The claim
Shortly before Christmas, a politically critical poem attributed to Erich Kästner is often shared. A user asked whether this could be true.
Our conclusion
Yes, the “Letter to Santa Claus” really comes from Erich Kästner. He published it in at least two different versions from 1930 onwards.
This query can be solved in and of itself with a simple Google search. But here we are making an exception for two reasons: Christmas is coming soon, so the Kästner poem is our first gift to you. And secondly, there is Beate...
I would actually advocate bringing it [the letter] as a little fact check. Why? Because I am an absolute Kästner fan. And because the current divisions don't complete the poem!
Beate from Mimikama
To make a long story short: Yes, the “Letter to Santa Claus” is really by Erich Kästner and dates from 1930.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
The different versions of the Kästner poem
There is a long version that appeared in Die Weltbühne , a German weekly magazine for politics, art and business, with 11 verses. A shortened version, which is often quoted, can be found in the Collected Writings, Volume 5. This only contains 8 verses, the third, fourth and ninth have been omitted.
The abridged version from the Collected Writings can be found in the Tagesspiegel from Christmas Eve 2011, among others.
The “Letter to Santa Claus” was written 92 years ago. There were difficult times in Germany after the global economic crisis in 1929. The cabinet of Hermann Müller (SPD) held until March 1930, and subsequent governments had to rely on emergency decree powers from the Reich President. From the fall of 1930 onwards, the NSDAP made huge gains. Society was characterized by extreme polarization, destructive populism and political violence. Where that ended is known.
While the desire for violence against the government and the propertied class remains in the shortened text - "Put the industrialists/quick decision over the knee" and "Pull the pants off those who govern, if you please" - the lines that are missing here are best expresses the political tension and consequences of this trade: “Shots ring out in the streets. “Someone has put a spell on us” and “And direct your steps to Munich, where Hitler is supposed to live.”
Another poem! Another gift? Book or calendar: www.schoenescheisse.de/shop #coronadenkener #egoismus #impfpflicht #telegram #verblendet # Resistancewahn
Posted by Piero Masztalerz cartoons at the Saturday, December 11, 2021
The poem is often misused, particularly at both ends of the political spectrum. The right side wants Santa Claus to use violence against immigrants, while the left side wants violence against the heads of the right-wing radical spectrum. We expressly speak out against such violent fantasies and will neither share nor link to them here. So that we don't end up like back then: “Shots ring out in the streets. “Someone has put a spell on us.”
Sources: Tagesspiegel , Internet Archive , schoenescheisse.de
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