Weimarer Verhältnisse?

The FAZ and regional broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk have teamed up for an essays series on the topic of “Weimarer Verhältnisse?” (Weimar conditions): a group of distinguished historians of the era, including Andreas Wirsching, Ute Daniel and Hélène Miard-Delacroix, consider the reasons for Weimar’s collapse and its lessons for today, from democratic breakdown to economic policy.

New book on German Revolution

The new volume Germany 1916-23. A Revolution in Context, edited by Klaus Weinhauer, Anthony McElligott and Kirsten Heinsohn, puts the German Revolution “into a wider time frame (1916-23), and coheres around three interlinked propositions: (i) acknowledging that during its initial stage the German Revolution reflected an intense social and political challenge to state authority and its monopoly of physical violence, (ii) it was also replete with »Angst«-ridden wrangling over its longer-term meaning and direction, and (iii) was characterized by competing social movements that tried to cultivate citizenship in a new, unknown state.”

Guest Post: Was there a backlash against Weimar’s sexual politics?

Laurie Marhoefer, author of Sex and the Weimar Republic. German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis, has written a guest post on Weimar’s sexual politics, addressing the interesting question if Weimar’s progressive culture actually undermined its democratic system:

 

Was There a Backlash against Weimar’s Sexual Politics?
Laurie Marhoefer

Scholars of Weimar are nearly in agreement that the politics of sexuality helped to bring down the Republic. I term this “the backlash thesis.” It holds that Weimar-era progressivism on issues like homosexuality, reproductive control, and female prostitution incited a backlash among conservatives, and that the Nazis capitalized on that backlash by portraying themselves as the party best suited to clean up the “swamp of immorality” in which Germany supposedly wallowed.

Sex and the Weimar Republic

In her new study Sex and the Weimar Republic. German Homosexual Emancipation and the Rise of the Nazis, Laurie Marhoefer shows that the famed sexual tolerance of the Weimar era was “only obtained at the expense of a minority who were deemed sexually disordered. In Weimar Germany, the citizen’s right to sexual freedom came with a duty to keep sexuality private, non-commercial, and respectable.

The Language of Weimar Democracy

The new collection of articles Demokratiegeschichte als Zäsurgeschichte is bringing together historians and linguists investigating ‘discourses of the early Weimar Republic’. They explore the historical break of 1918/19 as a linguistic transformation: terms like ‘democracy’ and ‘popular government’ (Volksherrschaft) enjoyed a sudden boost in popularity and all political factions fought intensely over their exact definition.

The Eintänzer: a Social Type of the Weimar Republic

The ‘New Woman’ is well known as a female (role) model and character in Weimar culture. But what about embodiments of Weimar masculinity? The traditional German image of manliness had taken a serious hit by the nation’s defeat in the war, so it is obvious that masculinity was as contentious a field as womanhood. However, there is not much research out there yet about this issue.

Information on Bauhaus students?

Topper Sherwood, a member of our network, is looking for information on the political activities of Bauhaus students:

Berlin researcher is looking for help/sharing on left-wing students and their organizations at the Bauhaus in Weimar, 1918-1924. Specifically: Bruno M. Adler, Franz Singer, Margit Tery (Adler), Friedl Dicker, Erwin Ratz, Stefan Wolpe, and others. Some of these were reportedly part the Sparticist movement,and/ or the KPD. For sharing/conversation, contact: toppersherwood[at]gmail.com.

New book on Ullstein publishing house

Ullstein was, without a doubt, one of the most important cultural and political actors in Weimar Germany. As the country’s biggest book publisher and the home of such influential publications as Vossische Zeitung, BZ am Mittag and Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung, the company exerted a major influence on contemporary culture. A staunch proponent of liberal politics and the democratic system, it was viewed by many as one of the pillars of the Weimar Republic. Not surprisingly, it quickly became a target for Nazi attacks and was one of the first Jewish companies to be “Aryanized” after 1933.

Journal Review: Journal of Contemporary History

In the October issue of the Journal of Contemporary History, Molly Loberg writes about the phenomenon of fortified shops in Weimar Berlin: ‘By 1931, in the context of a general breakdown in public security, the police promoted a fortified shop as the best means for crime prevention. In contrast to ‘invisible’ security measures invented by department stores to deter crime without inhibiting consumption, these measures made explicit a defensive posture of the shop toward the street.’

New Study on Weimar Dance

Kate Elswit’s new study Watching Weimar Dance puts the focus on the audience, bringing insights from Dance, Theatre, and Performance Studies to Weimar Studies and offering a new view on Weimar culture with a focus on spectatorship: ‘Watching Weimar Dance asks what audiences saw on stages from cabaret and revue to concert dance and experimental theatre in the turbulent moment of the Weimar Republic.
Spectator reports that performers died or became half-machine archive not only the physicality of past performance, but also the ways audiences used the temporary world of the theatre to negotiate pressing social issues, from female visibility within commodity culture to human functioning in an era of increasing technologization.