Social and cultural changes in the Weimar Republic

Question 1

How many people were unemployed in Weimar Germany in:

1926?
1928?

Answer 1

1926: 2 million
1928: 1.3 million

Question 2

What did the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1927 do?

Answer 2

Charged 16.4 million workers 3% of their wages (with employers matching their contributions) to provide an average of 60 marks per week in benefits if a worker fell out of work

Question 3

What happened to the length of the working week between 1925 and 1927?

Answer 3

Decreased, from 50 hours in 1925 to 46 hours in 1927

Question 4

What happened to real wages between 1925 and 1928?

Answer 4

Increased by 25%

Question 5

What was introduced in 1925 to fund building associations to build new houses?

Answer 5

A 15% rent tax

Question 6

Between 1925 and 1929, how many houses were built by:
Private companies?
Building associations?

Answer 6

Private companies: 37,000
Building associations: 64,000

Question 7

How much more public money was spent on housing in 1929 compared to 1913?

Answer 7

33 times more

Question 8

What did the government spend 40% of its money on in the 1920s?

Answer 8

War-related pensions for widows and orphans (2.5 million people)

Question 9

What did the 1920 Reich Pension Law do?

Answer 9

Ensure 750,000 war veterans were paid a pension

Question 10

What happened to the number of students in higher education between 1913 and 1928?

Answer 10

Increased: from 70,000 to 110,000

Question 11

What was the turnout of women voters in the first Reichstag elections? Was this more or less than male voters?

Answer 11

90%

More

Question 12

What percentage of the Reichstag was female by 1932?

Answer 12

Almost 10 per cent

Question 13

What three things were included in Article 109 of the Weimar Constitution?

Answer 13

1) Women had equal rights with men

2) Marriage was an equal partnership, with equal rights on both sides

3) Women should be able to enter all professions on an equal basis with men

Question 14

What happened to the percentage of women in work between 1918 and 1925?

Answer 14

Fell: from 75% to 36%

Question 15

How much less were women paid on average than men in the same work in the 1920s?

Answer 15

33% less

Question 16

How many female judges were there in Germany by 1933?

Answer 16

Only 36

Question 17

What jobs were particularly popular amongst women in the 1920s?

Answer 17

Part-time jobs in shops and offices

Question 18

What happened to the number of doctors in Germany between 1925 and 1932?

Answer 18

Doubled: from 2,500 in 1925 to 5,000 in 1932

Question 19

Who were the Weimar Republic’s “new women”?

Answer 19

Young, unmarried working women in cities with greater financial and social independence

Question 20

How did the “new women” dress and behave?

Answer 20

Went out more, unaccompanied

Wore short hair, more make-up, more jewellery and more revealing clothes

Smoke and drank more

Question 21

What happened to the birth rate in Germany between 1913 and 1925?

Answer 21

Fell from 128 births per 1,000 women in 1913, to 80 per 1,000 women in 1925

Question 22

What happened to the divorce rate in Germany between 1913 and the 1920s?

Answer 22

Increased: from 27 divorces per 100,000 people in 1913, to 60 per 100,000 people in the 1920s

Question 23

Why did many Germans oppose the “new women”?

Answer 23

Believed equality and greater independence for women threatened traditional aspects of society

Question 24

Give two reasons why there was an increase in cultural energy in 1920s Germany

Answer 24

1) The new Weimar Constitution enshrined freedoms in law such as freedom of speech

2) Economic recovery after 1924 created wealth to finance the arts

Question 25

What were the three new ways of looking at the arts in Weimar Germany?

Answer 25

1) New Objectivism: to show life as it really is

2) Modernism: to embrace the future

3) Expressionism: to reflect the thoughts and feelings of the artist

Question 26

How did the Weimar government support the arts?

Answer 26

Gave grants to support art galleries, theatres, orchestra, museums and libraries

Question 27

Give two examples of expressionist artists in Weimar Germany

Answer 27

Otto Dix

George Grosz

Question 28

Who designed the Einstein Tower and what style influenced this building?

Answer 28

Erich Mendelsohn

Modernism

Question 29

Which science-fiction film was directed by Fritz Lang and released in 1926?

Answer 29

Metropolis

Question 30

How many German cinemas were there by 1932?

Answer 30

3,800

Question 31

When did radio broadcasts begin in Germany?

Answer 31

1923

Question 32

How many radio sets were there in Germany by 1930?

Answer 32

4 million

Question 33

Which book, published in 1929, challenged the ‘Dolchstoss’ view of how Germany lost the war and sold half a million copies?

Answer 33

All Quiet on the Western Front

Question 34

Which Weimar composer experimented with atonality in music (music not in a major or minor key)?

Answer 34

Arnold Schoenberg

Question 35

What did Weimar playwrights believe about the theatre?

Answer 35

It should connect with the public

Question 36

How many theatres were there in 1920s Berlin?

Answer 36

40

Question 37

What did right-wing political parties think about the cultural changes of the 1920s?

Answer 37

Strongly opposed them and blamed them on the ‘un-German’ Weimar Republic

Question 38

Why did the KPD oppose the cultural changes of the Weimar Republic?

Answer 38

Believed the money should be spent on those who needed basic help

Question 39

Why did theatres begin to experiment less from 1929?

Answer 39

Public spending cuts - focused on more popular productions

Question 40

What percentage of households in towns could receive radio by 1932? How did this compare to small villages?

Answer 40

Towns: 46%
Small villages: 10%