1924-29 Was A Golden Age For The Weimar Republic

1924-29 as a Golden Age for the Weimar Republic

The 1920's were a time of uproar and fear for many Germans. As well as having to come to terms with the loss of the war and also the losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, Germans had to cope with political and economic problems such as the rebellions of the 1919and 1920 and then inflation of 1923. The inflation of 1923 had destroyed people's savings, so there was little money in Germanyitself for investment. In 1924, through the Dawes plan, Germany was lent 800million marks by the USA to invest in industry and trade. The economy began to recover. In 1928 industrial production finally exceeded pre First World war levels. By 1930 Germany was one of

The economy could well have been growing but it wasn't creating jobs fast enough for Germany's rising population. Another problem was that Employers complained about the money the government spent on welfare benefits for the poor and unemployed. They said taxes were too high. There were extremes of wealth and poverty in Germany. Yet out of this time of tension came some exciting art and culture through Europe. Throughout the 1920's Berlin challenged Paris as cultural capital of Europe, with new and significant developments in painting, architecture, cinema design and many other fields. This did not help the reputation of the Weimar republic, however in the eyes if the right wing critics, its artists were declining traditional German values

Before the war most German art had been detached from everyday life. In contrast most Weimar artists tried to show everyday life, they wanted to be understood by ordinary people, and they believed that art should comment on the society of the time. This new approach was given the name 'Neue Sachlichkeit' or 'new objective' because artists tried to portray society in an objective

Their slogan was 'art and technology a new unity'. Their approach was very different from elaborate and decretive style pf pre war Germany.

Theatre and opera had long attracted large audiences in Germany, but most performances were of classical works. In the 1920s these gave way to Zeittheater and Zeitoper, literally theatre and opera 'of the time'. These works were set in society of the time and included greater realism.

Berlin became famous for its nightlife. Alongside the theatre and the cinemas was a vibrant nightclub scene with daring floor shows. This obviously attracted public from other sides of the country especially to the city. This would have generated more publicity and therefore many would have known of Germany's culture life.

All these different lives that opened up gave impression Germany was a very vibrant and creative society. However as with so many other features of Weimar Germany, there was tension and conflict just below the surface. On the whole the daring lifestyle and ideas which characterised 1920's Berlin were not to be found in other parts