EISENSTEPPE – Spuren des Hoboismus in Deutschland (IRON STEPPE – Traces of hoboism in Germany)
Hoboism is an North American phenomenon describing the nomadic lifestyle of iternant workers who moved from town to town by illegal freighthopping, especially in the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century. Soon it became part of the hobo culture to communicate through an own language in secret signs. Hobos left their marks along their route and often chose nicknames, so called monikers, to combine them with the date, messages, thoughts or little epigrams. Although the intentions might differ, hoboism is alive in the United States and monikers are still written on freighttrains by railworkers, outlaws and adventurers.
When the author Jan Klöthe started exploring the German hobo scene in 2012, the movement was existing round about a decade. Just like graffiti in the 1980s, Europeans adopted the American trend and hoboism seems to have become a sub-genre of the writing culture.
In EISENSTEPPE the author introduces protagonists like Stefan Haehnel, MSABE-82, KATDOG, NOTZ, CAUGH, Norman B., WAITS, STYLO, A. M. Schlesinger and OGTOK with text- and photo chapters. The reader also gets exclusive insights through interviews with Wolf Daubin on his monikers and two train drivers. On 120 pages the representatives of a new “generation hobo” share their mindset and enlighten with thoughts and intents on their passion. EISENSTEPPE is limited to 150 copies and available exclusively at Hitzerot!
Now available at Hitzerot.