Author Archives: Caterina Katzer

A German newspaper spread the following rumour about Berlin changing its name: The name of the Canadian town Berlin was to be changed to Kitchener because the English population did not like the current name any more. The false story also said that police officers would go through the streets searching for German people and arresting them and that the Canadians were afraid of German attacks and therefore were guarding all public buildings. The article feared that German newspapers would be forbidden soon and then the German Canadians would only hear about the war from a British perspective.

(„So schlimm ist es dann doch nicht“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)

A few years ago a British reporter complained about the assignment of Heligoland to Germany. He wondered why the Germans put so much effort into obtaining the island and against whom Germany braced itself. Now the British nation knew why Germany switched Zanzibar for Heligoland in 1890 because it was using it in the First World War as an observation point.

(„Das Gibraltar der Nordsee“, Berliner Journal, 28 April 1915)

A German newspaper published a letter from the daughter of a dentist to the emperor. It was written in January 1915 to achieve a specific aim. The little girl lived in Switzerland with her family and she had seen the emperor during a state visit. She asked him for help because her little cousin, who was on holidays in Mühlhausen (Alsace), was not allowed to travel back because of the war and strict rules. The family wanted to keep her with them in Switzerland until the war ended. The girl thought the emperor could arrange this as everybody had to obey him. Another cousin of the two girls would fight for the emperor at the Russian front. The girl also offered to do him a favor and wished him a belated happy birthday, health and imminent peace. After that letter was made public the cousin was allowed to return to Switzerland.

(„Ein Kinderbrief an den Kaiser“, Berliner Journal, 9 June 1915)

In the following passage, the opinions of German politicians towards the war and the will of the nation was presented. The socialist Heinemann argued that no German would want peace until the nation’s enemies were ready to let Germany develop its economic and cultural powers. Dr. Braun reported that the socialists wanted the German nation to stand together against their enemies, but that the Germans did not want conquests or annexations, as some politicians seemed to want. The Prussian Interior Minister said that the only aim should be ending this war in a way that there would be no repetition of it.

(„Radikale Sozialisten für Frieden“, Berliner Journal, 30 June 1915)