1. HI136 The History of Germany Lecture 8 Weimar Societyand Culture

2. The Upper Classes

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.

3. 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.

Also a lack of identification with the new Republic.

Even those who came to accept it often had little love for it they came to be known asVernunftrepublikaner , rational republicans.

Family of the Lawyer Dr Fritz von Glaser (1920) by Otto Dix. 4. The Stinnes-Legien Agreement15 November, 1918

An agreement between labour (represented by the trade unionist Karl Legien) and capital (represented by industrialist Hugo Stinnes) reached on 15 November 1918.

The Unions agreed not to interfere with private ownership.

In return, they were granted them full legal recognition and an 8 hour working day.

Achieved long-standing aims of the labour movement.

5. 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.

6. Education

Weimar Constitution: the state committed to providing free compulsory education.

Universities controlled by central government, primary and secondary schools the responsibility of state governments.

Hoped that education will create a sense of civic responsibility, foster a commitment to democracy and provide greater social mobility.

Attempts to reform secondary education in Prussia more opportunities for girls, raised the age at which testing took place, and allowed for more movement between educational streams.

But resistance from the Centre Party and from within the educational establishment.

Many teachers and professors, recruited from the middle classes, remained hostile to the Republic and old educational methods learning by rote etc. remained standard.

7. Gender I

New educational and employment opportunities for women.

Young middle-class women increasingly employed in secretarial and other white collar jobs.

More disposable income & interaction with the outside world freed them from family influence.

Wages spent of consumer goods and entertainment fashion, cosmetics, cinema etc.

Absence of young men brought about changes in sexual attitudes/behaviour.

8. Marlene Dietrich (left), Josephine Baker (right), and Louise Brooks (below). 9. Gender II

All women over the age of 20 can vote after 1918.

36 female Reichstag deputies by 1924 more than in any other parliament in the world.

But these criticized for confining their activities to womens issues child care, social policy, family issues etc.

Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine(BDF) = the largest womens organization with over 900,000 members.

But a split in the womens movement along age and class lines.

Debate over reproductive issues and the campaign to legalize abortion highlights these differences.

10. Weimar was Berlin, Berlin Weimar

Under the Weimar Republic Berlin became Germanys premier cultural and 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 worlds 3 rdlargest city after London and New York.

1926: Funkturm Radio Tower built.

1928: Kempinski Haus Vaterland amusement park opened.

11. Patrons of the Eldorado, Berlins notorious transvestite bar. The Potsdammerplatz by night. Six-day bicycle races. Marlene Dietrich as the cabaret singer Lola Lola 12. Crime & Policing

Chaotic conditions in the early and later years of the Republic a breeding ground for crime.

Prostitution the police estimated that there were 25,000 full time prostitutes in Berlin in 1929.

Drugs.

Organized Crime extortion, illegal gambling, protection rackets etc.

Murder:

• Fritz Haarmann, the Butcher of Hanover, killed 24 tramps and male prostitutes between 1919 and 1924.

• Karl Grossman murdered perhaps as many as 50 women before he was arrested in Berlin in 1921.

• Peter K rten, the Vampire of Dsseldorf, was convicted of 9 murders and 7 attempted murders in 1931.

By 1929 50,000 crimes being reported annually in Berlin alone.

Policing effective the uniformedSchutzpolizei(Schupo) and the plain clothesKriminalpolizei(Kripo).

Berlin police well trained and well educated, with a high success rate: 39 out of 40 reported murders solved in 1928, while culprits brought to trial in all 20 cases of attempted murder.

13. Above: Peter Lorre as the child murder inFritz LangsM(1931) Ernst Gennat (1880- 1939), head of the Homicide division of the BerlinKriminalpolizei (1925-39) and originator Of the term serial killer ( Serienm rder ). Left: Peter K rten (1883-1931), theVampire of Dsseldorf. 14. Weimar Cinema

The war freed German cinema from foreign competition and provided a captive audience for home-grown products.

1917: The German High Command force a merger of German production companies to formUniversum Film A.G.(Ufa).

1918: The state withdrew its stake in Ufa, which continued as a private concern and Germanys largest production company.

Technological innovations, high production values and a strong aesthetic sense put Weimar cinema at the fore-front of the European avant-garde.

15. Notable German Films, 1918-33

Der Golum(1920)

Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari(1920)

Der m de Tod(1921)

Dr Mabuse, der Spieler Ein Bild der Zeit(1922)

Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens(1922)

Der letze mann(1924)

Die freundlose Gasse(1925)

Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed(1926) the worlds first feature length animated film.

Metropolis(1927)

Der blaue Engel(1930)

Westfront 1918(1930)

Die Dreigroschenoper(1931)

M(1931)

16. Notable Directors and Actors

Directors

Fritz Lang

F. W. Murnau

G. W. Pabst

Ernst Lubitsch

Josef von Sternbeg

Billy Wilder

Walter Ruttmann

Paul Leni

Arnold Franck

Actors

Conrad Veidt

Emil Jannings

Rudolf Klein-Rogge

Marlene Dietrich

Peter Lorre

Max Schreck

Werner Krauss

Leni Reifenstahl

17. Expressionism

Expressionismis the tendency of an artist to distort reality for an emotional effect; it is a subjective art form.

Art movement very influential in Germany since the turn of the century ( Die Brcke ,der Blaue Reiter ).

Wassily Kandinsky,Der blaue Reiter(1903) 18. Expressionist Architecture The Einstein Tower in Potsdam (1919-20), designed by Erich Mendelsohn The Chilehaus in Hamburg (1922-24), designed by Fritz H ger 19. Expressionist Film Scenes fromDas Cabinet des Dr Caligari(1920) Still fromNosferatu(1922), directed by F. W. Murnau The Tower of Babel from Fritz LangsMetropolis(1927) 20. Expressionist Theatre

Expressionist theatre was strident and hostile, eccentric in plot, staging, speech, characters, acting, and direction. (Peter Gay).

Ernst Toller,Die Wandlung( Transformation , 1919).

George Kaiser,Die Koralle(1917),Gas(1918) &Gas II(1920).

The director and impressario Max