Wandervogel

Wandervogel (plural: Wandervögel; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with nature in the woods. Drawing influence from medieval wandering scholars, their ethos was to revive old Teutonic values, with a strong emphasis on German nationalism.^[1][2] According to historians, a major contribution of the Wandervögel was the revival of folk songs in wider German society.^[2]

The movement was divided into three main national groups: the Alt-Wandervogel, the Wandervogel eingetragener Verein (WVEV) and the Jung-Wandervogel. While the two first ones were generally respectful of traditions (family, the military, the school), the Jung-Wandervogel was more defiant and closer to revolutionary ideas.^[3] Wandervögel spontaneously emerged outside of authority controls, and recruited their members through selection and co-option.^[4]

Wandervogel was the dominant trend in the German Youth Movement between 1901 and 1913.^[5] From 100 members in 1901, they numbered 25,000 to 40,000 adherents in 1914.^[1][6][7] At its height, the movement had 60,000–80,000 members, with 45,000 in the WVEV alone.^[5][2] The name, referring to a magical, free and weightless bird, can be translated either as a "bird of passage",^[8] or as a "wandering bird",^[2] slightly different in meaning from the Zugvogel ("migratory bird").^[9]