The Spaßguerilla (fun guerrilla) was a grouping within the student protest movement of the 1960s in Germany that agitated for social change, in particular for a more libertarian, less authoritarian, and less materialistic society, using tactics characterized by disrespectful humour and provocative and disruptive actions of a minimally violent nature. Events organized by the groups included actions such as attacking politicians or the police with

custard pie A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture added to an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, custard pie commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometim ...

s. One of the main proponents was

Fritz Teufel Fritz Teufel (17 June 1943 – 6 July 2010) was a prominent figure in the West German political left of the 1960s. One of the founders of Kommune 1, Teufel cultivated a theatrical, humorous public image—encapsulated in his idea of the "Spaßgue ...

, sometimes referred to as the political clown of the Extra-parliamentary Opposition (''

Außerparlamentarische Opposition The Außerparlamentarische Opposition (German for '' extra-parliamentary opposition'', commonly known as the APO), was a political protest movement in West Germany during the latter half of the 1960s and early 1970s, forming a central part of the ...

''). The lack of respect for traditional, " bourgeois," "repressive" forms of authority and ritual, countered by irony and humour, was typified by Fritz Teufel's reply when told to stand for the judge at a trial: "If it helps the search for the truth" (''Wenn's der Wahrheitsfindung dient''). Wolfgang Lefèvre (1968)

The tactics of the Spaßguerilla were characterized by civil disobedience, symbolic (rather than real) violence, provocation of authority, using actions of the "authoritarian" state, such as trials, as opportunities for "unmasking" outdated traditions. These tactics and attitudes were in contrast to the more serious, revolutionary rhetoric and actions of other groups centred on the SDS and figures like

Rudi Dutschke Alfred Willi Rudolf "Rudi" Dutschke (; 7 March 1940 – 24 December 1979) was a German sociologist and political activist who, until severely injured by an assassin in 1968, was a leading charismatic figure within the West German Socialist Stu ...

. While Dutschke spoke of a "Stadtguerilla" (

urban guerrilla An urban guerrilla is someone who fights a government using unconventional warfare or domestic terrorism in an urban environment. Theory and history The urban guerrilla phenomenon is essentially one of industrialised society, resting both ...

), Teufel spoke of a "Spaßguerilla" (fun guerrilla). It was Wolfgang Lefèvre who said that every event or demonstration should be planned so as to be fun for the participants. The forms of provocative and disruptive protest invented by the Spaßguerilla were later adopted by the peace movement of the 1980s and later by youth protest movements in the reunified Germany. Similar forms of disruption have also been adopted by hacktivists.

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Fritz Teufel used the word "Spaßgerilja". Though the normal German spelling is ''Spaßguerilla'', Teufel's spelling became known as the "teuflische Schreibweise" (a pun meaning either "Teufelian" spelling or "diabolical spelling"; ''Teufel'' in German means devil). This spelling is retained by some, including academics (see references).

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