What did the Germans listen to ?

[Terry_Crisp]

Gentlemen,
I have never heard mention of a record player in a Jasta Casino. Pesumably they must have had them. What were the popular tunes? Were records of Bach, Beethoven and Strauss available?
Thanks for any help,
Terry

[Lyle]

Hi Terry,
I have no hard facts about what kind of records were played in the jagdstaffeln, but I would assume it would include records from captured French and British airfields! It's also a good bet that they managed to get records of the great classics from home, probably recordings of the great violinists and cellists of the time like Fritz Kreisler and Pablo Casals. As discussed in another thread, there were a great many string players on both sides who served in the flying services.

I don't think ragtime was frowned upon by the German officers as severely as jazz was in the next conflict.

Totally fictional but likely, there is a good scene in "Le Grande Illusion" when Erich von Stroheim's character returns from a sortie, and on the gramophone you hear a Strauss waltz!

Best, Lyle

[leo]

The Germans and Austrians had a vast number of songs which we would today classify as light classics. The Strausses, Lehar, Kalman, and others write many pieces which probably been very popular. To boot, there were the classic composers to draw from. I have never ever seen anything which listed popular songs from that era.