straints had something of the reflective polish of metalsand glass.”²³Speakingin
general terms,Hanns Eisler identifiedasthe distinctive characteristic of agitprop
its“very tight,rhythmical, precise singing”and a“cold, sharp, and cutting de-
livery”more typical of political lectures.²⁴Very few film recordings by the Rote
Sprachrohr have survived, but their distinct style is on full displayinKuhle
Wampewherethey performashort skitabout the eviction ofaworking-class
familyduringaworkers’sport festival (seefigure 13.7). The inclusion of this
live performance inafeature film confirms that agitprop was conceivedtotrans-
late stances into actions–in this case, by having the actual workers (and the
actors playing workers) jointogether in singing“The Internationale”on theirre-
turn toWeimarBerlin.
In alittle-known song on the wrongwaysofstanding,the RoteSprachrohr
addressed the difficulties of massmobilization by introducing the figure of a
timid, passive bystander called“you”(i.e., theaudience)who resists all invita-
tions byacollective“we.”Under the title“Dochdu stehst da amFenster”(“But
ThereYouStandatthe Window”), the song opens in thevoice ofadisheartened
worker complainingabout mass unemployment.The refrain has him linger at
the window,passivelywatchingevents outside unfold. That is when thevoice
of communist agitprop admonishes him:“Butyouare standing at thewindow/
grumblingonce inawhile./ When thingsget going,youare cool with it./ But
until that point,you just don’tfeellike it.”²⁵
These stern admonitions werepart ofasystematic training of embodied hab-
itus meantto distinguish the Communists from the Social Democrats, including
throughvocal intonation and enunciation. Alreadyinthe early1920s, Gustavvon
Wangenheim(1895–1957), in instructions forChor der Arbeit(1923,Chorus of
Labor), proposed different modes of speaking for characters representing the ri-
valingleftist parties.“The KPD always speaksterselyand energetically,the SPD
broadlyand comfortably,”he informs his actors and explains how to ridicule So-
cial Democrats by giving them soft,effeminatevoices.Not surprisingly,the
strength of the KPD in that performance is announced through differentvocal
pitches,with“the masses [on the stage] once again separated into placidly
Quoted in Dieter Steinke,Die Entwicklung der Agitprop-Truppe“Das Rote Sprachrohr”(Leip-
zig:Zentralhaus fürVolkskunst,1958),17.For apersonal account,see HannesKüpper and
MaximVallentin,Die Sache ist die(Potsdam: GustavKiepenheuer,1924).
MaximVallentin,“Ag itpropspiel undKampfwert,”Linkskurve2.4(1930): 15–16 and Hanns
Eisler,“EinigeRatschläge zur Einstudierungder Maßnahme,”inMusik und Politik. Schriften
1924 – 1948 ,ed. Günter Mayer(Leipzig:DeutscherVerlag für Musik, 1973), 168.
“Doch du,”in Lammel,Lieder der Agitprop-Truppen,28.
252 Chapter 13