Figure 1.--This German boy, probably in the early 1970s, is seen dressed up like an Indian costume.

German boys seem especoially interested in cowboys and indianns and Westerm lore in general. I'm not sure when this began. We know it was the case in the inter-War era, but it probably began before World War I. At first it was through books. Bufalo Bill's Wild west show was a bit hit in Germany as it was in other European countries at the turn of the 20th century. Hollywood silent films added to the interest as did the talkies, but soon after sound appeared (1929), the NAZIs seized power (1933). Here we are not sure about NAZI policies may have affected the attitude of German boys during the 1930s. toward permittingthe showing of foreign films or racial attitudes toward Native Americans. NAZI propaganda targeted both Jews and Blacks in America--but not Native Americans. We know that the interest of German boys in the lore of the West continued in NAZI Germany, even after the outbreak of World war II. British Enigma Machine code breakers found operator who used "Tom Mix" (a movie cowboy) as a key code. A German reader who was in the Hitler Youth remebers playing Indian and even had a war bonnet--a better one than most American boys. A far as we can tell, there seems to have been a greater interest among German boys on Indians than cowboys. (American boys generally wanted to be the cowboys.) We are not etirely sure why German boys were enamored by the Indians. (This mat have been a generalized European reaction, but we are not sure about this because we have limited information on other European countries.) We note German boys dressing up in Indian gear into the 1960s.

Chronology

German boys seem especially interested in cowboys and indianns and Westerm lore in general. I'm not sure when this began. I'm not sure about the 19th century. We see boys playing cownoys and Indianns in the early 20th centuty, both before and after World War I. At first it was through books. Buffalo Bill's Wild west show was a bit hit in Germany as it was in other European countries at the turn of the 20th century. Hollywood silent films added to the interest. Hollywood cowboy films were popula in Germany, at least before the NAZIs. (Films in the 1920s were much more internatonal because silent films could be easily distributed in any country, all you had to do was to chznge the text segments.) This may have changed somewhat in the 1930s with the talkies and soon after sound appeared (1929), the NAZIs seized power (1933). Here we are not sure about NAZI policies affected the attitude of German boys during the 1930s. We suspect there were fewer American films and this ment fewer cowboy fils. We know that the interest of German boys in the lore of the West continued in NAZI Germany, even after the outbreak of World war II. British Enigma Machine code breakers found operator who used "Tom Mix" (a movie cowboy) as a key code. A German reader who was in the Hitler Youth remebers playing Indian and even had a war bonnet--a better one than most American boys. We note German boys dressing up in Indian gear into the 1960s.

Interest in Indians

Germam boys were very interested in Indians. I'm not sure why they were so appealing. I am guessing it was the adventure stories associated with them. A far as we can tell, there seems to have been a greater interest among German boys on Indians than cowboys. (American boys generally wanted to be the cowboys.) We are not etirely sure why German boys were enamored by the Indians. (This may have been a generalized European reaction, but we are not sure about this because we have limited information on other European countries.) Amercan boys generally preferred the cow boy end of the game. We get the impression that German boys preferred to Native American end. We see a lot more German boys dressed as Native Americans than cow boys. We suspect that two factors may be involved here. One was books. Karl May fictinsal booiks wee rmormously popilar. This was probably stiimulated by the movies which became important in the 1920s. American movies could be easily seen in Germany because they were talkies. Tom Mix cow boy films were very popular. Even after the MAZIs seized power. American films continued to be shown, although I am not sure to what extent. I don't think Germnan studios made cvowboy and Indian films. Of course with advent of the NAZIs, race became a central theme and Native Americans were cassed an inferior people. We are unsure to what extent this affected boys' views.

Cowboys

We also see German boys dressed up like cowboys to play. We suspect that many boys played cowsboys with just the toy guns. It is a little difficult to tell, but the photographic record seems to suggest that German boys were more interested in the Indians than the cowboys. We are not sure why this was, but ir seems to have been something geberated by the boys themselves and not something generated by parents. We do not know if any German authors have seriously addressed this phemomenon. One interesting question is why German boys did not want tp play other history based games such as defearing the Romans, thedCrudases, Thirty Year War soldiers, or fighgtung Napoleon. We note scenes of boys playing war, but dressing up like cowboys ir Indians is interesting because it has nothing to do with Germany. We suspect that authors like Karl May was part of the reason as were Hollywood movies.

Karl May (1842-1912)

The American Indians owe their popularity in Germany for a great part to the books of Kar May, who wrote numerous books for boys about cowboys and Indians. The Indians nearly always were the heroes, not the cowboys. May had never been to America, but he knew how to write about it. A Dutch reader writes, "His books were extremely popular throughoutb Europe. I read them all (in Dutch translations) as a boy. The Indian chiefs Winnetou and Old Shatterhand were our heroes." The reason why these Indians were so popular in Germany, even during the Third Reich, was that Hitler also was a fan. I remember the covers of the books with Indians on horseback or a noble chief with feathered head gear and the sharp eyes of a hawk. By the way, Karl May also wrote books about Albania and the Near East, but the most famous ones were about the Apaches and other American tribes.

Movies

We think one reason that cowboys and Indians became so popular in Germany was American movies. We know that American movies were widely destributed in Germany. This was very easy with the early silent films as all you had to do was change the text frames. We do not have much information on the 1910s when Hollywood was still in its infancy. This would od course been interupted by World War I, especially after America entered the War (1917). Anerican filns were widely destributed in the 1920s. This became more complicated in the 1930s, first with the development if the talkies (sound films) (1929). And then with the NAZIs there were other problems (1933). The NAZIs did not stop showing American films, although they would have been vetted by Giebbels Propgabda Ministry. Some films were not shown, although we do not have details at thie time. While modern films are full of NAZI sterotypes, this was not the case in the 1930s. One factgor involved here was that German distribution was profitable and thus the studios steeered away from anti-NAZI depictions. This changed as Hollywood began addressing the NAZIs more aggessicely and America entered the War. After the War, American films reappeared in theaters, at least in the Western occupation zones.

The NAZIs and Native Americans

We are unsure how the NAZI seizure of power (1933) affected policies toward permitting the showing of foreign films. Thus we do not yet know the interest of German boys in American cowboys and Indians. Here several factors mat have been involved. The NAZIs applied nationalist and racial criteria to the import of books and films. The NAZIs sought to promote German sagas, but we are unsure just how this affected imports. The fact that May was a German writer and Hitler enjoyed his books was probably a factor in the continuing popularity of the Native Americans. Of course the shift from silent film to talkies made foreign films less accessable to German movie goers. Fiscal policies also disciouraged impors. Another factor is NAZI racial attitudes. We are not yet sure about NAZI racial attitudes toward Native Americans. NAZI propaganda targeted both Jews and Blacks in America--but not Native Americans. At any rate, NAZI racism was not based on real science. There were even "honoary Aryans" including the Croatians and Japanese--at least during World War II. It is likely that this would have changed if the NAZIs had won the War. I am not sure just how NAZI racial authorities dealt with Native Americans, but it would beinteresting to know.

Archery

We have little information about archery in Gemany. We have noted German and other European children practicing archery. We are not sure to what extent if any this interested is associated with American native Americans. Europe has a long history of warfare associate with bows and arrows. Of course archery has also become a sport in its own right.

Costuming

German children like American children played cowboys and Indians. We see some staged photographs, but quite a few German children seem to have had some Native American coistume items. We have seen many Germany snapshots where the boys had Indian hirdress with a few feathers. I'm not sure when this interest began, but it seems to have been a popular game by the early 20th century. We do not see Germany children playing with Native American costumes in the 19th century, but we do in the 20th century. The Indian costumes were more common than the cowboy cistumes. Often the costumes were not elaborate, just an item or two.

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Created: February 11, 2004
Last updated: 3:59 AM 11/25/2009