Yes, I agree. Most likely the "Faustkandidat" is a contraction of the phrase "auf eigene Faust Kandidat".
Iosif On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 6:40 AM Emil Rennert <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Iosif and Andrew, > > I’ve been looking through the ANNO historical newspaper archives of > the Austrian National Library and I think I can concretize the > definition further. The term "Faustkandidat" seems to specifically > describe an independent or "wild" populist who relied on his own local > power base—and sometimes his own physical force—rather than a party > machine. > > In one article from the Czernowitz press, for example, you’ll see them > referred to as "selbstständige Faustkandidaten" (meaning "independent > fist-candidates", see here for example in the "Bukowinaer Post" from > 29.11.1906: > https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=bup&datum=19061129&seite=2&zoom=33&query=%22Faustkandidaten%22&ref=anno-search > ). > > Another article notes that "Im ersten Wahlkörper wird es zwischen > Faustkandidaten und Offiziellen einen harten Kampf geben" (In the > first electoral body, there will be a hard fight between > Faust-candidates and officials. Found here: > > https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=czt&datum=19130308&seite=4&zoom=33&query=%22Faustkandidaten%22&ref=anno-search > ). > This phrasing is key because it places them in direct opposition to > the "official" party candidates. It suggests they weren't "tame" or > "hand-held" at all; in fact, the German linguistic logic of the time > suggests the opposite. The "fist" represents "Faustrecht" (the law of > the fist). These were popular or populist, possibly rough, influential > local figures who forced their way onto the ballot through personal > initiative, often backed by their own "election gangs" to intimidate > the opposition. > > Interestingly, these candidates sometimes might have even played a > dual role as enforcers. While they ran as "independents" against the > party "officials," they might have been sometimes supported sub-rosa > by the government to act as "spoilers" against "uncooperative" > nationalist or social-democratic parties. By using a "Faustkandidat," > the administration could maintain plausible deniability while the > candidate's "fist" (possibly aided by the local gendarmerie) cleared > the polling stations of opposition voters. In one article, I found a > quote from Polish nationalists that I interpret as a warning of > "Faustkandidaten" who could undermine their Polish national > aspirations by splintering the vote. > > Another article, in the context of the Romanian nationalist movement > in the Bucovina, the term "Faustkandidaten" is explicitly linked to > the German idiom "auf eigene Faust," meaning "on one's own initiative" > [See here: > https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=bup&datum=19110427&seite=4&zoom=33&query=%22Faustkandidaten%22&ref=anno-search > ]. > This connection is highlighted in an article describing internal > divisions where candidates running "auf eigene Faust" challenged the > official national committee, often aggressively mobilizing local > support. > > So, rather than being "tame," they were the "enforcers" of the > political scene—populists who turned the election into a literal and > figurative fight. Calling someone a "Faustkandidat" was a way of > describing a rogue force that possibly sometimes even used "fist > tactics" to bypass or disrupt the established political order. > > Here are some of the specific ANNO search results I found. It really > seems that these men were the "wildcards" of Bukovinian politics. > See for example all search results for the term "Faustkandidat" here: > https://anno.onb.ac.at/anno-suche/simple?query=Faustkandidat&from=1 > Or in plural "Faustkandiaten" here: > https://anno.onb.ac.at/anno-suche/simple?query=Faustkandidaten&from=1 > > And also the wording here about a candidate who wants to try his luck > now again as a fist candidate, ("nochmal als Faustkandidat sein Glück > versuchen will"), suggests that these were independent candidates: > > https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=czt&datum=19050117&seite=3&zoom=33&query=%22Faustkandidat%22&ref=anno-search > > Best, > Emil > > On Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 8:19 AM iosif vaisman <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > Hi Andrew, > > > > this is a very interesting example indeed. The word was used in several > Czernowitz newspapers dozens of times over three decades, but can't be > found anywhere else. It is absent from all major German dictionaries and > does not appear in German corpora. I did not find any explanation created > by humans, but different LLMs offer two versions based on contextual > analysis. One of them was quoted by Emil ("a candidate who is using his > fists"), another one is a "Faustian" or "Dr. Faust-like" candidate, i.e., a > candidate who sold his soul to the devil. I think there is also a third > possibility: some of the German compound words which start with "Faust-" > mean "hand-held" (e.g., Fausthantel, Faustkeil, Faustsäge). So, it is > possible that "Faustkandidat" is a hand-held or tame candidate. The first > version seems to be more probable, but the other two can't be completely > discounted either. > > > > Best, > > Iosif > > > > > > On Wed, Feb 18, 2026 at 12:41 AM Andrew Mathis <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >> Hello, > >> > >> I’ve been reading Thomas Hensellek’s German-language book on Bukovina > just before WWI, and he uses the term “Faustkandidat” in several instances. > I searched the word online and it appears exclusively (as far as I can > tell) in publications from Bukovina. Clearly it was a local term of some > kind, perhaps slang. Would anyone here be able to tell me what it means? > >> > >> Thanks, > >> Andrew > >> ________________________________ > >> ________________________________ > >> > >> This moderated discussion group is for information exchange on the > subject of > >> Czernowitz and Sadagora Jewish History and Genealogy. The opinions > expressed > >> in these posts are the opinions of the original poster only and not > necessarily > >> the opinions of the List Owner, the Webmaster or any other members > >> or entities connected with this mailing list. The Czernowitz-L list has > >> an associated web site at http://czernowitz.ehpes.com that includes a > >> searchable archive of all messages posted to this list. 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