Research on the history, culture and society of the Weimar Republic
The German Bundesarchiv (Federal Archives of Germany) has launched the portal Weimar: Die erste deutsche Demokratie. The portal is a one-stop-shop for all Weimar-related sources held by the Archives, from government records to sound recordings of Ebert’s speeches, posters, newsreels and historical maps.
The HREF blog, run by the GHI Washington, has interviewed Vera Zahnhausen, the project leader of the portal at the Bundesarchiv, who explains the various uses of the new website.
The Haus der Weimarer Republik – an initiative that seeks to build a permanent museum and information centre about the history of the Weimar Republic – has launched a portal for the centenary celebrations, including a collection of all related celebrations and events.
During the anniversary year, they also present a primary source covering each day of the tumultuous founding of the Weimar Republic 100 year sago.
“Monitor”, Germany’s flagship investigative news programme, recently broadcast a segment about the “lessons of Weimar”: “Babylon Berlin. Die ARD-Serie über die Weimarer Republik – vier Jahre bevor die Nazis die Macht übernehmen. Deutschland 1929: Straßenkämpfe gegen die verhasste Republik und eine neue Partei vor ihrem Aufstieg an die Macht. Deutschland 2018: Rechtsextremisten demonstrieren neue Stärke. Und wieder träumt eine nationalistische Partei von der Machtübernahme. Was sollten wir aus Weimar lernen?”
Nadine Rossol has unearthed a treasure trove of student essays written between late November and early December 1918 and addressing their experiences of living through the end of WWI, the revolution and the collapse of the monarchy in Essen.
Kartoffeln, Frost und Spartakus. Weltkriegsende und Revolution 1918/19 in Essener Schüleraufsätzen is a collection of 35 of these essays, with comments and context. It provides a fascinating insight into young people’s view of the beginning of the Weimar Republic and a welcome contribution to the recent “rediscovery” of the German Revolution.
Vorwärts, the “Zentralorgan der Sozialdemokratischen Partei Deutschlands”, is being digitized. Since April, the years from 1918-1933 are available online. The archive is fully searchable and pages can be downloaded in PDF format.
The German Federal Archive (Bundesarchiv) is building a new portal for primary sources of the Weimar Republic. It will be accessible from 2017 under the name “Weimar – Die erste deutsche Demokratie”. You can follow the developments on a dedicated blog called “Weimar – Wege zur Demokratie“.
The Berlin State Library has digitized the popular Berliner Volkszeitung. The daily newspaper was published from 1904-1944, for the longest part by the liberal Mosse house. The issues from 1904-1919 are available at the State Library at the moment, with the years of 1920-1933 to follow soon.
The Archives Portal Europe provides access to information on archival material from different European countries as well as information on archival institutions throughout the continent.
One of the many documents found via the Portal is the file of the SS High Command Security Service Main Office on Weimar-era political and legal theorist Carl Schmitt, held at the Wiener Library, London.
In this online lecture, Moritz Foellmer gives an in-depth introduction to the complex history of the Weimar Republic. This webinar is a perfect resource for undergraduate students from one of the leading experts on Weimar Germany.
EGO (European History Online) is a multi-media portal to 500 years of European history in transnational perspective, featuring articles by esteemed scholars and experts: ‘EGO | European History Online is a transcultural history of Europe on the Internet. The project investigates processes of intercultural exchange in European history whose impact extended beyond state, national and cultural borders. Continue reading “European History Online”
The European Film Gateway is a single access point to films, images and texts from selected collections of 24 film archives across Europe: ‘The EFG Portal gives you quick access to hundreds of thousands of film historical documents as preserved in European film archives and cinémathèques: photos, posters, programmes, periodicals, censorship documents, rare feature and documentary films, newsreels and other materials.’
The Monacensia archive in Munich has digitalized the original pages of Klaus Mann’s diaries (1931-1949). An amazing source for literary scholars and historians alike.
In 2014, the project “1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War” will go live. It promises to be an indispensable source for research on the Great War and its aftermath, but the website is already worth a look. Particularly the collection of WWI websites is a handy guide for anyone interested in the era.
The Compact Memory project has digitized 118 German-language Jewish periodicals, from Sulamith (1806-1843) to Central Verein-Zeitung (1922-1938) and Jüdische Welt-Rundschau (1939-1940). This amazing collection, financed by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), offers a wealth of material for scholars of German-Jewish history.
The University of Erfurt and the Sächsische Landesbibliothek Dresden offer an amazing collection of digitized illustrated magazines of the 1920s, including Der Querschnitt, UHU, Das jüdische Magazin, Kriminal-Magazin, Auto-Magazin, Das Magazin, Revue des Monats, Das Leben and Scherl’s Magazin.
More than 650 issues of these ‘magazines of classical modernity’ are available on the site, individually tagged with keywords such as ‘women’s liberation’, ‘car culture’, etc.
The project started in 2012, a work shop seminar on 4-5 July 2013 offers an introduction to featured magazines for interested researchers.
