Advent Calendar: 22 December – The Ruhleben Camp magazine

Illustration ‘The Christmas Pudding’ from the The Ruhleben Camp magazine, Christmas Issue, 1916 (r DG3A15).

Ruhleben Gefangenenlager (British Civilian Internment Camp) was established after the outbreak of the First World War at a racetrack in Spandau, a suburb of Berlin. The Ruhleben camp was a civilian detention camp for those male civilians who had been living, studying and working in Germany at the outbreak of the War. The camp remained in operation until Armistice Day in 1918. The camp detainees organised their own entertainment including the production of this magazine from 1915.