Modernity and
its DiscontentsHI136, History of Germany
Lecture 7
The “Crisis of Classical Modernity”? How Golden were the
“Golden Twenties”?
Socia
l Cha
nge Urbanisation Class Generational Conflict
Gender
The Urban
Republic Continued urbanisation
after 1918.
Berlin Became Germany’s
premier cultural & social
centre.
A hub for European travel.
1924: Tempelhof Airport
opened.
Berlin had a population of
4 million by 1925 & grew
by 80-100,000 people a
year.
By 1928 Berlin was the
world’s 3rd largest city after
London and New York.
1926: Funkturm Radio
Tower built.
1928: Kempinski Haus
Vaterland amusement park
opened.
The Potsdamer Platz at night (below right), the Kempinski Haus Vaterland (above), six day bicycle race (above right)
The
Uppe
r Cl
asse
s
No fundamental change to the social & economic structure after 1918 – no redistribution of wealth, no nationalization of industry.
But some social change: The aristocracy (at least temporarily) dislodged
from their dominant position. Aristocratic ranks and titles banned after 1918
– many families incorporate their titles into their surnames.
Nevertheless, industrialists and landowners still powerful and the old elites represented in the Reichstag by the DVP and DNVP.
The Officer Corps of the Reichswehr more aristocratic than the old Imperial Army:
25% of regular officers came from old military families in 1913,
this number had risen to 67% by 1929.
The Middle
Classes Small businesses
struggled to survive
in the difficult
economic climate of
the 1920s and early
30s.
Many middle class
families continued to
fear a loss of status
and the threat of
revolution and the
extreme left.
The Middle classes
divided into ‘upper’
and ‘lower’ but also
‘old’ and ‘new’.
Between 1907 and
1925 the number of
white collar workers
grew by 4 million.
Family of the Lawyer Dr Fritz von
Glaser
(1920) by Otto Dix.
The Working
Classes Slow improvement in
living standards after
1924.
Shorter working day,
legal Union
representation and
higher wages.
SPD government in
Prussia invested in
public works –
affordable housing,
increased benefits,
education etc.
Extension of adult
education aimed at
workers.
But curriculum designed
to raise class
consciousness, not
improve employment
prospects or provide re-
training.
Political Culture
A highly politicised, but deeply divided
society. A republic without republicans?
The
Econ
omy
Structural weaknesses in the
Weimar economy. Reliance on foreign
investment left Germany dangerously exposed to fluctuations in the world economy. Trend towards ‘rationalisation’
and business mergers. Wages rose, but so did prices.
Growing unemployment. Shrinking exports.
Yout
h
New sensitivity to lack of
proper supervision of youth and too much freedom for jugendliche
1922 Reich Youth Welfare Law: “Every German child has the right to an upbringing that will ensure physical,
intellectual and social fitness.” Boy subcultures Youth unemployment
Gender
The American film star Louise Brooks (left)
came to epitomise the look of the ‘New
Woman’, while Marlene Deitrich (right)
exuded sexuality and sophistication.
Wei
mar
Cul
ture
Nobel Prizes in physics: 1918: Max Planck 1921: Albert Einstein 1925: Gustav Hertz 1932: Werner Heisenberg
Classical Music: Arnold Schoenberg and Alban Berg
Philosophy: Martin Heidegger,
Sein und Zeit (1927) Research centres:
Berlin Psychoanalytic Institute
(1920) Institute for Social Research
(‘Frankfurt School’, 1923) Warburg Institute (1926)
Expressionism
Above left: The Einstein Tower, Potsdam (1919-20)
Below right: Wassily Kandinski, On White II (1923)
Below left: still from Das Cabinett des Dr. Caligari (1919)
New Objectivity
Großstadt (Metropolis) Triptych (1927-28) by Otto Dix
New Objectivity
Left: The Pillars of the Establishment
(1926) by George Grosz
Right: Three Whores (1926) by Otto Dix
Bauh
aus