''Der Esperantist'' (; ''The Esperantist'') was, from 1965 to 1990, the official newsletter of the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Esperanto movement The Esperanto movement, less commonly referred to as Esperantism (), is a movement to disseminate the use of the planned international language Esperanto.See the definition in theDeklaracio pri la Esenco de la Esperantismo ("Bulonja Deklaracio ...

. After organizing the

in the former

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, under the aegis of the quasi-governmental

Cultural Association Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, attitudes, and habits of the individuals in these groups ...

''(Kulturbund)'', the new ''Centra Laborrondo de Esperanto-Amikoj'' ("Central Workers' Circle of Friends of Esperanto") began publishing the bilingual ''Der Esperantist'' in the A5 format. Over the years the Esperanto-language content increased, and the number of German articles declined. The newsletter was edited by a committee, but the chief editors were

Eugen Menger Eugen is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Archduke Eugen of Austria (1863–1954), last Habsburg Grandmaster of the Teutonic Order from 1894 to 1923 * Prince Eugen, Duke of Närke (1865–1947), Swedish painter, art collector, and pa ...

(from issue 1 in 1965 to issue 42 in 1970) and

Detlev Blanke Detlev Blanke (30 May 1941 – 20 August 2016) was a German Esperantist. He was an interlinguistics lecturer at the Humboldt University of Berlin. He was one of Germany's most active Esperanto philologists and was from 1991 to 2016 both the chair ...

(from issue 43 in 1970 through issue 164 in 1990). Including a German-language special edition for the 1987 centennial of Esperanto, 165 issues were published (many of which appeared as double numbers spanning two months) with a total of 3,728 pages over the entire print run. Issue 163 of ''Der Esperantist'' (1990) contained a cumulative index of articles. The print run was generally 4,000 to 5,000 copies, half of which were mailed to subscribers in East Germany. The remainder of the copies were shipped in bulk to other countries which had no local Esperanto publications, as well as to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, where there was interest in the newsletter. Numerous copies were also sent in free exchange for Esperanto publications from other countries. The newsletter was typographically modest and frequently was delayed in publication, but the collected copies of ''Der Esperantist'' are now important for the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term ":wikt:historiography, historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiog ...

of the GDREA, particularly as the published articles have now been indexed in depth in two slim volumes: # Linde Knöschke and Ino Kolbe: ''der esperantist 1 (1965) - 164 (1990). Register. Teil I.'' (Index, part 1) (Ed.

), Gesellschaft für Interlinguistik e. V. (GIL), Berlin, 1997, 120 pp. # Ino Kolbe: ''der esperantist 1 (1965) - 164 (1990). Register Teil II.'' (Index, part 2) (Ed.

), Arbeitsgruppe Geschichte des Esperanto-Verbandes der DDR, Berlin, 1998, 120 pp. An essay on ''Der Esperantist'' can also be found in Torsten Bendias's "El la vivo de GDR: ''der esperantist'' (1965 bis 1990)" in Simone Barck, Martina Langermann and Siegfried Lokatis, ''Zwischen 'Mosaik' und 'Einheit': Zeitschriften in der DDR.'' Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin, 1999, pp. 202 – 213.

References

External links

''Der Esperantist'' on Bitarkivo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esperantist 1965 establishments in East Germany 1990 disestablishments in East Germany Bi-monthly magazines published in Germany Defunct magazines published in Germany Esperanto publications Esperanto history Mass media in East Germany Magazines established in 1965 Magazines disestablished in 1990

See also

References

External links