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German History in Documents and Images
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German Youth Groups: The Wandervögel (1914)
Wandervogel is an old term for a migratory bird. Like those boundless creatures, groups of German youth sought to free themselves from the strictures of society by escaping into nature. The Wilhelmine era witnessed a proliferation of youth groups with a back-to-nature focus. The increase led to the establishment of federal assemblies of Wandervogel groups in the early twentieth century. This postcard, which features a drawing by M. Heilmann, advertises one such assembly in Frankfurt an der Oder in 1914.