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. . Are Making Chairs For People To Sit On, Not For Museums' (2004: P. 37). ...

. . are making chairs for people to sit on, not for museums' (2004: p. 37). The movement inspired by Bierbaum's attempts to ‘functionalise' poetry is known as Jugendstil. This movement had an important impact on the continuing development of cabaret. From this point on, it would be marked by its willingness to take on popular modes of expression: ‘The adoption of popular forms, for whatever motive, cultural or political, was to remain a part of the cabaret tradition throughout, as well as one of the driving forces of modernism' (Appignanesi, 2004: p. 37). This merging of form and function may not seem surprising to society today, but during this period of Jugenstil, it signified a new way of looking at the world.
With the end of censorship that came through the Weimar period, it was an ideal time and place for cabaret to develop. However, cabaret in Germany would slightly shift its focus. It would become more serious. As it developed and became more widespread and increasingly popular, it would also mature and lose some of the playfulness it was accorded in Paris. According to Appignanesi, a number of factors, occurring almost at the same time, contributed to the birth of cabaret in Germany. The weekly magazine, Simplicissimus, was launched in 1896 by Albert Langen, and often contained contributions from writers who included Thomas Mann and Rainer Maria Rilke. A satirical publication, it included not only writing, but cartoons as well, and was graphically quite innovative and bold. It frequently took on political issues, such as the 1897 law penalizing workers who went on strike.
After Deutsche Chansons made its debut, things began to change at a rapid pace. It soon became clear that Berlin accepted cabaret as a meeting place for artists and writers. The hub of activity at the turn of the century had been Munich, as stated earlier, particularly the Schwabing district. Appignanesi asserts that this confluence of talent along with a carnival atmosphere ‘resulted in Munich's producing one of the most fertile and interesting of European cabarets' (2000: p. 42), and one that spread throughout the country during the Weimar years.
The Eleven Executioners
Lex Heinze was the name given to the strict law that gave police the power to interfere in artistic matters in Germany. The police took full advantage of this power, and in a number of ways. Confiscation of publications such as books or magazines was common. Even performance art was affected: parts of a performance could be deleted, sometimes entire acts. Furthermore, offending artists or writers could be imprisoned. A group of Secessionist painters, Simplicissimus staff members, and students and actors from the academic Dramatic Union, formed a protest group, eleven of whom would come to be known as ‘the Eleven Executioners'.

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