Rock 'n' Roll Riots: Advent Season in Mannheim 1956

Mannheim's start into the advent season of 1956 was not peaceful at all: On Dec. 4th the movie "Rock around the Clock" with Bill Haley and his comets appeared on the versatile programs of the then still various movie theatres. And, everything that had already been known about the "effect" of the movie indicated that, for the working class city of Mannheim, it was not going to be a regular show at the Capitol.

The public had been warned: In Oslo, Manchester and London, the premieres had led to rock and roll riots, which had lasted for hours and had followed the same pattern: With the first beats of Bill Haley's songs, the movie theatre had been turned into a battlefield, subsequently taken apart and demolished to the rhythm of the music. Once the theatres had been cleared by strong police forces, the riots continued on the streets. Outside people danced, blocked traffic and rhythmically beat with their fists on buses and cars. Countless shop windows were smashed.

But even before the movie opened in Germany, these ritualised experiences of solidarity had spread among the youth. In the first three weeks of September there had been riots, often for days, between hundreds and thousands adolescents and the riot police in Frankfurt, Düsseldorf, Hildesheim, Cologne and Osnabrück. The youth of Germany rushed to the movie theatres. The movie spread like a dangerous virus and mobilised the traditional immune system of society. A few days after the movie had opened, the "Heidelberger Tagblatt" wrote:
"Family, personal contacts, church and state do their best to avert an explosion. We say: Nothing has happened yet. It is not to late to oppose this R&B virus. It is our responsibility."

During the fall of 1956 movies like "Rock around the clock", "Die Halbstarken" (Juvenile Delinquents), and "Crime in the streets" functioned as a catalyst: they bundled the problems of society, created catchy hymns for the youth and encouraged them to publicly demonstrate their feelings. And demonstrate they did. The headline "Youth Riots Rock and Roll Style" became omnipresent: Movie presentations ignited long lasting upheavals in Bremen, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, Mannheim and Bielefeld. One example is the rock and roll riot in Mannheim from Dec. 4th 1956:
"Several hundred adolescents moved from the old Messplatz across the Kurpfalzbridge to the city centre. They stormed cafes, ice cream parlours, and pubs, demolishing interiors and breaking shop windows. They retreated from the arriving police forces and blocked traffic on the Luisenring using cars and fencing gathered from near-by construction sites. The mob did not dissolve until more police units were concentrated in the Neckarstadt."
The riot of Mannheim was one of the last ignited by a movie presentation and belonged to the long list of riots that were concealed from the local public. Neither the "Mannheimer Morgen", nor both Heidelberg newspapers reported on the incidents. Probably out of fear that imitators could continue rioting.

Dr. Horst Steffens