ABSTRACT
These verses were part of the New Year’s ode with which the editor of a widely circulated Hamburg newspaper opened the first issue of 1713. Despite the fact that obvious commenting or debating was neither endorsed by the professional code of 1700-journalists nor approved by the board of censors, such a moment of occasional poetry (corresponding to a rhymed review of the year’s events closing the last issue of the bygone year) seemed to offer the opportunity to step out of the usual reporting format and risk a more reflecting perspective on the ongoing political events.
