Abstract

The transformation of politicians into celebrities and the close connection between social movements and popular culture are not recent phenomena. In fact, they can be traced back to the movements emerging during the nineteenth century, including the workers’ movement. The contribution of the modern culture industry to the celebrity phenomenon will be reconstructed through the now largely forgotten Ferdinand Lassalle, one of the founders of German Social Democracy. The widespread fascination with this first socialist celebrity will be reconstructed through songs, poems, and novels and the emotional attachments forged in the name of the working class.