The Wandering Birds

At the fountain near the village gate,
There stands a linden-tree,
Beneath its cool and restful green,
Sweet dreams came oft to me.
(Muller)

When some future historian comes to pen the history of nudism in our time it is a safe assumption that he will point to the rise and spread of naturist youth as the most significant feature of the fifties and sixties. There is no doubt that this important development will be seen in its turn as the resurrection and logical evolution of the Wandervogel or Roamers, a legendary movement of rebellious youth which had flourished in the early years of the century.

How did these "Roaming Birds" (Wandervogel) originate? As with all movements throughout history one man gave the initial impetus to latent forces craving for expression. In this case the forces were youth's longing for freedom and idealism and the initial impetus came from one Karl Fischer, a schoolteacher who lived in the opulent Berlin suburb of Steglitz. A contemporary account describes him as having unusual capabilities ... a romantic rebel, conscious of ideals which he thinks better to those society imposes and spends his whole time in winning respect for them in the face of social antagonism. Fischer had come to maturity in the post-Bismarckian era of Wilhelminian affluence when materialism had not only corroded men's hearts but eaten into their souls as well. He revolted inwardly against the unctuous self-satisfaction, tawdry grandeur and empty pride of his milieu. He had utter contempt for the bombastic pretentiousness of the Wilhelminian empire and detested above all the parish-pump mentality of the bumbles that surrounded him at Steglitz.

"The world is wide my friends," said Fischer to his companions, "it is a world full of romantic vastness, of virgin forest, of field and fen. It lies on our doorsteps, it is there for the asking — for the taking." These considerations animated and excited him as he took his way along the grey pavements and wandered amid the press of buildings in the Berlin suburb. This revolutionary schoolmaster had sensed the atmosphere of his time, had divined its longings and aspirations. The only cure for the materialistic sclerosis was a deep draught from nature's soothing breasts. In a short time he was surrounded by a coterie of youth eager to abandon the culture of the sofa for the fields and forest which were its real birthright. The flame which flickered in Berlin became a torch light and then a prarie fire engulfing every corner of Germany. Youth was aroused. It desired to shatter the confining bonds of soulless materialism, to cast aside the humdrum hand of urban slavery.

And so the "Wandervogel" were born. Small groups began to leave the cramping city confines on Sunday and holidays. Away into the countryside they went, rambling, camping, hill climbing and singing songs of the wonderful old times. To turn over the pages of their youth journal "Zupfgeigenhansh" ("Pluck Fiddle Jack") is a revelation. One sees woodcuts, drawings and silhouettes depicting castles and mountains, idealized landscapes and far away places somewhat evocative of Gustave Dore. To these distant and compelling horizons the powerful longings of youth were drawn as to a magnet.

Important it may have been to innoculate oneself mentally against the inroads of surrounding mammon. But more important still — and not only for the youth of 1900 as has since been proved — was the practical application of the Latin tag quoted above. This slogan has been justly quoted and even done to death by priest and schoolmaster. It undoubtedly lays down a sound principle: the heady and coarse sexual desires of youth must be sublimated into higher channels by using physical and mental energy in other ways. The Wandervogel formulated the problem much more explicitly. They had no need to hide behind pedantic Latin quotations: a spade was a spade. It was left to the youth movement at the beginning of this century to demonstrate the difference between EROS and SEXUS. The former might be termed sublimated eroticism, the latter direct genital expressions.

As the commentator Hans Bliiher one of the greatest authorities on the wandervogel said: "Eros and Sexuality are two different things, the former is much more comprehensive being an all-embracing god, who embodies the universe and unites body and soul .... Eros is the mighty flood which engulfs the abyss and turns parched deserts to sweet pastures. He is the balmful river which pervades, animates and enlivens both soul and body. Sexuality on the other hand is the tormenting needle whose prick is a constant irritant, whose bottled tension within our organ is a constant exasperation." Youth and Eros are inseparable and any youth movement which closes its eyes to Eros in the larger sense is a farce and a dangerous farce indeed. Many non-genuine "youth clubs" and "movements" on all sides become hotbeds of sexuality — the distorted form of Eros. Some of these clubs which exemplify the worst sides of our social and economic evils have nothing to do with the real aspirations of youth. Only Naturist Youth attains to the best traditions represents "Mens sana in corpore sano" in its truest sense.

It was in 1897 that Karl Fischer first started to propagate his youth group ideas. Up to that time segregation of the sexes was an iron convention imposed almost every-where. But it was obvious that the Wandervogel would sooner or later abandon the segregational rules which prevented the sexes mixing on a free and equal basis. A fearless and clear-cut definition of the problems facing youth had been made and now the cudgels were taken up against separation of the sexes which was termed a "youth distorting practice imposed by a warped, immoral, older generation". This forthright attitude had its effect and scores of young girls flocked to the Wandervogel from 1907 on. Thus did the first organized youth movement break with two long established conventions: it openly propagated the channeling of youth's powerful sex instincts into more profitable channels than direct genital expression; it abolished sexual apartheid between youth and maidens.

The Wandervogel was primarily an open rebellion against the luxury and surfeit of the German Wilhelminian age but it pioneered the path of all sebsequent movements in being so. Without the brave sallies at week-ends, without the mixed roaming groups on mountain, forest and meadow our present youth hostel system would never have grown up. Reports of the time describe schoolboys and schoolgirls rambling forth together into the countryside on a Sunday morning. Some miles from the city they would wander the freshly tilled fields or along the edge of virgin forest. A camping place would be chosen, a fire lit and a meal prepared. Before the meal there was swimming in the nude followed by gymnastics or games in which both sexes participated. "Hunger is the best sauce" proved a good motto on these occasions. Afterwards a rest in the afternoon. Lying in the lush grass, eyes fixed dreamily on the blue sky above where the fluffy clouds induced a soothing insouciance, the young people dreamed of the "dear days long ago." Later on came a sing-song to the guitars and stringed instruments which were such an essential of those outings and have remained a keystone of all youthful endeavour ever since. Campfire stories and narrations followed, to be succeeded by the final "sing song". These "day trips" were later extended with the parties venturing ever further afield until finally "wanderings" lasting a week or more were being made.

An interesting account of how nudity fitted into these activities was given by an American woman of the time quoted in Howard Becker's "German Youth: Bond or Free": "Juli 8. This morning we headed for Liineburg and after a short ride got off the train about 10 o'clock when the German guides went ahead to find a suitable camping-place. We had heard rumours that the Germans were going to pull their youth movement stunt of mixed nude bathing and were afraid the girls in our party would be drawn into it. I am not opposed to such bathing in principle, but in practice, in a strange country among strange people it is apt to be a little disconcerting. We got there in time to find the group all ready for lunch so we added our bread to their marmalade and fruit juice. The German youngsters were nude except for a Turkish towel around the waist and the girls with the exception of our three were in their underclothing. Our party seemed to be meeting the unusual situation with considerable calm and composure — in fact more than I had expected from the girls. It turned out that they had already been swimming nude, but with the sexes separated by some 50 yards. After lunch the Germans played ball with nothing but their birthday suits on. I can see and agree with the fundamental idea of all this, which is that morbid sex curiosity, smutty stories, obscene imaginings, and all the other train of sexual evils would be ended if people only saw each other as they really are .... there was a lecture about expressionistic art and afterwards more bathing and ball-playing in the nude. On the way back I talked with Irma Hinnenthal about the matter; I could understand her German and she my English. She said she thought such practices were all right..."

The practice of nudity by juveniles of both sexes was perhaps the most progressive and startling innovation of the Roaming Birds. Yes, the Wandervogel believed in a "back to nature" policy, a simple life. But nudity was only a part of their strivings, one piece in the jigsaw of a new natural environment. Just as important were the ideas of "Life Reform". It is safe to prophecy that had nudism become the "be-all" and "end-all" of the movement the whole idea would not have lasted long. When we pore over the illustrations of "Pluck Fiddle Jack" we discover nude drawings and silhouettes of idealized poses by young males and females. We know that many of them are by that great man "FIDUS", and, as related above, the groups swam and exercised in the nude. But the main aim was to turn one's back on the surfeit of boom and civilization, nothing less than a reform of life. As a consequence of this a ban on smoking and drinking grew up. Here again the Wandervogel set a standard which has been copied by most youth movements in the twenties and thirties and is given widespread support by naturist youth in Germany, Switzerland and France today.

The struggle for life reform and the rejection of practically every phase of contemporary respectability reached a climax in the famous "Meissner declaratiom". The "Roaming Birds" had long been considering a way of expressing their ideas on a national scale. The opportunity came in October 1913 at the centenary commemoration of the Battle of Leipzig in which Napoleon had been defeated and the Wars of Liberation found their crowning justification. Official Germany celebrated on the actual battle-site with every phase of national life, church and youth organization represented. The "Roaming Birds" decided that this was the time to make their counter blast and they thronged in opposition to a hill known as the "Hohe Meissner". For the three days of official celebration at Leipzig three thousand youthful representatives swarmed that hill and issued the "Declaration of the Hohe Meissner" which solemnly pronounced that Free German Youth were determined to shape their own lives independently, on their own initiative and under their own responsibility. The "Hobe Meissner Declaration" resounded as a strong and clear clarion call to young people everywhere.

What lessons (if any) are there in the rise and fall of these "Roaming birds"? As far as naturist youth is concerned we have the example of nudity being introduced among mixed groups in its proper place. as part ofa greater scheme of social and physical activity. This fact has now been grasped in Britain and the "Sunlanders" offer all young Britons of either sex from 13 years onwards the benefits and pleasures of nudity not as an end in itself but as part of a swimming, athletic and camping movement. The Jeremiahs who used to write in the British naturist press about "teenagers" losing interest and leaving the movement can dry their tears. For in Britain today naturism means more to youth than merely accompanying Ma and Pa to a nudist park and lolling around aimlessly all day with the older folks. British Naturist Youth has come to stay and those who were present at its baptismal ceremonies which took place during the INF Woburn Congress in 1958 will realize that it can trace its inspiration and pedigree back to the finest traditions and greatest days of the original "Wandering Birds".