Weimar Culture Flashcards
1
Q
What were the new cultural ideas and atmosphere in Weimar?
A
Innovation and democratisation —> spirit of experimentation —> art should be accessible to the masses and reflect the new world —>linked to new inventions + technology —> liberal with reduced censorship
2
Q
Neue Sachlichkeit
A
New objectivity, matter-of-fact representation of life
3
Q
Weimar art/painting
A
- innovation in terms of form and subject matter
- comments on society + to be understood by all
- George Grosz
- Otto Dix
4
Q
Weimar literature
A
- favoured literature with a social and political purpose (against personal experience of author)
- utilitarianism= worth of writing determined by its usefulness
- explosion of publishing, bestseller lists, book clubs etc encouraging people to read
- large divide between left-wing and right-wing novelists
- big sellers often nostalgic
- Arnold Zweig, Lampel wrote about working people in big cities
- Herman Hesse, Thomas Mann, Erich Maria Remarque
- ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ 1929 challenged stab in he back narrative
5
Q
Weimar theatre
A
- new school of Zeittheater (theatre of time) = emphasis on everyday activities
- innovative techniques
- street theatre to involve mass audience
- became most explicitly political art form
- many left-wing playwrights eg. Bertolt Brecht and Erwin Piscator
6
Q
Weimar opera and music
A
- experimental mood ( Schoenberg’s use of atonality)
- Gebrauchsmusik = music with a practical purpose, advocated by many
- opportunities to reach new mass audience using radio, sound films, gramophone etc
- Zeitopera= developed, reflecting modern issues from a radical left (eg. Kroll Opera, Berlin)
7
Q
Weimar architecture
A
- ‘Bauhaus school’ under Walther Gropius, ‘art and technology- a new unity’
- utilitarian, great stress on functionalism
- familiar materials used in innovative ways (eg. Whole buildings made from concrete)
- lack of decoration, unimpressive look, but v successful
8
Q
Weimar film
A
- German film industry = one of most advanced in Europe
- by end of 1920s, 500 cinemas across Germany (new form of mass entertainment)
- German cinema; shift from early expressionism to social reality and American imports
- 1926 ‘Metropolis’ directed by Fritz Lang = commentary on modern, industrial society
- Marlene Dietrich became world renowned actress for flaunting her sexuality
- UFA = major German film company ran by Alfred Hugenberg (leader of the DNVP)
- by late 1920s exploited by right-wing filmmakers to produce patriotic films (eg. Friteries Rex)
9
Q
Weimar Radio
A
- German Radio Company established in 1923
- only state controlled radio broadcasts available from 1923
- by 1932, 1 in 4 Germans owned a radio
- enthusiasm over opportunity to democratise culture (music, plays)
10
Q
Weimar Cabaret/Dance
A
- Cabaret concentrated in Berlin only, didn’t reflect rest of Germany
- liberal, satirical, permissive, jazz influence of US
- Berlin notorious for nightclubs, naked dancing, subversive songs, open homosexuality = horrified many
11
Q
How did the right harness the new experimentation in Germany to further their cause?
A
- Blamed it on the lazy, unGerman Weimar republic
- centre and nationalist parties campaigned against ‘tides of filth’
- Nazis organised disruption of ‘unpatriotic’ films and decadent theatrical productions at the Kroll Opera House
- prominence of Jews amidst the cultural experimentation was used as proof of the harm of the cosmopolitan Weimar Republic
- blamed gov for allowing loss of German culture
12
Q
Why did some left-wing artists criticise Weimar culture?
A
They believed it was grey and boring
13
Q
How were the arts affected after 1929?
A
- public spending cuts = local governments withdrew subsidises from avant-garde reductions and theatres had to rely on income from ticket sales
- increased participation of conservative politicians in state gobs = several measures against new cultural reforms
14
Q
What did Wilhelmina Frick order?
A
modern art removed from museums and attempted to restrict jazz
15
Q
How did the gov try to combat liberalism in the arts?
A
- limited radical radio programmes
- fined Grosz for defaming the military, corrupting morals, blasphemy
