2-888-023 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Politician - by Hasenclever, 1850. 'The author of this clever picture, Herr Hasenclever, is, we believe, resident in Munich. There is, at least, no mistaking the numerous beer-jugs as designating some tavern where the renowned Baierisches bier (Bavarian beer) is the habitual beverage. It designates a comparatively modern period, as it is only lately that the Germans have become such intense politicians as to neglect their supper, their favourite meal, for the newspaper. The principal figure...is so immersed in the Politische Zeitung (political tidings) that he does not notice the dog eating his fish and upsetting his beer. The two other figures in the background playing at draughts and sending forth huge volumes of tobacco-smoke, are quite in accordance with the general character of the German hotel, keller, or wirthshaus'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.