Der Fünfundsiebzigsten des Kladderadatsch

I should probably include here a trigger warning about the first cartoon, except that you've probably already looked at it before reading this text.

"Mein Altes Berlin" by Arthur Johnson in Kladderadatsch, Berlin, May 6, 1923

The satirical Berlin weekly Kladderadatsch celebrated its 75th anniversary with its May 6, 1923 issue. On the cover of the 32-page edition, the magazine's titular cartoon character is taken aback by the multicultural wokeness of Germany's capital city. He is surrounded by crude caricatures of a Moslem, a Jew, an Irishman, a Slav, and a beautiful young white woman on the arm —Schrecken aller Schrecken!— of an African man!

Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

The Kladderadatsch character appeared on the front page of every issue since the very first on May 7, 1848. Often portrayed as a mischievous fellow, his name, and that of the magazine, is onomatopoetic of the sound of things clattering and crashing to the floor.

A couple of recurring cosmopolitan characters, Schultze and Müller, also appeared frequently over the years.

in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

The anniversary issue included some articles from previous issues, including this 1856 cartoon by Wilhelm Scholz.

"Zur Wohnungs-Frage" by Wilhelm Scholz, 1856

The dialogue is written to mimic a Berlin accent; here is the best I can do for a translation:

"Where are you living now, Wilhelm?"

"For the time being nowhere. Because they wanted to raise my rent for the third time, I moved to Dherjarten in the summer, but it's too damp for me now and the floor is too cold because it's not too hot, and I want to wait until the project for the purchase is cheaper apartments are available."

"But have you been able to find accommodation in a public building?"

"Oh, yes. Of course, they don't have any keys to the advertising pillars, they pick you up every hour in the mail. Now I just want to come to the magistrate, if they can get me a water pipe so that I can finally get some rest."

The cartoonist Wilhelm Scholz started drawing for Kladderadatch beginning with its second issue. There was a cartoon in the very first issue, which the editors in 1923 didn't include in their anniversary issue; its topic, and possibly its cartoonist, were probably long forgotten. The cartoon appears to have a signature of "RR A" carved into the shading at lower left (or perhaps "RR H"?):

"Kommen Se Heute Abend mit zu Mielentzsens" in Kladderadatsch, May 7, 1848

My translation below presumes that Heidereutern (forest rangers) and Müllern (millers) are proper names; Mielentzsens is a street name in Berlin.

"Heidereutern, will you come to the Mielentzsens tonight, in a club, on the Tribune?"

"No, Müllern, thank you; Prutz recently hurt my femininity too much with his nonsense about apolitical virginity."

Who or what Prutz was, other than a town in Austria, I haven't a clue. But I imagine to a reader in 1848 with a much better grasp of German than mine, the cartoon was hilarious.

Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!

So back to 1923, then:

"Kundschaft" by Arnold Lindlof in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

Arnold Lindlof depicts Herr Kladderadatsch ferrying World Republic, antiwar, Communist Party of Germany, and Prohibition advocates — to the Underworld, I assume, since the editorial position of the magazine and its new owner, industrialist Hugo Stinnes, was against each of these causes.

"Immer Gegen Denjenighten, Welcher" by Werner Hahmann in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

Many German cartoons of the period, not just those in Kladderadatsch, were drawn to illustrate little poems like the one under this one by Werner Hahmann. To preserve the rhyme, I've translated "Kanaille" as the French "canaille," a derogatory equivalent of the English "rabble."

"Glückwunsch aus Elysium" by Franz Jüttner in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

The magazine also included a fanciful interview supposedly from their centennial issue, but I don't trust my grade-school-level German translation skills to do justice to the whole thing here. I'll give you just a snippet from it:

Karl Meisnick: Strike? What kind of silly expression is that?
Adolax von Stindt: Boy, your memory! Striking, that was the most popular parlor game around 1923! Until Breitscheid banned it. In the middle of the Battle for the Ruhr, after his beautiful speech, a wallpapering strike broke out and thwarted his hopes for an armchair [Fauteuil]. Then he went over to Hitler, but remained true to an old conviction until his death—
Biermörder: Only to become a minister again.

"Das Europäische Gleichgewicht" by Oskar Garvens in Kladderadatsch, May 6, 1923

As things turned out, Kladderadatsch, the only satirical magazine in Berlin to survive the Revolutions of 1848, would not outlast a little thing called World War II. Having become an enthusiastic mouthpiece for Nazi propaganda, the magazine fell four years short of celebrating its 100th anniversary in 1948.