education + culture developments

• weimar gov provided free education for kids under 14
• education expected to serve a moral purpose in Weimar Republic
• there was a handful of private schools such as Gymnasia
• golden era of germany lasted from 1924-1929
• art during golden era:

  • expressionism - focused on emtions , feelings , darker side of human pysche.
  • New Objectivity Movement - expressed irreverence and repsect for authortity with brutal depitions of life in weimar germany
  • dadaism - sought to provoke , send and cause outrage
• expressionism key artist - Ernst Kirchner
• new objectivity movement key artists - George Gross and Otto Dix
• dadaism key artist - Hannah Hoch
• literature during weimar republic:

  • writers wrote with a social , political purpose
  • increase in publishing , especially paperbacks , cheaper and more accessible
• Alfred Doblin wrote about working class life
• Erich Maria Remarque's 'All Quiet On The Western Front' challenged stab in the back myth
• music in weimar germany:

  • jazz was very popular , wide audience via radio
  • radio broadcasts began in 1923 , state controlled
  • zeitopera (opera of the time) developed, relfected modern issues from a radical , socialist perspective
• by 1930 there were 4 million radio sets
• theatre in weimar Germany:

  • zeittheater developed , depicted realistic , everyday situations to criticise Bourgeois society
  • theatre involved audience directly , street theatre brought political drama to a mass audience
• architecture and design in weimar germany:

  • functionalism important , buildings and furtniture had clean lines and simple forms , no excessive decoration
  • Bauhau style of architecture and design very influential
  • designs bold and utilitarian
• conservative response to Weimar Culture:

  • conservative germans saw cultural reinforced their fears of world in decay , concerned of 'filth and trash' damaging young
  • centrum and nationalist parties spoke of morality , family values and traditional German culture as being under threat
  • many jewish artists and performers involved. Extreme right saw this as Weimar Republic damaging Germany
• 1926 - Law to protect you from pulp fiction and pornography passed. State governments made list of books to not be sold under 18s
• 1926 law of pulp fiction and pornography went against article 118 of weimar constitution (no censorship law) - caused controversy
• high arts such as literature , opera and theatre democratised
• films and music were readily accessible due to technology
• film in weimar germany:

  • german silent films produced classics such as Fritz Lang's Metropolis
  • cinema embodied new technology , mass entertainment , democratisation of arts and movements of Expressionism
  • Marlene Dietrich , star of Langs 'The Blue Angel' sybolised new freedoms in weimar germany , had sexualyl ambigious apperance
• 112 women in Reichstag