Charles Spindler

Charles Spindler (1865 with Boersch - 1938 with Saint-Léonard) is a painter and marquettist Alsacien of great talent.

It held its newspaper regularly, to occupy its insomnia due to crises of drop, disease which one could not look after yet. The part going of July 25th 1914 at April 28th 1919 was published in 1925. It is an incomparable document which restores the frame of mind of the population during these dark moments because, in spite of its obvious French patriotism, it tries to keep the cool head and to remain objective, not ceasing reporting to us what it intends to say around him.

Thus we read, at dated December 6th, 1914:

Today Sunday, visit of the notary H., of Strasbourg, with some friends; among them, the potter W. of Betschdorf, young painter D., of Gresswiller. Short and large, the spiritual and malicious eye, the notary offers the type of accustomed Tavern. It is full with anecdotes against Boches, because it is, appears it, the nickname that one gives now in France the Germans.

That Alsatian as patriotic as Spindler was unaware of until the existence of the word “boche” before this date shows that this word was not really widespread before the war, whereas it had become current as of the end of the year 1914.

The book is all the more tasty as, if the remarks made in German or Alsatian are translated, in an extremely brilliant way besides (“ Wir sind fürchterlich blamiert ” becomes “ One will drive us, and how! ”), often the original text is given in note or immediately afterwards.

The posterior part of the newspaper at April 28th, 1919 is still new and can be consulted only on request with the family. March 24th, 2006 Jean-Marie Gyss pronounced in the village hall of Bœrsch a conference where he spoke about the continuation of the newspaper, which practically stops in 1928. Of this conference, it appears that the patriotic enthusiasm of Spindler well quickly fell down in front of awkwardnesses of the French authorities and that this one was outraged by the exactions made against the Germans; being still well seen it succeeded in intervening usefully in favor of some, but this moderated attitude, in the exalté climate of the time, started to be worth enmities to him, and many its close relations broke with him when, at the time of the absurdity Procès of Colmar, it came to testify in favor of a separatist, innocent of the facts which one showed it.

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