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