Changes to Culture

• Why did Weimar Germany experience a 'cultural explosion' in the 1920s?

  • Before 1918, the Kaiser's government censored the arts so artists couldn't express themselves freely for fear of punishment
  • WW1 impacted Germany's cultural identity - Weimar artists expressed pain of war in New Objectivism movement & explored the possibilities peace could bring to Germany with Modernism
  • 1924 - Artists wanted to create pieces that reflected the zeitgeist through Expressionism movement
  • New technologies (radio, film)
  • The Weimar government gave grants to artists & organisations like theatres & libraries
• How did right-wing and extremists groups feel about the experimental nature of Weimar culture?

  It upset them as the arts clashed with their traditional values
• What did Expressionism art use?

  Grotesque figures in violent scenes
• Why did Expressionist art use grotesque figures and violent scenes?

  • To make the audience uncomfortable
  • To make people question the society they lived in
• Who was Otto Dix?

  A famous new objectivist artist in Weimar Germany
• What did one of Otto Dix's paintings highlight?

  The issues war veterans faced when they returned to Germany
• Who traditionally controlled and produced Germany's cultural output?

  The more educated upper-classes
• What did many of the artworks do to the upper class?

  Undermined their authority
• What type of beliefs did many artists have?

  Strong left-wing
• What type of new architecture emerged in 1919?

  Bauhaus
• Who founded the movement of Bauhaus architecture?

  Walter Gropius
• What does Bauhaus architecture use?

  Geometric shapes to create practical buildings
• How many cinemas were in Germany by 1929?

  500
• When did film with sound become available and what were they nicknamed?

  1927 - Talkies
• Which country did Germany start to compete with in film production?

  USA
• Which film did the Weimar government fund?

  Metropolis (1926)
• What type of film was 'Metropolis'?

  A modern science-fiction film that centred on the impact of technology on 20th century life
• When did Germany produce its first talking film?

  1930
• How many cinemas that had the capability to play films with sound were available and in what year?

  3800 by 1932
• What did extremist left-wing parties think about Weimar culture?

  • Saw the government's funding of culture as a waste of money
  • Believed it took resources away from people who needed financial help like the workers
• What did extremist right-wing parties think about Weimar culture?

  • Believed Weimar culture was destroying German traditions
  • Argued that Weimar culture was responsible for the moral decline of German society