The League for Proletarian Culture (german: Bund für proletarische Kultur) was a short-lived German

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

organisation for the promotion of proletarian culture. It was 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 ...

in spring

1919 Events January * January 1 ** The Czechoslovak Legions occupy much of the self-proclaimed "free city" of Pressburg (now Bratislava), enforcing its incorporation into the new republic of Czechoslovakia. ** HMY ''Iolaire'' sinks off the c ...

Alfons Goldschmidt Alfons Goldschmidt (28 November 1879, Gelsenkirchen – 20 or 21 January 1940, Mexico City) was a German journalist, economist and university lecturer. Life Goldschmidt was born in Gelsenkirchen. He was finance editor for Rudolf Mosse's B ...

Arthur Holitscher Arthur Holitscher (22 August 1869 – 14 October 1941) was a Hungarian playwright, novelist, essayist and writer on traveling. Born into an upper middle-class Jewish merchant family in Pest, Hungary, he began his career working for a bank for si ...

, and

Ludwig Rubiner Ludwig Rubiner (12 June 1881 – 27 February 1920) was a German poet, literary critic and essayist, generally seen as a representative of the expressionist movement that originated in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. His most impor ...

and was dissolved in early 1920. It sought to promote "the eternal values bequeathed by the illustrious spirits of the past."Sheppard (2000, 261). They published ''Aufruf zu einem Bund für proletarische Kultur'' (Call for a League for Proletarian Culture) which referred to

Alexander Bogdanov Alexander Aleksandrovich Bogdanov (russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Богда́нов; – 7 April 1928), born Alexander Malinovsky, was a Russian and later Soviet physician, philosopher, science fiction writer, and B ...

and the

Proletkult Proletkult ( rus, Пролетку́льт, p=prəlʲɪtˈkulʲt), a portmanteau of the Russian words "proletarskaya kultura" (proletarian culture), was an experimental Soviet artistic institution that arose in conjunction with the Russian Revolut ...

movement he had established as a mass movement in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. They set out to "lay the foundations for a new proletarian culture" to which end they subsequently published their ''Grundsätze und Programm''. Here they claimed they sought to wipe out the last traces of bourgeois culture from working class consciousness, seeing the disappearance of this pseudo-culture as no loss. They envisaged a new proletarian culture dormant within the working class which could be woken up and play a role in the revolutionary transformation of society.

Proletarian Theatre

Under the auspices of the

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

, the Tribüne (founded in September 1919), the league staged

Ernst Toller Ernst Toller (1 December 1893 – 22 May 1939) was a German author, playwright, left-wing politician and revolutionary, known for his Expressionism (theatre), Expressionist plays. He served in 1919 for six days as President of the short-lived B ...

's ''

Transformation Transformation may refer to: Science and mathematics In biology and medicine * Metamorphosis, the biological process of changing physical form after birth or hatching * Malignant transformation, the process of cells becoming cancerous * Trans ...

'' (''Die Wandlung''), which opened on 30 September 1919 with a cast that included Fritz Kortner. The production ran into difficulties in mid-October, however, when some of its cast refused to play for metalworkers who were on strike at the time, which led to the termination of the relationship between the League and the Tribüne. The

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

Karlheinz Martin and dramaturg

Rudolf Leonhard Rudolf Leonhard (27 October 1889, in Lissa, German Empire (today Leszno, Poland) – 19 December 1953, in East Berlin) was a German author and communist activist. Life Leonhard came from a family of lawyers and studied law and Philology in Berlin ...

, both of whom had worked on the Toller production, formed the "Proletarian Theatre of the League for Proletarian Culture" (''Proletarisches Theater des Bundes für proletarische Kultur''). It produced Herbert Kranz's '' Freiheit'' (Freedom), which opened on 14 December 1919 on the platform of the Old Philharmonie Berlin. Despite the production's success, having filled the auditorium, only one performance was given.Piscator (1980, 36). The newspaper of the

Communist Party of Germany The Communist Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands, , KPD ) was a major political party in the Weimar Republic between 1918 and 1933, an underground resistance movement in Nazi Germany, and a minor party in West German ...

(KPD), '' Die Rote Fahne'' (The Red Flag) thought that in its promotion of individual self-realisation through self-sacrifice the play adopted an

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...

political position.Rorrison (1980, 37). However this took place following the departure of the left-wing of the KPD, firstly into the KPD(Opposition), before forming their own party, the

KAPD The Communist Workers' Party of Germany (german: Kommunistische Arbeiter-Partei Deutschlands; KAPD) was an anti-parliamentarian and left communist party that was active in Germany during the time of the Weimar Republic. It was founded in April 1 ...

Political alignment

Whilst the KPD did little in the field of the arts, the KAPD stated in their programme: "a decisive factor in hastening the social revolution is revolutionising the proletariat's entire mental view of the world. With this in mind, the party supports all revolutionary tendencies in science and in the arts".

Members

Johannes R. Becher Johannes Robert Becher (, 22 May 1891 – 11 October 1958) was a German politician, novelist, and poet. He was affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) before World War II. At one time, he was part of the literary avant-garde, writin ...

Franz Jung Franz Josef Johannes Konrad Jung (26 November 1888, Neisse, Upper Silesia – 21 January 1963, Stuttgart) was a writer, economist and political activist in Germany. He also wrote under the names Franz Larsz and Frank Ryberg. He grew up in Neisse ...

* Karlheinz Martin *

Hermann Schüller Hermann Schüller (1893–1948) was a German writer and Communist activist. He was one of the founders of the League for Proletarian Culture in 1919. In October 1920, with Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 � ...

References

Sources

* Pearlman, Alan Raphael, ed. and trans. 2000. ''Plays One: Transformation, Masses Man, Hoppla, We're Alive!.'' By

. Absolute Classics ser. London: Oberon. . * Piscator, Erwin. 1980. ''The Political Theatre.'' Trans. Hugh Rorrison. London: Methuen. . Originally published in 1929; revised edition 1963. * Rorrison, Hugh. 1980. Editorial notes. In Piscator (1980). * Sheppard, Richard. 2000. ''Modernism-Dada-Postmodernism.'' Avant-Garde & Modernism Studies ser. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern UP. . * Stourac, Richard, and Kathleen McCreery. 1986. ''Theatre as a Weapon: Workers' Theatre in the Soviet Union, Germany and Britain, 1917-1934.'' London and New York: Routledge. . * Willett, John. 1978a. ''The Theatre of Erwin Piscator: Half a Century of Politics in the Theatre''. London: Methuen. . * ---. 1978b. ''Art and Politics in the Weimar Period: The New Sobriety 1917-1933''. New York: Da Capo Press, 1996. . {{Theatre companies in Germany Organisations based in Berlin Theatre companies in Germany