Cycling towards the nation:the use of the bicycle in Germany and the Netherlands, 1880–1940

Abstract

This article explores the role of commodities in the construction of identities by examining the use of the bicycle in the Netherlands in comparison with and contrast to Germany. It argues that cyclists in Germany and the Netherlands used the bicycle to construct and display a certain identity and to express certain views of themselves as well as of the society in which they lived. The popularity of the bicycle in Dutch society can thus be explained by its particular meaning in that society. The vehicle became an important object in Dutch national identification, whereas in Germany, despite its widespread use especially among the working class, the bicycle was viewed as outdated and inferior technology by the 1920s.

Notes

‘De Wielermanie’, De Hollandsche Lelie, 9/47 (20 May 1896), pp. 749–51 and 9/48 (27 May 1896), pp. 762–64; ‘De invloed van het rijwiel’, De Kampioen, 12/43 (25 October 1895), pp. 886–87; J.C. Burkens, ‘Wielrijden’, in J. Feith, ed., Het boek der sporten, Amsterdam 1900, pp. 225–60. L. Ganghofer, ‘All Heil! Eine Plauderei aus der Schule des Radfahrens’, in P. von Salvisberg, Der Radfahrsport in Bild und Wort, Munich, 1897, pp. 1–6. For a very negative view on the German ‘cycling epidemic’ see also E. Jung, Radfahrseuche und Automobilenunfug. Ein Beitrag zum Recht auf Ruhe, Munich, 1902. For the United States, the UK and France see: R.A. Smith, A Social History of the Bicycle. Its Early Life and Times in America, New York, 1972, A. Ritchie, King of the Road: An Illustrated History of Cycling, London, 1975 and C. Bertho Lavenir, La roue et le stylo: comment nous sommes devenus touristes, Paris, 1999, pp. 87–111. These various terms were often used to describe the enthusiasm for cycling in general, but a certain gendered dimension is also noticeable. At the height of the ‘wielermanie’ and ‘Radfahrwut’ in the Netherlands and Germany, women's cycling was a recurrent topic in the press in both countries. Cf. D. Bleckmann, Wehe wenn sie losgelassen. Über die Anfänge des Frauenradfahrens in Deutschland, Leipzig, 1999, pp. 21–28; ‘J. Steendijk‐Kuypers, Vrouwen‐beweging. Medische en culturele aspecten van vrouwen in de sport, gezien in het kader van de sporthistorie (1880–1928), Rotterdam, 1999, pp. 79–80, 197–98.

This article is a revised version of a presentation that I gave at the seminar ‘From comparative history to histoire croisée’ at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, in November 2003. I would like to thank the organisers, Peter Becker and Heinz‐Gerhard Haupt, and all the members of the seminar for their comments. The paper was written during my stay at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen as a Marie Curie Fellow in the European Doctorate in the Social History of Europe and the Mediterranean. I am especially grateful to Henk te Velde for his enthusiasm and great support for this project and for his many helpful comments and suggestions.

G.A. Pos, ‘Cycling. For Business and Pleasure’, The Times, ‘The Dutch Number’, 6 December 1921, p. 15.

C. Henneking, Der Radfahrverkehr. Seine volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung und die Anlage von Radfahrwegen, Magdeburg, 1927, pp. 54–58; including maps of Dutch bicycle paths around Utrecht and in the Gooi region.

A.A. Albert de la Bruhèze & F.C.A. Veraart, Fietsverkeer in praktijk en beleid in de twintigste eeuw. Overeenkomsten en verschillen in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Enschede, Zuid‐Oost Limburg, Antwerpen, Manchester, Kopenhagen, Hannover en Basel, Den Haag, 1999. In the recent collection on technology in the Netherlands in the twentieth century, the importance of the bicycle as a common means of transport is noted, but no attempt is made to explain this phenomenon, cf. J. Schot, ed., Techniek in Nederland in de 20e eeuw: V. Transport, Communicatie, Zutphen, 2002, p. 13.

De la Bruhèze, Veraart, Fietsverkeer in praktijk en beleid, pp. 196–97.

Cf. Ch. Mukerji, From Graven Images: Patterns of Modern Materialism, New York, 1983; M. Douglas and B. Isherwood, The World of Goods, New York, 1979. See also in general: P. Bourdieu, La distinction: critique sociale du judgement, Paris, 1979.

In the Netherlands, a reliable monograph on the history of cycling is missing. Fuchs and Simons published several popular books on the topic between the 1960s and 1980s. Cf. J.M. Fuchs & W.J. Simons, 75 jaar Gazelle. 1892–1967, Amsterdam, 1967; Voort in't zadel kameraden! Een eeuw fietsen in Nederland, Amsterdam, 1968; ‘Fiets en fietser, toepassing van een uitvinding’, in Museum Boymans‐van Beuningen, ed., De fiets, Rotterdam, 1977, pp. 11– 61; De fiets van toen en nu, Alkmaar, 1983. Cf. also Veraart's Master's Thesis at the University of Eindhoven: F.C.A. Veraart, Geschiedenis van de fiets in Nederland 1870–1940: van sportmiddel naar massavervoermiddel, Eindhoven, Technische Universiteit, 1995. For Germany, the best starting point on the history of cycling is Rüdiger Rabenstein: R. Rabenstein, Radsport und Gesellschaft: Ihre sozialgeschichtlichen Zusammenhänge in der Zeit von 1867 bis 1914, Hildesheim, 1996. Cf. also the two collections: V. Briese et al., eds, Wege zur Fahrradgeschichte, Bielefeld, 1995 and V. Briese, ed., Wegbereiter des Fahrrads, Bielefeld, 1997.

T.H.S. Walker, ed., Das Velociped. Fachblatt für die Gesamtinteressen des deutschen Velocipeden‐Sport 1 (1881/1882). M.F.A. Linders–Rooijendijk, Gebaande wegen voor mobiliteit en vrijetijdsbesteding. De ANWB als vrijwillige associatie 1883–1937, Heeswijk, 1989, pp. 17–19.

‘Sport’, in Brockhaus' Conversations‐Lexikon, Leipzig, 1886, p. 101 and ‘Sport’, in: A. Winkler Prins, ed., Geïllustreerde Encyclopaedie: Woordenboek voor wetenschap en kunst, beschaving en nijverheid, Rotterdam, 1887, pp. 689–99. Cf. R. Stokvis, Strijd over sport: organisatorische en ideologische ontwikkelingen, Amsterdam, 1978, p. 21.

The ANWB archives in Den Haag have preserved many sources on local clubs in the Netherlands and provide a wonderful insight into club activities, cf. ANWB Archief Den Haag no. 186–190, Rijwielverenigingen. In Germany, there is no such comparable archive for cycling activities. Sources tend to be widespread and sometimes even only available from private hands. Many sources from before the Second World War have unfortunately been destroyed. Cf. N. Stellner, Radfahrvereine in der bayrischen Provinz (Beiträge zur Geschichte und Kulturgeschichte des Fahrrads 1), Regensburg, 2000, pp. 25–30.

Burkens, ‘Wielrijden’, p. 229.

On the history of the Dutch school system see P. Th. F.M. Boekholt, und E.P. de Booy, Geschiedenis van de school in Nederland vanaf de middeleeuwen tot aan de huidige tijd, Assen and Maastricht, 1987.

Rabenstein, Radsport und Gesellschaft, pp. 214–15.

E. Bertz, Philosophie des Fahrrads, Dresden and Leipzig, 1900, p. 10.

The bicycle is already hailed as another example of modernity and modern leisure activities by the Dutch scholar J. ter Gouw, De Volksvermaken, Haarlem, 1871, reprinted Amsterdam, 1979, pp. 91–92.

S. Kern, The Culture of Time and Space, 1880–1918, Cambridge, MA, 1983, pp. 110–11.

Cf. for France, Britain and Italy: R. Holt, ‘The Bicycle, the Bourgeoisie and the Discovery of Rural France, 1880–1914’, British Journal of Sports History, 2/2 (1985), pp. 127–39; D. Rubinstein, ‘Cycling in the 1890s’, Victorian Studies, 21/1 (1977), pp. 47–71 and R.J.B. Bosworth, ‘The Touring Club Italiano and the Nationalisation of the Italian Bourgeoisie’, European History Quarterly, 27/3 (1997), pp. 371–410.

R.J. Mercredy and A.J. Wilson, Geïllustreerd Handboek voor Wielrijders, Leiden, 1891, p. 107.

W. Schivelbusch, Geschichte der Eisenbahnreise. Zur Industrialisierung von Raum und Zeit im 19. Jahrhundert, Munich–Vienna, 1979, pp. 51–66.

‘Het Rijwiel’, De Kampioen, 8/14 (3 April 1891), pp. 12–13.

This comparison can also be found in numerous names of bicycle clubs in Germany and the Netherlands with their frequent references to birds. See also J. Radkau, ‘Das Fahrrad in den Technikvisionen der Jahrhundertwende oder: Das Erlebnis in der Technikgeschichte’, in V. Briese et al., eds, Wege zur Fahrradgeschichte (Schriftenreihe der Historischen Museen der Stadt Bielefeld 5), Bielefeld, 1995, pp. 9–32, pp. 17–18.

‘Aan den Lezer!’, Maandblad (20 January 1885).

For the interplay of body and machine on the bicycle cf. also J. Krause, ‘Das Fahrrad. Von der “kindischen” Kombinatorik zur Montage’, in W. Ruppert, ed., Fahrrad, Auto, Fernsehschrank. Zur Kulturgeschichte der Alltagsdinge, Frankfurt/Main, 1993, pp. 79–118.

W.J.N. Landré, ‘Wel beweging‐geen sport’, Het Nieuws van den Dag, 15 April 1889; H. v.‘t Sticht, ‘Uit de Bisschopstad. Mens sana in corpore sano’, De Amsterdammer, 21 August 1887.

G.M. Beard, A practical treatise on nervous exhaustion [neurasthenia], its symptoms, nature, etc., New York, 1880. Beard was translated into German as early as 1881, but never received a Dutch translation. Compared with Germany, the debate on neurasthenia in the Netherlands was less intense, but it did catch on in certain Dutch liberal circles, cf. M. Gijswijt‐Hofstra, ‘Introduction: Cultures of Neurasthenia from Beard to the First World War’ in M. Gijswijt‐Hofstra and R. Porter, eds, Cultures of Neurasthenia. From Beard to the First World War (Clio Medica 63), Amsterdam–New York, 2001, pp. 1–30 and H. te Velde ‘In onzen verslapten tijd met weeke hoofden. Neurasthenia, fin‐de‐siècle en liberaal Nederland’, De Gids, 152 (1989), pp. 14–24. For Germany cf. J. Radkau, Das Zeitalter der Nervosität. Deutschland zwischen Bismarck und Hitler, Munich–Vienna, 1998.

Even cyclists did occasionally embrace this viewpoint with regard to speed, see for instance ‘Feuilleton’, De Kampioen, 7/12 (11 August 1890), pp. 313–15. The importance of the neurasthenia discourse in the debate on cycling can also be seen in the fact that cyclists in their turn claimed that cycling was a very beneficial exercise against nervous suffering, cf. M. Ebeling, ‘So sollt Ihr radeln!’, Berlin, n.d. pp. 70–73.

For the following cf. Ch. Eisenberg, ‘English sports’ und deutsche Bürger. Eine Gesellschafts‐ geschichte 1800–1939, Paderborn, 1999, pp. 96–144. On ‘Turnen’ and German nationalism cf. also S. Goltermann, Körper der Nation. Habitusformierung und die Politik des Turnens 1860–1890, Göttingen, 1998.

B. Barth, ‘Englischer Sport und deutsches Turnen’, Monatsschrift für das Turnwesen, 1917, pp. 170–74, reprinted in H. Bernett, ed., Der Sport im Kreuzfeuer der Kritik. Kritische Texte aus 100 Jahren deutscher Sportgeschichte, Schorndorf, 1982, pp. 26–30.

L.F. Wirschinger, Das Radfahrer‐Recht im Königreiche Bayern, Munich, 1898 and Schumacher, ‘Das Recht des Radfahrers’, in P. Schiefferdecker, Das Radfahren und seine Hygiene, Stuttgart, 1900.

‘Wielrijdersplagen’, De Kampioen, 4/4 (April 1887), pp. 66–68; J. Feith, ‘Het werk van den Algemeene Nederlandsche Wielrijders‐Bond, Toeristen‐Bond voor Nederland’, Eigen Haard, 19 (12 May 1906), pp. 293–304, p. 300.

M. Band, Handbuch des Radfahr‐Sports. Technik und Praxis des Fahrades und des Radfahrens, Vienna–Pest–Leipzig, 1895, pp. 115–16.

‘Van de rechten en verplichtingen der Wielrijders’, De Kampioen, 5/1 (January 1888), pp. 1–3.

Linders–Rooijendijk, Gebaande wegen, pp. 44–46 and 48–50.

H. te Velde, Gemeenschapszin en plichtsbesef. Liberalisme en Nationalisme in Nederland, 1870–1918, Groningen, 1992.

Cf. the speech by the president of the ANWB, Edo Bergsma, at the 10th anniversary celebrations 1892: ‘De Bondsfeesten’, De Kampioen, 10/27 (7 July 1893), pp. 713–15.

On the history of this most influential Dutch liberal journal cf. R. Aerts, De Letterheren. Liberale cultuur in de negentiende eeuw: het tijdschrift De Gids, Amsterdam, 1997 and R. Aerts et al., eds, De Gids sinds 1837. De geschiedenis van een algemeen‐cultureel en literair tijdschrift, ‘s Gravenhage, 1987.

Ch. Boissevain, ‘Van den Rijn naar zee op een driewieler’, De Gids, 48/4 (1884), pp. 227–70.

J.H. Furnée, ‘The Thrill of Frozen Water: Class, Gender and Ice‐Skating in the Netherlands, 1600–1900’, in S.C. Anderson and B.H. Tabb, eds, Water, Leisure and Culture: European Historical Perspectives, Oxford, 2002, pp. 53–69.

J. van Buttingha Wichers, Schaatsenrijden, ‘s Gravenhage, 1888, pp. 6–14.

On the importance of paintings of the ‘Golden Age’ for Dutch nationalism at the end of the nineteenth century see N.C.F. van Sas, ‘Nationalieteit in de schaduw van de Gouden Eeuw. Nationale cultuur en vaderlands verleden 1780–1914’, in F. Grijzenhout and H. van Veen, eds, De Gouden Eeuw in perspectief. Het beeld van de Nederlandse zeventiende‐eeuwse schilderkunst in later tijd, pp. 83–106.

The leadership of the ANWB started their ambitious plans for this event three years in advance. Preparations were repeatedly overshadowed by quarrels over money. Some members of the unions launched a campaign in the Dutch press against the parade because they feared that the event would result in the financial ruin of the union. Cf. ANWB Archief Den Haag no. 197 Bloemencorso.

Ch. Boissevain, ‘Van dag tot dag’, Algemeen Handelsblad, 31 August 1898, quoted in: te Velde, Gemeenschapszin en plichtsbesef, p. 158. On the relationship between nationalism, manliness and admiration for the Queen see pp. 153–61.

Burkens, ‘Wielrijden’, p. 259. And the ANWB was not the only one to present the bicycle as the vehicle of the modern Dutch citizen. In honour of the first coronation of a woman in the Netherlands, Dutch feminists organised a national exhibit on women’s work. This famous exhibit in Den Haag helped to unite many different women’s groups in the Netherlands for the first time. The exhibit was also the cradle of the ‘Nationale Vrouwenraad’, the first umbrella organisation of all different women's groups in the Netherlands. In the exhibit, much emphasis was placed on the abilities and capabilities of women, and the bicycle played an important role. Female cyclists demonstrated their skills during the exhibit, as well as in the official bicycle parade, where the club ‘Honi soit qui mal y pense’ formed its own bloc. In her famous keynote address, the Dutch doctor Catharine van Tussenbroek called for more female independence and self‐confidence and laid out one way in which women could exercise and demonstrate these virtues: in riding a bicycle.

C. Versteeg, 100 jaar ANWB‐bewegwijzering, Den Haag, 1994.

F. Waentig‐Haugk, Kurze Chronik der Reichsdeutschen Radfahrer‐Vereinigungen, Neuwied–Leipzig, 1898, pp. 12–21 and R. Beduhn, Chronik der Solidarität 1896–1977: Geschichte‐Dokumente‐Quellen, Offenbach, 1978, pp. 17–21.

The ANWB was involved in a constant struggle to reduce the power of regional unions especially in the south of the country where the Belgian Touring‐Club de Belgique and later the Vlaamsche Toeristenbond could acquire many members. Cf. ANWB Archief Den Haag no. 198. The ANWB had also attempted to expand membership into Belgium and integrate Belgian cyclists, the ‘Southern brothers’, into the Dutch union. Cf. ‘Aan den Lezer’ Maandblad, 20 January 1885.

‘Die grossen Radfahrer‐Verbände. Vereinswesen’, in P. von Salvisberg, ed., Der Radfahrsport in Bild und Wort, Munich1897, pp. 193–212.

Ein Rückblick auf die Distanz‐Radfahrt Wien–Berlin, Berlin, 1893, p.1.

J. Burckhart, ‘Das Rad im Dienste der Wehrkraft’, in P. von Salvisberg, ed., Der Radfahrsport in Bild und Wort, Munich, 1897, pp. 137–56, p. 137 and pp. 139–40 and Walter Ulreich, Die Distanz‐Radfahrt Wien–Berlin 1893: Ein historischer Überblick, Hinterbrühl, 1994.

‘Aufruf Distanzfahrt Wien–Berlin’, Deutsche Radfahrer‐Bund, 6 (1893), p. 245.

Cf. the numerous articles in Deutsche Radfahrer‐Bund, 6 (1893).

R. Rabenstein, ‘Die Distanz‐Radfahrt Wien–Berlin 1893‐Impulse–Einflüsse–Kontroversen’, Sozial‐ und Zeitgeschichte des Sports, 10/1 (1996) pp. 42–56, 48.

W. Wolf, Fahrrad und Radfahrer, Leipzig, 1890, p.6.

In that respect, it is quite telling that the German historian Joachim Radkau claims that the bodily sensations of cycling were an anthropological novelty at that time. In Dutch sources, however, the bodily sensations of cycling are quite often equated with those experienced when skating. Cf. Radkau, Das Zeitalter der Nervosität, p. 205.

‘Motor‐ en Rijwielwet’, Staatsblad, No 69 (1905), paragraph 14, pp. 6–7.

Cf. the programmatic article in the ANWB members' journal: ‘Loslaten of niet?’ De Kampioen, 14/19 (7 May 1897), pp. 489–91. Cf. also Linders‐Rooijendijk, Gebaande wegen, pp. 85–90.

M.J. Adriani Engels, Van Jaap Eden tot Jan Derksen. De wielersport in Nederland gedurende tachtig jaar, Amsterdam, 1947, pp. 36–42.

R. Beduhn, ‘Solidarität auf zwei Rädern. Der Arbeiter–Radfahrerbund’, in H. J. Teichler, G. Hauk, eds., Illustrierte Geschichte des Arbeitersports, Bonn, 1987, pp. 119–31, pp. 120–25.

‘Arbeiter‐Radfahrer bei den Reichstagswahlen’, Arbeiter‐Radfahrer, 1 August 1903, p. 1.

E. Bertz, Philosophie des Fahrrads, Dresden–Leipzig, pp. 21–27; On the demise of many bourgeois bicycle clubs after the turn of the century see the excellent regional study on Nuremberg by D. Günther, Vom Erhabenen zum Gemeinen. Kulturelle Diffusionsprozesse am Beispiel der Geschichte des Radfahrens, Master's Thesis at the University of Konstanz, 1989. Reprinted in: R. Beduka, J. Klocksin, eds., Rad‐kultur‐Bewegung. 100 jahre rund ums Rad: RKB Solidarität, Essen 1995, pp. 18–19.

The most famous example is perhaps the Frenchman Louis Baudry de Saunier, whose widely read books on cycling, Histoire générale de la Vélocipédie (1891) and Le Cyclisme théorique et pratique (1892) were followed by two important studies on automobilism: L'automobile théorique et pratique (1899) and L'art de bien conduire une automobile (1907).

S. Brüdermann, ‘Äußere Bedingungen für das Radfahren in Hannover bis zu den Anfängen der Massenmotorisierung’, in K. Brockmann et al., eds, Hannover fährt Rad. Geschichte‐Sport‐Alltag, Braunschweig, 1999, pp. 95–107, pp. 104–05.

K. Möser, Geschichte des Autos, Frankfurt am Main, 2002.

H. Wolff, ‘Rad und Volk’, Die neue Wirtschaft, 8 (1936), p. 15.

Te Velde, Gemeenschapszin en plichtsbesef, p. 209.

‘Hoofdartikel: Automobiel of Rijwiel?’ De Kampioen, 16/8 (24 February 1899), pp. 193–95.

Te Velde, Gemeenschapszin en plichtsbesef, pp. 207–23.

F. Netscher, ‘Het paard der democratie’, De Kampioen, 30/7 (14 February 1913), pp. 129–/133.

C. G. de Jong, Het Nederlandse Rijwielbelastingmerk 1924–1941, Amsterdam, 1980.

‘De zwarte bal geheschen!’ De Kampioen, 40/39 (28 September 1923), pp. 953–57.

ANWB Archief Den Haag no. 198, Rijwielbelasting.

ANWB Archief Den Haag, no. 171–185 en Archief van de Nederlandse Rijwielpadverenigingen no. 90, Gemeente Archief Vlissingen.

H. Knippenberg & B. de Pater, De eenwording van Nederland. Schaalvergrooting en integratie sinds 1800, Nijmegen, 1997, pp. 47–48.