Alsace to the Alsatians?

Visions and Divisions of Alsatian Regionalism, 1870-1939

Christopher J. Fischer

• Éditeur: Berghahn Books
• Année: 2010
• ISBN:
  9781845458065
• Édition: 1
• Sujet: History
• Sous-sujet: French History

The region of Alsace, located between the hereditary enemies of France and Germany, served as a trophy of war four times between 1870–1945. With each shift, French and German officials sought to win the allegiance of the local populace. In response to these pressures, Alsatians invoked regionalism—articulated as a political language, a cultural vision, and a community of identity—not only to define and defend their own interests against the nationalist claims of France and Germany, but also to push for social change, defend religious rights, and promote the status of the region within the larger national community. Alsatian regionalism however, was neither unitary nor unifying, as Alsatians themselves were divided politically, socially, and culturally. The author shows that the Janus-faced character of Alsatian regionalism points to the ambiguous role of regional identity in both fostering and inhibiting loyalty to the nation. Finally, the author uses the case of Alsace to explore the traditional designations of French civic nationalism versus German ethnic nationalism and argues for the strong similarities between the two countries' conceptions of nationhood.

Chapter 1

ALSACE REBORN

EMERGING VISIONS OF ALSACE, 1895–1913

In the waning decades of the nineteenth century, a small band of Alsatians sought to preserve and promote the region’s unique cultural heritage. The local dialect, regional customs, traditional dress, and the area’s history became objects of interest for these enthusiastic regionalists. For contemporaries, these efforts to celebrate all things Alsatian represented a rebirth of Alsatian culture; thus, the movement as a whole came to be known as the Alsatian Renaissance. For some historians such as Jean-Claude Richez and Bernard Vogler, however, this period of cultural ferment represents not a rebirth of traditional Alsatian regional culture, but rather its invention in modern form.¹

To foster a stronger regional identity, cultural leaders such as Charles Spindler, Gustave Stoskopf, and Pierre Bucher drew upon the local dialect, traditions, and architecture to elaborate multiple conceptions of Alsatianness. Such images resonated with the local populace, but also limited the freedom of such regionalists to promote a specific, politically laden vision of Alsace.² Francophile regionalists could not simply ignore the fact that the vast majority of the population spoke the German-based Alsatian dialect; pro-German regionalists had to deal with the region’s fond remembrance of the heady days of Napoleon’s rule when Alsatian generals had covered themselves in glory in the name of France.

A deep conflict over goals underlay this process of cultural revival. While many Alsatians remained to varying degrees ambivalent or even hostile to the German presence, Alsatians were divided over how to attenuate German influence. Some Alsatians promoted Alsatian culture and the region’s uniqueness without engaging overtly in the question of Alsatian national belonging. Others, believing Alsace to be French, agitated to remind Alsatians of their “true” national heritage. And some Alsatians even took the opposite tack, arguing that Alsatians were German, and therefore encouraged the process of Germanization. Across the political spectrum, Alsatians began to concern themselves with the region’s traditions, customs, and history; the meaning ascribed to each, however, diverged widely.

The efforts to revive Alsatian customs and traditions, the drive to give them meaning within the larger context of Alsace’s relationship with Germany and France, and the struggles among diverse groups of Alsatians to control these activities form the subject of this chapter and much of the next. In particular, this chapter examines the context in which Alsatian regionalism developed as a cultural revival under the guidance of men such as Charles Spindler, Anselm Laugel, and Pierre Bucher. The chapter then turns to consider the careers and publications of three prominent Alsatians, Gustave Stoskopf, Jean-Jacques Waltz (better known by the diminutive form of his name in the Alsatian dialect, Hansi), and Friedrich Lienhard, each of whom promoted different conceptions of Alsace. Finally, the chapter assesses some of the explicit debates over the nature of Alsatianness in the first decade of the twentieth century. By examining these divergent visions of Alsace, this chapter argues that Alsatian regionalism, rather than monolithic in nature, emerged as diverse, at times contradictory, currents from the outset.

The “Renaissance Alsacienne”

In 1895, Charles Spindler, a young, German-educated Alsatian, drew up a prototype of a periodical entitled Images Alsaciennes (Alsatian Images). Seeking advice on the project, Spindler showed an unedited version of the journal to his friend Anselm Laugel; Laugel, in turn, queried his friend: “Images, I grant you, but why Alsatian?” Spindler later explained Laugel’s confusion: “In his eyes, Alsace had no life of its own capable of justifying this appellation. There remained in his conception a combination of two, recently French departments.”³ Laugel’s initial skepticism concerning the project was understandable; a veteran of the French army and member of the movement that protested German rule in the 1870s and 1880s, Laugel did not view Alsace as an independent entity, but rather as a part of France. Over time, however, Laugel become a fierce proponent and leading patron of the “Alsatian Renaissance.”

The Alsatian Renaissance, in contrast to both the more politically driven protest and autonomist movements of the 1870s and 1880s, represented a form of cultural regionalism. Though the desire for greater political freedom for Alsace did not abate—nor did the hope of some for a return to France entirely wither—a small group of Alsatians sought to revive Alsatian traditions, celebrate the area’s history, and highlight particular regional customs. While the love of local culture influenced the cultural revival, ulterior motives also provided impetus for the movement. By invoking the region’s culture, local advocates could argue that the maintenance of the region’s ties to French culture and civilization constituted an integral aspect of the Alsatian character. Moreover, by celebrating their own uniqueness, Alsatians could distinguish themselves from the Germans recently arrived in Alsace.

The cultural revival, however, should not merely be viewed as a response to German rule, nor was it unique to Alsace. Alsatian politicians, often local notables, clad themselves in a regionalist cloak to blend in with, and therefore gain the support of, their fellow Alsatians in an era of mass political participation.⁴ Such efforts paralleled those of German elites in other Länder to revive and promote local traditions in order to buttress their place in society.⁵ More generally, many regions of Europe witnessed a growth of interest in regional traditions and history; Alsace, in this way, reflected a larger pattern of development in fin-de-siècle Europe.

The Alsatian Renaissance of the 1890s rapidly expanded the range and depth of regionalist cultural activities. Charles Spindler and Anselm Laugel led a protracted and wide-ranging campaign to promote Alsatian culture. Spindler, born in 1865, had grown up in the small town of Borsch and later Strasbourg before training as an artist in Düsseldorf, Berlin, and Munich. Laugel, in contrast, had closer ties to Alsace’s French past. Born in 1851, Laugel had served in the French army before returning to Alsace to oversee his investments and engage in local politics. An avid art patron, Laugel met the aspiring artist Spindler in the late 1880s. Laugel, although never fully relinquishing the idea that Alsace was a French province, nonetheless was slowly won over to Spindler’s project and helped provide financial support to Spindler’s vision.⁶

Spindler’s initial activities were relatively modest. He began to collect Alsatian traditional dress, furniture, farm and kitchen implements, and other objects of art and daily life with the goal of placing them on display; his collection would provide the foundation for the holdings of the Musée alsacien. The pair also brought together like-minded individuals to Laugel’s home in St. Leonard to discuss Alsatian culture, among them Gustave Stoskopf, later the leading playwright of the Alsatian dialect theater. And while Spindler’s Images Alsaciennes never got off the ground, it provided the basis for one of the group’s most important undertakings, the Revue alsacienne illustrée (Alsatian Illustrated Review, hereafter RAI).⁷

The RAI became one of the most important institutions of the Alsatian Renaissance. The 1898 prospectus of the RAI laid out the journal’s goals: “Our program is to report all that which currently derives from our own heritage, all that which takes place within the patrimony of the nation, and all that which constitutes eternal Alsace.”⁸ Laugel wrote and Spindler illustrated some of the initial contributions. Most articles focused on Alsatian history, its landscape, and its popular art. The journal at its outset possessed an ecumenical spirit that celebrated Alsace’s “dual culture” and contained articles in French and German. Moreover, the editors invited local German dignitaries deemed sympathetic to Alsatian culture to pen articles; for example, the wife of the German secretary of state for the Reichsland, Alberta von Puttkamer, offered an article for the first edition.

In 1901 Pierre Bucher assumed the editorship of the magazine; Spindler stepped into the background to pursue his artistic interests. Under Bucher—a native Alsatian and Paris-educated doctor with strong Francophile leanings—the RAI managed to gain a consistent list of subscribers (approximately one thousand).⁹ The periodical took an increasingly anti-German tone, slowly eliminating articles in German and dialect while publishing editorials critical of German cultural policies. Bucher’s sentiments concerning Alsace’s national destiny were clear. In an 1899 letter to Maurice Barrès, Bucher wrote:

No matter the state of affairs, France is its culture and having the good fortune of enjoying it. It seems insupportable to us to return to the barbarisms of a people without generosity and tact.… We thus have every right to protest against the moral annexation, while even admitting that we can do nothing about the political annexation.… When I see this invasion always aggrandizing the Germanic elements and the prodigious efforts of the administration to extirpate all that is the French essence and I sense sometimes that despite themselves [Alsatians] lose the exact notion of the French thing [la chose française], I have a heavy heart close to discouragement.¹⁰

Bucher used the RAI promote the French cause in numerous ways both subtle and obvious. For example, Bucher invited Barrès to offer occasional contributions that stressed the Alsace’s “true” character. More importantly, Bucher added a section entitled Chronique d’Alsace-Lorraine (Chronicle of Alsace-Lorraine), a quarterly supplement that included book and play reviews...