CULTURAL CURRENCY: NOTGELD, NORDISCHE WOCHE, AND THE NORDISCHE GESELLSCHAFT, 1921-1945 A dissertation submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Erika L. Briesacher December 2012 Dissertation written by Erika L. Briesacher B.A., Illinois Wesleyan University, USA 2002 M.A., Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA, 2006 PH.D., Kent State University, USA 2012 Approved by ___________________________________ , Chair, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Richard Steignmann-Gall ___________________________________ , Members, Doctoral Dissertation Committee Shelley Baranowski ___________________________________ Rebecca Pulju ___________________________________ Stephen Harp ___________________________________ David Purcell Accepted by ___________________________________ , Chair, Department of History Kenneth Bindas ___________________________________ , Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Timothy Chandler ii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures . v Acknowledgements. vi Introduction: Cultural Currency: Finance, Festival, and Facets of Identity . 1 Setting and Research Questions. 2 Historiography . 7 Theory . .12 Method . 14 Overview . .19 Chapter I: “Recognize this hobby as an ideal end in itself:” The Culture of Collecting Notgeld . .25 Culture, Nationalism, and the Construction of Meaning . 26 The Collection of Notgeld . 31 Notgeld Exhibitions . .44 Conclusion . 46 Chapter II: The Function of Festivals after the Great War . 48 Emile Durkheim and the Concept of Anomie . 50 Political Anomie . 52 Economic Anomie . .54 Cultural Anomie . 56 The Cultural Festival and the Battle with Anomie . 59 Weimar Festivals and the Formation of In-Groups . 62 Celebration and Commemoration . .65 Chapter III: The Case of Nordische Woche: The Intersection of Celebration, Culture, and Commerce . .77 To Hold or Not to Hold: The Early Stages of Planning. .79 Formulating the Festival . .84 Festival Planning in Cultural Context . .90 Solidifying the Message and Finalizing the Festival . .102 Conclusion . .108 Chapter IV: The Production of Nordische Woche: Materiality, Effects, Outcomes . .111 Notgeld . .112 The Festschrift . 113 vi Advertisements . 114 Essays . 121 Foreign Publications . .130 Supplementary Publications . 133 End of Nordische Woche and Establishment of Nordische Gesellschaft . 137 Chapter V: Continuing and Adapting the Work: The Emergence of the Nordische Gesellschaft. 140 The Nordische Gesellschaft is Born . .141 Revisiting Allport, The Nature of Prejudice, and Ingroup Identity . .147 Cultural In-group Formation and the Nordische Gesellschaft . .153 1923 and the Interference of Hyperinflation . 156 Rentenmark, Stabilization, and a Renewed Nordische Gesellschaft . 162 Outreach and Cultural Activities . 167 A More Mature Nordische Gesellschaft . .173 Chapter VI: From In-Group to the Only Group: Nordic Identity, the Nordische Gesellschaft, and Nazi Germany . 176 A Note on Anomie, In-Groups, and National Identity . 179 The Nordische Gesellschaft and the End of the 1920s . 184 Polarizing German Society and the Turn of the Decade . .190 Nazi Control and Society . 201 “Nazified” Festival . 205 Hamburg’s Nordische Woche, 1938 . 210 Continuities, Contrasts, Conclusions. 214 Chapter VII: Conclusion: German Society Tested by War . .219 Bibliography . 228 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 Niemals Vergessen! Stamp mounting sheet . 39 1.2 Dokumente einer irrsinnigen Zeit! Stamp mounting sheet . .40 3.1 Nordische Woche in Lübeck . 90 3.2 Schleswig Plebescite Notgeld . 93 3.3 Nordische Woche letterhead and Notgeld . 101 3.4 Unterchor, Katharinenkirche, Lübeck . 106 3.5 Handarbeiten Wettbewerb advertisement . .109 4.1 Nordische Woche Musterschau Notgeld, 20 Pfg. 113 5.1 Nordische Gesellschaft Mitgliedskarte . .146 5.2 Nordische Gesellschaft letterhead. 147 5.3 Rentenmark, Hochofenwerk, Lübeck . 163 5.4 Rentenmark, Hochofenwerk, Lübeck . 163 5.5 Das Problem der Kriegsentschädigung pamphlet . 172 6.1 Gruppen Reisen travel brochure. .187 6.2 Nordische Gesellschaft organizational flowchart, 1931 . 198 6.3 Woodcut Lübeck Altstadt model, 1935 . 208 7.1 Marienkirche bells memorial, Lübeck . .226 7.2 Marienkirche stained-glass window, Lübeck . 226 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS It is difficult to fully articulate the breadth and depth of support I have received over the course of not only writing this dissertation but my career as a graduate student. No words can express the degree to which I appreciate the academic guidance and personal sustenance advisors, colleagues, friends, and above all family gave me. First and foremost, I want to thank my dissertation committee, led by my dissertation director Dr. Richard Steigmann-Gall. Your reminders about empiricism and letting the documents cut through the theory were apt, necessary, and invaluable. Many thanks are due to Dr. Shelley Baranowski, Dr. Rebecca Pulju, Dr. Stephen Harp, and Dr. David Purcell, who each brought unique and incisive commentary to this dissertation, helping me to weave together what could have been a very schizophrenic idea. I also thank the History Department, especially Dr. Ken Bindas and Ms. Kay Dennis for encouragement and emergency problem-solving. In the United States, I owe a debt of gratitude to a plethora of research libraries and archives. Kent State University, especially the InterLibrary Loan office, found obscure sources for me, while the Graduate Student Senate generously helped fund my research trip to Germany. The staff of the Hoover Institute in Stanford worked with me long distance and provided me with invaluable documents. The Newberry Library Reading Room staff helped me target the Ben Hecht Papers and the Notgeld Collection in vi an all-to-brief visit. Importantly and unexpectedly, University of North Carolina Wilmington special collections staff and archivists allowed me a frantic week of data collection and priceless copy help. Many thanks go out to The University Museum at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, where I worked as a graduate assistant processing the Milton Harrington Notgeld Collection. Without access to that collection and the continued guidance of Dr. Laura Milsk Fowler and Dr. Christienne Hinz, also at SIUE, from my MA program forward, this dissertation would be a very different piece of work. In Germany, many thanks to the staff of the Hansestadt Archiv Lübeck, who pulled and repulled folders and boxes for me throughout the summer of 2010. My discussion of Notgeld collecting and circulation would not have as thorough or even possible without the help of the staff at the Altonaer Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte in Altona, Hamburg, especially Frau Staack and Herr Homann. Additionally, the reading room staff at the Stadtarchiv Kiel kindly lent their expertise about regional festivals, pointing me in the direction of Kiel’s Nordische Messe. Lastly, I am grateful to Regina Kordes and Einhornhaus in Lübeck which let me live near the archives and really get to know and love Lübeck. More than anything, I want to thank my friends and family, academic and otherwise, who have not only put up with me during this process but have provided countless hours of support and encouragement. I thank my friends in Bowman 205 and across the country, where spontaneous debate and conversation crystalized and challenged my perspectives, especially Monika Flaschka (who deserves a special note vii due to the inordinate draft-reading of grant applications, job applications, conference papers, and dissertation chapters—I only hope I can repay you somehow), Rachel Boaz, Greg Jones, Tom Weyant, Sarah Zabic, Matthew Phillips, Mathew Brundage, Jeff O’Leary, Bryan Kvet, Laura Herron, Melissa Steinmetz, Dionna Richardson, Lisa Lazear, Julie Mujic, Adam Hodge, Andy Tremel, Denise Jenison, and Austin McCoy. I also thank Shannon Hines, Jessica Leveto, Chivon Fitch, Jammie and Shawn Bills, and a host of other personal friends whose conversation, willingness to watch my (sometimes unruly) children, and friendship have been as constructive in this process as the research. The lasting impressions of Mr. Kurt Luedke, Mr. Steve Zenz, Dr. Robert Ubriaco, and my instructors at SIUE have contributed to my work as a scholar and teacher. I thank you. Lastly, and certainly not least, I thank my family. To my mother, mother-in-law, siblings and siblings-in-law, all of your help and continued encouragement, even if you didn’t always understand what it was I “did,” was invaluable. To my sister Susan, who unexpectedly served as my research assistant in Germany and perhaps the best travel partner I’ve ever had, much of this dissertation is because of you. To Alex, my partner and friend, I cannot articulate enough how much of you is in this project (even though some of it is in German). To Kael and Tobin, who dealt with Mom being gone for two months and countless hours of writing and revising, I hope you know how much I appreciate you both and how proud I am of you. And finally, to Robert L. Kamholz, Jr. and Allen Briesacher, father and father-in-law, I wish you could see the culmination of the work you saw me start. This work is in large measure dedicated to your memories. viii Introduction Cultural Currency: Finance, Festival, and Facets of Identity The word “currency” is one that describes a host of complex and complicated concepts, ranging from tangible specie to temporal boundaries. In terms of theoretical concepts, “currency” recalls not only Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of “cultural capital,” which will be discussed in detail throughout the following chapters, but also economic exchange, the understanding of.