Chapter 6- Social and Cultural developments in Germany 1924-8 Flashcards
George Grosz quote about Berlin in the golden age
“Berlin was a bubbling cauldron”
1925 State accident insurance system
Introduced by Bismarck to help those injured at work
was extended to cover those with diseases
how man war orphans and veterans did the state support in 1926
800k disabled war veterans
900k war orphans
Means tests
A check on the financial circumstances of a benefit candidate to confirm eligibility
Characteristics of the “New Woman”
Free, independent, sexually liberated, and visible in public life
Freedoms women gained from the Weimar Constitution
Right to vote
Opportunity of education
Right to Equal pay
Opportunity to serve in the civil service
League of German Women
900k members
they promoted family values and maternal responsibilities
Myth of New woman vs reality:
Sexual freedom
new woman:
Abortions, by 1930, 1 mil a year
Divorce rates increased
Birth control became more widely available
reality:
Abortion was a criminal offence often performed by unqualified ppl. 12k deaths annually
churches heavily opposed birth control
Youth Cliques in Hamburg
Red apaches
Eagles claw
They tried to appear physically tough,
aggressively masculine and anti social.
They had their own uniforms, flags and initiation tests
Wandervogel
Middle class boys
highly nationalistic but not political
hated industrialisation and big cities
Some adopted nudism and vegetarianism
church youth groups
Both catholic and protestant
promote religious observance and instil respect
Political Youth groups
Young communist League was founded in 1925 for KPD children
Hitler youth, slow growth in 20s, 13k members by 1929
% of Jews that lived in Cities
80%
% of German pop that was jewish
1%
High ranking Jews in Politics
Rathenau, Luxemburg, Hasse
Examples of Jewish dominance of Industry
Jewish firms dominated coal mining, steelworks and chemical industry in Silesia
% of Jewish owned banks in Germany compared to all banks
18%
Barmat Scandal
1925
jewish Barmat brothers accused of bribing Prussian state bank
one of them was sentenced to 11 months in jail
Berlin Nightclubs
hub of homosexuals and trans people able to be free after having to hid their identity pre-weimar
Art in the Golden age
Kandinsky, George Grosz
surge of modern art
Theatre in the Golden age
Abstract symbolism
bertold Brecht
Threepenny opera:
turned middle class as villains
prostitues and criminals are heroes
Architecture in the Golden Age
bauhaus 1919
Incorporated steel, concrete and glass into designs. stripped away an superfluous decoration
