Gregor Gog

Gregor Ambrosius Gog (1891–1945) was a German anarchist, writer, and activist. He is most known for his founding of the Vagabond Movement, which advocated for the rights of a dissident culture of anarchists, syndicalists, and various other forms of social outcasts during the German Weimar Republic.^[1] He also established one of Germany's earliest street newspapers and was regarded as the "King of Vagabonds."^[2] His writing defied social norms and highlighted the struggles of the homeless and disenfranchised in the Interwar Period.^[3]

Gog was born in the German town of Schwerin an der Wartke (now Skwierzyna, Western Poland)^[1] on 7 November 1891.^[4] He was encouraged to become a priest by his mother and spent four years as an altar boy in his early youth.^[5]

The son of a carpenter, Gog left home to join the military at the age of 18.^[4] In 1909, he went into the Imperial German Merchant Marine but deserted^[5] in 1913 to become a gardener.^[4] After the outbreak of the Great War, Gog was drafted into the military for a second time. ^[4] During the war, he encountered underground anarchist groups, which heavily influenced his politics and led to his being court-martialed twice.^[4] He was ultimately charged with the spread of anti-militarist propaganda and incitement to mutiny before a military court, leading to his psychiatric institutionalization during which he developed kidney disease due to poor care. He was court-martialed a second time and discharged from the military as unfit for service.^[4]

After the war, Gog traveled to Brazil^[5] and then moved to Bad Urach, where he established a commune, Kommune am Grünen Weg,^[3] which became a home for anarchists, radical preachers, and communists.^[1] The political and economic instability of Weimar Germany created a wellspring of revolutionary thinking, which helped to reinforce his anti-authoritarian stance and activism.^[2]

During the 1920s, Gog founded the Vagabond Movement (Vagabundenbewegung), which sought to create a sense of community and solidarity among homeless individuals, wanderers, and those who rejected mainstream society.^[1] He promoted self-sufficiency and freedom from material constraints, organized gatherings and fostered a distinct vagabond identity.^[6] His leadership earned him the moniker of the "King of Vagabonds."^[7] The Vagabond Movement had limited impact on the broader anarcho-syndicalist movement, and Gog organized them into the “International Fraternity of the Vagabonds” in 1927.^[8]

Gog and his followers held congresses, such as the 1929 Vagabond Congress in Stuttgart, where they discussed political strategies and the cultural significance of vagabond life.^[2] Over six hundred assorted tramps and vagabonds came to Stuttgart to answer Gog's call, and prominent authors Sinclair Lewis and Maksim Gorky expressed support for the congress.^[5] In critiquing the romanticism of the destitute and rejection of Weimar capitalist norms, the congress advocated for a lifestyle unbound by property and societal expectations.^[9] They considered conscientiously refusing wage labour as the most effective resistance of capitalism, adopting the motto "General strike for life!"^[10] They used art, literature, and direct action to challenge state oppression and to redefine homelessness as a conscious choice rather than a social failure.^[3] While the movement was largely anarchist, it also attracted bohemians, political dissidents, and others who felt that they were disillusioned with Weimar Germany.^[6] Gog himself also gained some celebrity as director Fritz Weiss produced a silent film detailing Gog and his life.^[11]

Also in 1929, Gog took over editorship of Der Kunde, a street newspaper founded by Gustav Brügel in 1927. The paper was a platform for vagabond voices and critiques of social injustices.^[3][10] Through his writing, he addressed issues such as poverty, homelessness, and state repression, positioning vagabonds not as social outcasts but as a unique culture with a distinct political consciousness.^[1] Der Kunde became the movement’s primary mouthpiece, disseminating radical ideas and providing a space for vagabonds to share their experiences.^[1] Contributors included Jo Mihàly and Hans Tombrock.^[10]

Gog’s activism made him a target of state authorities, especially as the political climate in Germany shifted in the 1930s.^[7] The movement faced increasing repression under the Nazi regime, which viewed vagabonds as subversive elements to be eliminated.^[9] With the rise of Adolf Hitler to Chancellor and his takeover of the German government, Gog became a target due to his anarchist beliefs and activism.^[7] Gog saw his vagabond movement as a resistance to the burgeoning Nazi movement, aligning himself with the German communist KPD to work against fascists and alienating many vagabond allies in the process.^[9]

In April 1933, Gog was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Heuberg concentration camp^[9] as well as camps in Reutlingen, and Ulm.^[5] Gog managed to escape the camp and fled to Switzerland before being expelled in June 1934 because of his controversial politics.^[9] Gog then fled to Fergana, then part of the Soviet Union, where he was drafted to perform forced labor.^[5] After his release, he began work on a novel about the Battle of Stalingrad, which would go unpublished.^[5]

On 8 October 1945, Gog died of kidney disease in a sanatorium in Tashkent.^[4] After his death, his ideas continued to inspire counterculture and anarchist movements, and his legacy lives on in discussions about homelessness, political activism, artistic expression, and alternate ways of living.^[1][3]

In 2014, Stuttgart's Theater Rampe staged a reenactment of the 1929 Vagabond congress.^[10] In addition, Der König der Vagabunden, a graphic novel retelling Gog's life written by Patrick Spät and drawn by Beatrice Davies, was published by Avant Verlag in October 2019 and selected as a Finalist for the Leibinger Stiftung Comic book Prize 2019.^[12]