Stunning Bodies

Animal Slaughter, Judaism, and the Meaning of Humanity in Imperial Germany

Bibliographic Data

ID9644770
AuthorsDorothee Brantz (corresponding author)
Year2002
Volume35
Issue2
Pages167-193
Publication date2002-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCentral European History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-9389 • E-ISSN: 1569-1616
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1163/15691610260420656
PMID21038739
OpenAlexW2130407291
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited19

In 1886, the National Association of Animal Protection Societies petitioned the German Reichstag to protest “the deplorable state of affairs surrounding the method of slaughtering, the role of the butcher, and finally the demoralizing effect that the sight of this albeit necessary killing of livestock must have, particularly on the youth.” Calling for a nationwide law to prohibit the killing of livestock without prior stunning, animal protectionists insisted that only nationwide state intervention could alleviate the widespread problems with slaughter, which, by extension, would guarantee the advancement of humanity. Yet, butchers and Jewish communities vehemently disagreed and in more than two thousand counterpetitions, they appealed to the Reichstag to refrain from proposing such a law. Why did a relatively minor issue like the slaughter of livestock spark so much controversy, and, more importantly, why did it become such a politicized agenda when it was deliberated in the Reichstag in 1887 and again in 1899

Butcher · Geography · German · Humanity · Judaism · Livestock · Meaning (existential · Political science · State (computer science · Stunning · Theology · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Halal products and consumer behavior · History · Law · Philosophy

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