History of Schlaraffia

The cradle: Prague, 1859

It began with a handful of artists and intellectuals in Prague in 1859. Actors, poets, painters – people who wanted to set aside the weight of the times for a few hours and laugh, play and cultivate friendship together. They called their circle simply: Schlaraffia.

The name was the programme: the legendary Schlaraffenland – that land of effortless joy and abundance – was to become real for a few hours. No social hierarchy, no rank of the everyday world – only play, humour and art.

The game spreads

The idea spread quickly. Further Realms soon arose in other cities of the German-speaking world: Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich. With the great wave of German-speaking emigration in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Schlaraffia travelled to the New World.

New York, Buenos Aires, São Paulo – wherever German-speaking immigrants sought a new home, they also founded a Schlaraffia Realm. The bond of a shared language and a shared game held them together across all distances.

Schlaraffia survives the storms of history

Two world wars, political upheaval, bans – Schlaraffia has survived a great deal. In Germany and Austria, club activities were curtailed or suppressed during the war years. But as soon as peace returned, the Realms came back to life. This will to survive is no coincidence: where genuine friendship prevails, it always finds a way.

Schlaraffia today

Today, Schlaraffia encompasses more than 200 active Realms on five continents. The organisation has adapted to the times – online tools, digital archives, streaming – while preserving the unchanging core: Sippungen in which people meet as human beings, play, laugh and create art.

What binds all Schlaraffen worldwide is more than tradition: it is the shared conviction that humour, friendship and art make life richer – and that this richness is best enjoyed together.