian. Life Urban Priol was born on 14 May 1961, in Aschaffenburg. He spent his childhood in Obernburg am Main. In 1980, he made his abitur at the Kronberg-Gymnasiu ...

, Thomas Reis, Arnulf Rating, Heinrich Pachl, 3 Gestirn Köln 1,

Bruno Jonas Bruno Jonas (born in Passau, Germany, on 3 December 1952) is a German Kabarett artist and actor. Education Many people predicted he would become a priest, but he prefers to pray from the Kabarett stage. Between 1975 and 1982, he studied German, ...

Richard Rogler Richard Rogler (born 19 September 1949, in Selb) is a German Kabarett artist and professor of Kabarett at the University of the Arts in Berlin. Early life Rogler studied French and sport at the University of Würzburg. From 1974 to 1978 he was a ...

Mathias Richling Mathias Richling (born 24 March 1953 in Waiblingen) is a German actor, author, comedian and Kabarett artist. Richling studied literature, music and theatre. From 1989 to 1996 he had a program called ''Jetzt schlägt's Richling'' on the German TV ...

, Dieter Hildebrandt (died 2013), Henning Venske, Matthias Beltz (died 2002), Matthias Deutschmann and Volker Pispers.Pisper, Volker (1999) ''Damit müssen Sie rechnen'', Teil 1, pp. 9-10, in ''Gefühlte Wirklichkeiten'' (2001)

Other notable Kabarett artists

*Willy Astor * Jürgen Becker *Konrad Beikircher *Martin Betz *

Gerhard Bronner Gerhard Bronner (23 October 1922 in Favoriten, Vienna – 19 January 2007 in Vienna) was an Austrian composer, writer, musician and a cabaret artist, known for his contribution to Austrian culture in the post-World War II period. Life Born t ...

Karl Dall Karl Bernhard Dall (, 1 February 1941 – 23 November 2020) was a German comedian, singer, and television presenter. His distinctive 'hanging' eye was caused by a congenital ptosis. Family Karl Dall was born in Emden, Germany, the son of ...

* Alfred Dorfer *

Gerd Dudenhöffer Gerd Dudenhöffer (born 13 October 1949 in Bexbach, Saarland) is a German cabaret artist and writer. Life Dudenhöffer studied graphic and design in Munich. Since 1977, he works in Germany as a cabaret artist. His most famous role is ''Heinz ...

* Max Ehrlich, died 1944 *

Ottfried Fischer Ottfried Fischer (; born 7 November 1953) is a retired German actor and Kabarett artist best known for his role as Benno Berghammer in the popular German TV series ''Der Bulle von Tölz''. He is a supporter of the Social Democratic Party of Germ ...

*Lisa Fitz * Egon Friedell, died 1938 *Andreas Giebel *Rainald Grebe *

Christoph Grissemann Stermann & Grissemann are an Austrian German comedy duo comprising Dirk Stermann and Christoph Grissemann. Background Dirk Stermann Dirk Stermann (born 7 December 1965 in Duisburg) hails from Germany and is a German radio and television presen ...

, died 1941 *Günter Grünwald *

Josef Hader Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

Dieter Hallervorden Dieter "Didi" Hallervorden (born 5 September 1935) is a German comedian, actor, singer, and cabaret artist. He achieved great popularity in German-speaking countries in the mid-1970s with the slapstick series Nonstop Nonsens and his character Did ...

* Peter Hammerschlag, died 1942 * Eckart von Hirschhausen *

Franz Hohler Franz Hohler (born 1 March 1943) is a Swiss author and cabaret performer based in Zürich. Life Hohler is the author of one-man programs and satirical programs for television and radio. He has written theater pieces, children's books, storie ...

Jörg Hube Jörg Hube (22 November 1943 – 19 June 2009) was a German actor and director. He died of cancer. Theatre Some of Hube's roles: *1973 in Plenzdorf's ''Die neuen Leiden des jungen W.'', München *1974 in Brecht's ''Die heilige Johanna de ...

, died 2009 *

Hanns Dieter Hüsch Hanns Dieter Hüsch (6 May 1925, in Moers – 6 December 2005, in Windeck-Werfen) was a German people, German author, cabaret artist, actor, songwriter and radio commentator. With a working life of more than 53 years on the German cabaret stage a ...

, died 2005 *

Georg Kreisler Georg Kreisler (18 July 1922 – 22 November 2011) was an Austrian–American Viennese-language cabarettist, satirist, composer, and author. He was particularly popular in the 1950s and 1960s. From 2007 he lived in Salzburg, Austria, with his fou ...

, died 2011 *Reiner Kröhnert *

Maren Kroymann Maren Kroymann (; born 19 July 1949) is a German actress, comedian and singer. Career Kroymann was born in Walsrode. She studied English, Roman studies, and American studies at University of Tübingen. After spending time in Paris and the U ...

*Frank Lüdecke *

Uwe Lyko Uwe Lyko (born 22 September 1954 in Duisburg) is a German comedian and cabaretist. Life Lyko works in Germany as comedian and cabaretist. He became popular on German television cabaret and comedy shows. ''Herbert Knebel'' is one of his most famo ...

*Rolf Miller *

Wolfgang Neuss Wolfgang Neuss (3 December 1923 – 5 May 1989) was a German actor and Kabarett artist. Beginning in the mid-1960s, he also became famous for his political engagement, first for the SPD, then for the extra-parliamentary opposition, ''APO''. H ...

, died 1989 *

Maria Ney Maria Ney (August 6, 1890, in Kiel – April 7, 1959, or April 6, 1961 in West Berlin) was a German cabaret artist, film actress and accordionist. Biography Ney was born in Kiel in northern Germany in 1890. Her father was a physician. She firs ...

Michael Niavarani Michael Niavarani (born April 29, 1968 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian-Persian stand-up comedian in the tradition of Austrian cabaret, an author, and a TV and movie actor. Niavarani, whose comedic work often draws on his inter-cultural upbringi ...

Dieter Nuhr Dieter Herbert Nuhr (born 29 October 1960) is a German kabarett artist, comedian, author and television presenter. Nuhr's stage program ''nuhr in Berlin'' (the title is a pun; for explanation, see below) is the first German stand-up comedy whic ...

*Günther Paal *Rainer Pause * Erwin Pelzig *Sissi Perlinger *

Gerhard Polt Gerhard Polt (born 7 May 1942 in Munich) is a German writer, filmmaker, actor and satirical cabaret artist from Bavaria. Gerhard Polt's main topics are Bavarian people, culture and politics. On stage he often plays the role of an ignorant Bava ...

Andreas Rebers Andreas Rebers (born 7 January 1958) is a Kabarett artist, author and musician from Munich. His shows often incorporate performances on the accordion or the piano. Early life Rebers was born in Westerbrak in Lower Saxony. By the age of 15, Rebe ...

Lukas Resetarits Lukas Resetarits (born 14 October 1947, in Stinatz) is an Austrian cabaret artist and actor, best known for playing police inspector Kottan in the Austrian TV series '' Kottan ermittelt''. Resetarits was born in the Austrian state Burgenland, b ...

Hagen Rether Hagen Rether (born 8 October 1969 in Bucharest) is a Romanian-born German political cabaret artist and musician. The most remarkable features in his performance are usually the presence and use of a grand piano. He was a frequent contributor to ...

*Helmut Schleich *

Wilfried Schmickler Wilfried Schmickler (born 28 November 1954 in ) is a German comedian and cabaret artist. Life Schmickler works as a comedian in Germany on TV-shows, in radio and on theatre stages. His programme consist of political cabaret Cabaret is a for ...

* Werner Schneyder *

Georg Schramm Georg Schramm (born 11 March 1949) is a German Kabarett artist. He was a host of the Kabarett shows '' Scheibenwischer'' and ''Neues aus der Anstalt''. Biography Schramm was born in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe. His father was a member of the Soc ...

*Horst Schroth *Serdar Somuncu * Emil Steinberger *

Dirk Stermann Stermann & Grissemann are an Austrian German comedy duo comprising Dirk Stermann and Christoph Grissemann. Background Dirk Stermann Dirk Stermann (born 7 December 1965 in Duisburg) hails from Germany and is a German radio and television presen ...

*Ludger Stratmann *Mathias Tretter *Max Uthoff *

Claus von Wagner Claus von Wagner (born 28 November 1977) is a German Kabarett artist, a stand-up observational comic and political satirist. Early life Born in Munich, von Wagner grew up in Miesbach, south-east of Munich. His father, originally from Prussia, w ...

*Bodo Wartke *Sigi Zimmerschied

Notable Kabarett shows and venues

*''Cabaret Ulenspiegel'' (

) *''Herkuleskeule'' (

) *''

'' (

) *''Mitternachtsspitzen'' (

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

) *''Münchner Lach- und Schießgesellschaft'' (

) *''

Neues aus der Anstalt (English: "News from the (mental) institute") was a political cabaret program on German television station ZDF, hosted by Urban Priol and Frank-Markus Barwasser, who replaced Georg Schramm. Broadcast monthly from 2007 to 2013, it usually featu ...

'' *''

'' *'' Pantheon-Theater'' (

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

) *''

Scheibenwischer (German for ''windshield wipers'') was the name of a long-running German Kabarett show. It was founded in 1980 by Dieter Hildebrandt and produced by BR / RBB to be broadcast on Das Erste. The show ended in 2008 after 28 years on the air. Con ...

'' *' (

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

) *''Tol(l)leranten'' (

)

Difference from other forms

History

Other notable Kabarett artists

Notable Kabarett shows and venues

See also

References

Further reading