Culture + Women in Weimar Flashcards
What was Neue Sachlichkeit?
New objectivity - show reality and objectivity, art should comment on society and be understood by everyone
What was art like in the Weimar Republic?
Expressionism; George Grosz and Otto Dix; highly political and critical paintings commenting on society
What was Literature like in the Weimar Republic?
Authors shared personal experiences; literature had social and political purpose; avant-garde and right-wing writers reacted to utilitarianism; Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front challenged the ‘stab in the back’ myth
What was Music and Opera like in the Weimar Republic?
Zeitopera reflected modern issues; experimental works like Schoenberg’s atonality; Gebrauchsmusik (music with practical purpose)
What was Theatre like in the Weimar Republic?
Zeittheater conveyed critical messages; left-wing political drama; Brecht: “theatre that makes no contact with the public is nonsense”
What was Architecture and Design like in the Weimar Republic?
Functionalism; Bauhaus school under Walter Gropius; used concrete and other utilitarian materials; united art and technology
How was Radio used in the Weimar Republic?
Started in 1925; 40 million listeners by 1930; state-controlled; new music and plays created for radio
What was Dance like in the Weimar Republic?
40 theatres and 120 publications challenged Paris as cultural hub; nightclubs, subversive performances, Charleston dance, jazz influence in Berlin cabarets
How did conservatives react to cultural changes?
They hated Kulturbolschewismus and blamed the government for undermining traditional culture
How did the left react to cultural changes?
Some supported it; others found it uninspiring; state used radio to limit radical ideas; George Grosz fined for defaming the military and blasphemy
Where was the cultural explosion most felt?
Cities: in 1932, 42% of urban homes had radio vs. 10% in villages; many Germans still preferred traditional cultural activities
Compare women in employment from 1907 and 1925
1907 - 31.2%; 1925 - 36.9%
Compare women in domestic work from 1907 and 1925
1907 - 16%; 1925 - 11.4%; many lost jobs as men returned from war
Compare women in white-collar jobs from 1907 and 1925
1907 - 6.5%; 1925 - 12.6%
What were social attitudes toward women?
Expected to stay home; paid less; married working women called Doppelverdiener
How did the SPD try to reform education?
Ended confessional schools; 1922 - Reich Youth Welfare Law; 1923 - Reich Juvenile Court Law
After what age did parents have to pay for schooling?
After age 10; education remained expensive and inaccessible to the poor
How many university students came from working-class backgrounds?
45% had civil servant fathers; only 2.3% were working class; universities dominated by upper and middle classes
Examples of diversity in Weimar education
1931: 29,000 Protestant, 15,000 Catholic, 97 Jewish, and 295 secular schools
How many students belonged to corporations in 1928?
56%; these groups were racially and socially exclusive
Decrease in Jewish population in Hamburg and Berlin from 1918 to 1933
1918 - 1%; 1933 - 0.76%
Who was assassinated due to anti-Jewish hostility?
Foreign Minister Rathenau, after the Rapallo Treaty
Why was there hostility toward Polish people?
Loss of land to Poland; Danzig Corridor; Treaty of Versailles; Locarno Pact
How did soldiers in the Ruhr face hostility?
Presence of Black French troops; mixed-race children referred to as “Germany’s shame”
