Ulrich Rosseaux. Freiräume: Unterhaltung, Vergnügen und Erholung in Dresden (1694-1830). Norm und Struktur: Studien zum sozialen Wandel in Mittelalter und Früher Neuzeit. Cologne: Böhlau Verlag, 2007. 432 pp. EUR 44.90 (cloth), ISBN 978-3-412-00506-1.

Reviewed by Martin Kagel (Department of Germanic & Slavic Studies, University of Georgia)
Published on H-German (April, 2009)
Commissioned by Susan R. Boettcher

How To Relax

This monograph, a study in cultural history, focuses on the organization of leisure time in eighteenth-century Dresden, a topic that has not been extensively researched for the period, neither with regard to the city itself nor the German states as a whole. One reason for the dearth of scholarship in this area, the author points out, may be that Freizeit appears to be an anachronistic category with regard to the period in question, signifying cultural practices one would normally associate with later historical developments. After reading Ulrich Rosseaux's study, however, it is clear that, even if the notion was not in use in Enlightenment-era Germany, cultural practices similar to those now associated with it existed. In fact, these practices became an increasingly significant aspect of urban lifestyles throughout the century, to the point that the citizens of Dresden routinely sought out new forms of entertainment and demanded variation. Growth and differentiation of space devoted to spending leisure time, the increased commercialization of all forms of entertainment, the accessibility of events for audiences from different strata of society, and the increasingly quotidian nature of leisure-time activities were markers of the onset of a modern culture of entertainment and recreation whose roots lie in the eighteenth century. The research that went into this study is substantial. The extensive bibliography lists a large number of unpublished sources in addition to primary and secondary literature of an impressive scope.

Concentrating on the cultural history of just one city rather than a larger area of inquiry allows Rosseaux to observe closely the dynamic nature of cultural change and show it in sharper contours. His study also benefits from the availability of sources in the Dresden municipal archives. Licenses issued to traveling entertainers or vendors, information about public events, seasonal festivals, theater and opera performances, and even the nightly lighting schedule of the city provide useful data for the reconstruction of rising interest in leisure-time activities and the city population's increased participation in them. The discussion of these sources is complemented by the analysis of local and national periodicals that offer "einen facettenreichen Einblick in die städtische Unterhaltungskultur" (p. 22). The sixteen images included in the book give the reader a glimpse of the variety of materials encountered in the archives. They range from maps and official documents to reproductions of original advertisements announcing animal shows, traveling wax cabinets, a "sächsische Riesinn," and a human-like automaton.

Following the introduction, the study is divided into five chapters, each of which covers different aspects of the emerging bourgeois culture of leisure. In the first chapter, Rosseaux discusses the occupation of a new space of time for leisure activities: late-night hours. Expanded lighting of the city, a later curfew, and other structural changes resulted in the gradual extension of the daily routine into the late evening and the night. Over time, it became customary for social gatherings to last until midnight, to dance at balls until the early morning hours, or to allow a public fair, such as the Vogelwiese, to go on until late. Underscoring his main thesis that the formation of essential patterns of modern entertainment had already taken place by 1800, Rosseaux maintains that the conquest of this part of the day for leisure-time activities resulted in qualitative changes to urban life: "Die Gewinnung der Abend- und Nachtstunden bedeutete nicht allein eine quantitative Ausweitung derjenigen Zeit, in der die Menschen aktiv waren, vielmehr ging diese Entwicklung mit einer qualitativen Verhaltensänderung einher. Indem die zusätzliche Zeit nicht in jene Tätigkeiten investiert wurde, die der Arbeit zuzurechnen waren, sondern zur Entspannung, zur Unterhaltung, zum Vergnügen--kurzum: als Freizeit im modernen Sinne genutzt wurde, bildeten sich in wachsenden Teilen der Dresdner Bevölkerung bereits im 18. Jahrhundert Grundformen von Verhaltensmustern heraus, die im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert zu den spezifischen Kennzeichen des modernen urbanen Lebens und damit letztlich der Moderne schlechthin avancierten" (p. 71).

In the subsequent chapter Rosseaux inquires into the relationship between the city population and the (Polish-)Saxon court with regard to annual festivals and other cultural events. Not surprisingly, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, most festive events were centered on the court and elicited very limited participation by the general population, mainly in the form of organized spectatorship. Throughout the century, however, the role of the audience changed from passive observer to active participant; from--in Habermas's terms--participation in representational courtly culture to the constitution of a critical public sphere. One example Rosseaux uses to demonstrate this transformation is the annual carnival. At the beginning of the century the oversight of carnival festivities was the exclusive privilege of the court, an event "zu dem das städtische Publikum bei einigen ausgewählten Gelegenheiten einen zeremoniell reglementierten Zutritt erhalten hatte" (p. 97). By 1800 it had evolved into a distinct form of bourgeois entertainment.

In this chapter, Rosseaux also discusses the role of the performing arts, which underwent similar structural changes. In the beginning of the century, for instance, the opera was part of a courtly culture of festivities, with seats allocated according to social rank and status. As of 1765, however, Dresden possessed an opera that was open in principle to all members of the general public who could afford the ticket price. Most interesting in this context may be the way in which music concerts became a popular part of Dresden's social and cultural fabric. The regular public performance of music for a general audience and its broad appropriation by the public, including the rapidly developing culture of music criticism, not only demonstrated that there was time available that could be spent listening to music, or reading about it, but also shows how bourgeois society fostered specific forms of entertainment and turned them into cultural staples of national significance: "[f]ür das Entstehen einer deutschen Oper," writes Rosseaux, "war diese breite Aneignung der Musik, sei es zur Unterhaltung im privaten Rahmen, als Möglichkeit, einen angenehmen Abend in einem Konzertsaal oder Garten zu verbringen oder als Bildungsgut, über das sich trefflich räsonieren ließ, von entschiedender Bedeutung: Erst das allgemein gesteigerte Interesse an der Musik schuf ein Umfeld, in dem das Publikum für eine deutschsprachige Oper überhaupt entstehen konnte" (p. 147).

Beyond the wide range of urban forms of entertainment, the emerging culture of leisure expressed itself in recreational activities, which Rosseaux discusses in chapter 5. The "Neukodierung des Ländlichen" (p. 225) as wholesome and healthy by self-conscious urban dwellers led not just to the growing popularity of spas, but also to summers or weekends spent in the countryside. Those who stayed in Dresden were able to enjoy the health benefits of bathing in the Elbe. The first public city bath on the river was established as early as the 1760s. Another significant leisure activity was strolling in city gardens or other public spaces in and around Dresden. The Spaziergang, designating either a promenade inside the city limits or an extended walk in surrounding areas, became a decidedly popular form of bourgeois recreation. Up to a thousand strollers could be found in the gardens of Reisewitz on weekends or holidays, writes Rosseaux, "und auch die anderen öffentlichen Gartenanlagen rund um die Stadt konnten sich schon in dieser Zeit eines regen Zuspruchs erfreuen" (p. 235). The leisurely stroll was not only popular as recreation but also created a physical space of encounter that encouraged social interaction, including that between the sexes. The defortification (Entfestigung) of Dresden in the beginning of the nineteenth century made manifest what had already been realized in cultural practice. It embedded the city in the surrounding landscape, providing evidence for the complementary character of urban and natural space in the minds of city architects and Dresden residents.

Rosseaux's study documents extensively the existence of cultural practices associated with leisure time in eighteenth-century Dresden. He shows how time was made and space created for events and activities established in affirmation of, and in contrast to, a distinctly urban lifestyle. Increasingly open access to events reflected the changing demographic of an audience--now broader and more diverse--whose need for distraction and entertainment the different kinds of entrepreneurs tried to meet. Besides generally elucidating an important aspect of eighteenth-century culture, Rosseaux's detailed study might be particularly useful for scholars interested in the study of consumption, of which entertainment was a significant part. Justifiably, the author considers his research to be a contribution to this relatively new field in German historiography, similar to the Anglo-American line, "wo die Geschichte der Freizeitgestaltung in der Vormoderne im Kontext der Untersuchungen zur Vor- und Frühgeschichte der modernen Konsumgesellschaft einen seit Jahrzehnten etablierten Forschungszweig darstellt" (p. 7).

While Rosseaux's analysis is apt and his study very readable, the book does reveal some weaknesses that should be mentioned. One of these is that he does little to contextualize leisure time in the framework of labor, leaving the reader guessing about the reciprocity of influences in the resulting changes. It seems misleading mostly to disconnect leisure activities from their defining context, even if one agrees with Rosseaux's assessment that the realms of labor and leisure did not stand in the same structural opposition in the eighteenth century as in later periods. Also, more discussion of the changing economic parameters of entertainment and consumption and the extent to which Dresden residents from different social strata participated in leisure-time activities should have been included, even if his is a study in cultural and not social or economic history.

In addition, and in spite of suggestive chapter titles that include notions such as "Zeiträume" or "Freiräume," no serious attempt is made to develop a cultural theory of space. Therefore, no continuous narrative is offered to place the results of the research into an argument about the cultural changes described. References to a sociology of space, though useful with regard to the consideration of space as a relational concept, seem largely perfunctory from a methodological point of view, as, in the end, Rosseaux pursues a rather traditional historical trajectory leading from courtly to bourgeois culture. As a consequence, the study provides a great deal of fundamental information, but produces few unexpected results. The lack of consistent theoretical reflection also results in a lack of clear hierarchical organization of the material discussed. The somewhat puzzling division of chapters seems to indicate that Rosseaux abandoned structural differentiation in favor of covering a large number of different aspects that he viewed as of essentially equal significance. In spite of these drawbacks, however, his book does present a useful case study that will hopefully inspire more of its kind.

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Citation: Martin Kagel. Review of Rosseaux, Ulrich, Freiräume: Unterhaltung, Vergnügen und Erholung in Dresden (1694-1830). H-German, H-Net Reviews. April, 2009.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=24519

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.