National Socialism – Weimar Studies Network

Moderate Modernity: The Newspaper Tempo and the Transformation of Weimar Democracy

Focusing on the fate of a Berlin-based newspaper during the 1920s and 1930s, Moderate Modernity: The Newspaper Tempo and the Transformation of Weimar Democracy chronicles the transformation of a vibrant and liberal society into an oppressive and authoritarian dictatorship. Tempo proclaimed itself as “Germany’s most modern newspaper” and attempted to capture the spirit of Weimar Berlin, giving a voice to a forward-looking generation that had grown up under the Weimar Republic’s new democratic order. The newspaper celebrated modern technology, spectator sports, and American consumer products, constructing an optimistic vision of Germany’s future as a liberal consumer society anchored in Western values.

Documentary on Life in Berlin in 1936

From the British Pathé archive, this film was commissioned by the Reichsbahnzentrale für den Deutschen Reiseverkehr (Central Travel Office of the German state Railways) to promote Berlin as a travel destination in the run up to the 1936 Olympics. A fascinating glimpse into everyday life in Germany before WWII.

Trump and Weimar Germany

The comparisons between Donald Trump’s political success and Hitler’s rise, so numerous even before the election, have intensified since the former won the electoral vote in November 2016. Historians have weighed in with differing opinions and analyses about the two phenomena. This is an on-going collection of articles on the topic, all suggestions welcome! Continue reading “Trump and Weimar Germany”

Weimar back in the News

Over the last few years, Weimar Germany has been the go-to horror scenario for journalists and scholars the world over, as a historical precedent to the 2008 financial crisis, a symbol for the situation in Greece, or an explanation for German fiscal policy.

Now, the New York Times has predicted a “Weimar moment” for the whole of the Western world, arguing that “Germany’s slide into a popular embrace of authoritarianism in the 1930s offers a frame for understanding how liberal democracies can suddenly turn toward anti-liberalism.”

Limited Friendship: Germany and Turkey, 1918-33

Sabine Mangold-Will’s study of the relationship of the Weimar Republic and Turkey describes the construction of a myth of a friendship and cultural connection that was used by both countries in the push for a revision of the Versailles Treaty and the fight against a perceived unrestricted modernization in general.

–> Review (in German)