page_title: West Palatine travelling music tradition
section_title: Decline
hierarchical_section_title: West Palatine travelling music tradition / History / Decline
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Hubertus Kilian (vorne in der Mitte mit Posaune) mit seiner Kapelle (Partie) in Shanghai.
context_page_description: The West Palatine travelling music tradition were part of a tradition established by travelling musicians from a region of West Palatinate in Germany that is now called Musikantenland. The tradition started around 1830 and had its heyday between 1850 and the First World War. During this time, several thousand musicians travelled through the world and a livelihood for themselves and their families.
context_section_description: The start of the First World War marked the beginning of the end for touring music bands that had just reached its absolute climax. Many men had to go to war, most of the job opportunities for musicians were eliminated and Germany's borders were blocked. Musicians who were caught out by the start of the war during a trip abroad were prevented from returning home. Rudolf Mersy from Aschbach was interned until 1920 in camps in Australia and New Zealand, Otto Schwarz from Hinzweiler and his band, who had previously lived in England for several years, were incarcerated on the Isle of Man.
  After the war, Germans were initially banned from entering almost all countries, with the exception of the Netherlands. After the hardship of the post-war period was over and cultural life flourished again, the travelling musicians faced increasing competition from with records, radio and film; the trade was never able to return to its heyday. At best, as a circus musician some touring musicians were able to continue their profession for a while. Some musicians stayed abroad, especially in the US, and continued to make music there. Bill Henry, originally Heinrich Jakob from Mackenbach, hired a young singer, Frank Sinatra, for his band in 1932.
  In 1935, the remaining full-time wandering musicians of the Palatinate were admitted to the Reichsmusikkammer ("State Music Institute"). A prerequisite for a professional travelling outfit was that the band had to consist of at least seven members. They had to pass examinations and needed a responsible director, who was issued with a group pass by the State Director of the Saar-Palatinate division of the Reichsmusikkammer. In 1938, musical auditions were conducted in Mackenbach and Lauterecken, where a total of 30 bands were examined. With effect from 1 April 1939, the act on the membership of wandering musicians was repealed by the Reichsmusikkammer as their activities were "not considered to be promoting musical culture". With that, the era of travelling musicians from the West Palatinate came to an end.
caption: The band of Hubertus Kilian in China (1863/64)
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