The Devil and his fun

Something I missed from last month was the death of Fritz Teufel (Teufel means devil in German). It is a reminder that the 60s were not just a musical revolution. Teufel was the founder of the Spass-Guerrilero or 'fun guerillas' group which seemed to laugh at authority without, regrettably, being able to laugh at itself.

Teufel and some friends were imprisoned for a supposed assassination attack on Hubert Humphrey, the American Vice-President in 1967. But he and his Spass-Guerrileri were found to be armed only with puddings. The incident made the Berlin police look heavy-handed and silly.

Happy days.

Teufel in less frivolous times became an unsuccessful journalist and died recently aged only 67.