The "Reichskanarienvogel" and other caricatures of the National Assembly now in the Haus der Stadtgeschichte

Dr. Jürgen Eichenauer, Director of the Haus der Stadtgeschichte, was able to acquire ten rare lithographs from art dealers that were published by Offenbach and Frankfurt publishers in 1848, at the time of the first German parliament in Frankfurt's Paulskirche. These sheets show sharp-witted caricatures of politicians and events at the German National Assembly, underlaid with text. They were sold in the vicinity of St. Paul's Church in Frankfurt to provide up-to-date commentary on and support for the democracy movement of the time. The art of lithography, first introduced commercially in Offenbach am Main in 1800, was a suitable medium for illustrating parliamentary speeches and revolutionary events for the public.

The revolution of 1848 began as a citizens' movement, shifted to the Frankfurt parliament in May 1848 and attempted to establish a unified nation state. After this project was thwarted by the German princes in the spring of 1849, an era of political disillusionment began. The freedom of the press, to which these caricatures are indebted, came to an abrupt end. Lord Mayor Dr. Felix Schwenke has thoughtful words to say about this: "These cartoons remind us how fragile democracy can be if we do not all stand up for its existence every day. We have an obligation today to continue the work of the democrats of 1848, who were defeated by lack of freedom back then."

Before and after the revolution, there was no freedom of the press in Germany. Artists in Frankfurt and Offenbach took advantage of this brief opportunity, but mostly remained anonymous out of caution. Only the illustrator Alfons von Boddien, who came from Mecklenburg and was himself a member of the National Assembly, signed his name on the acquired sheets. For example, he immortalized the member of parliament Gustav Adolf Rösler von Oels as the "Reichskanarienvogel" (imperial canary) in the publishing house of Eduard Gustav May in Frankfurt am Main. The saying "Sings little, talks a lot and lives on diets", which is still quite topical, is added to the sheet as lettering. Another striking feature of this caricature is the wonderful historical coloring, which was still done by hand.

The Offenbach publishing house of Salomon Stern, on the other hand, took aim at the resigned Foreign Minister Johann Gustav Heckscher, who, as a cat, is trying to jump onto the lectern where another member of parliament is already defending his seat as a snappy dog. The other sheets also show expressive images of parliamentary life at the time.