Julius Stettenheim, The Jew-Eater. Hope You Like It!, Hamburg 1862 (original) (raw)

In June 1862, the satiristJulius Stettenheim published inHamburg a four-page lampoon with the title “The Jew-Eater – Hope you Like it!” It contained a caricature and a seven-stanza poem entitled “Mad Spook of a Summer Night’s Dream.” The pamphlet was carried round on poles, proclaimed by its bearers throughout the city, and sold for a Schilling. It was a satirical answer to a letter byWilhelm Marr, published by the “Courier on the Weser” (June 13, 1862, no. 161). A Bremen friend ofMarr had implored him to support the cause of Jewish emancipation.Marr refused and instead published the book, Der Judenspiegel [A Mirror to the Jews] on June 22, 1862. This publication unleashed a storm of indignation inHamburg’s political life. Marr had to answer to the Democratic Club and the Association for the Advancement of the Freedom of Conscience, both of which he belonged to. Finally, he agreed to resign his seat on the Association’s board of directors.

After studying at the University of Berlin, Julius Stettenheim returned to his native townHamburg where, from 1862 onward, he published a satirical paper, theHamburger Wespen [Hamburg wasps]. Later, inBerlin, he was a collaborator on theKladderadatsch [the unholy mess] and editor of Wippchen [silly joke], a supplement to the Kleines Journal [little journal], which were to make him famous. He had completed his apprenticeship between 1847 and 1852 onMephistopheles, a satirical newspaper edited byWilhelm Marr, and therefore owed a debt of gratitude to him. Both men, despite the controversy of 1862, continued their friendly relations.

Julius Stettenheim, The Jew-Eater. Hope You Like It!, Hamburg 1862 (translated by Richard S. Levy), edited in: Key Documents of German-Jewish History, <https://dx.doi.org/10.23691/jgo:source-120.en.v1> [May 11, 2026].