Weimar Culture: The Outsider as Insider

In this interesting analysis of the culture of Weimar Germany, Gay posits the idea that the outsiders of Wilhelmine Germany became the insiders of Weimar Germany. However he never is able to explain how this happened. In fact he states that the cultural trends that flowered in Weimar were already beginning during the pre-WWI Wilhelmine period. Gay states he wants to define the Weimar spirit but I don't think he ever does. What we have instead is a snapshot of the people and culture of Weimar Berlin. And it is Berlin that he mostly focuses on because Berlin was the largest city and capital of the Republic.In a few chapters Gay focuses on on the birth of Weimar (though sadly he doesnt give a political history of the Republic until the end of the book), on its cultural output by focusing on literature, philosophy, music, newspapers, opera, painting, and that most modern of mediums - movies. As an aside, Gay's criticisms of the Fritz Lang movie 'Metropolis' was seriously misguided. I wonder how he came to his views and wish he had engaged with most of the laudatory reviews of the movie. Still, this book was written over fifty years ago and everyone is entitled to their opinions.Ultimately the book fails to prove anything. But it offers a good snapshot of Berlin between 1919 and 1933. There are better books on the culture of Berlin in the 1920s like Friedrich's  Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s . Also, I'd read a history of Weimar Berlin first to understand the politics and economics of the period.

I have read the authors work in other areas and found it quite worthy. This work however is difficult to assess. It is one chapter after another containing name after name, and lacking in context. Weimar is a critical period in Germany, political confusion mixed with creativity. However this really does not come out in Gay's work here. My greatest confusion is just trying to follow the explosion of names lacking in context. The discussion of Heidegger is an example. On the one hand he counters the philosophy of Vienna and Cambridge yet on the other has the flavor of Nazi thought that he would subsequently follow. Gay has a great talent seen in his many other works but unfortunately this is not one.

Es asombrosa la erudición del autor, como su capacidad para presentar lo esencial de aquellos años brillantes y desventurados. Guido Rodriguez.

Read the book when it first appeared and found it extraordinary in its vivid description of the milieu of the time. I purchased this copy for a friend.

Peter Gay brings the entire culture of the period to life, as only he can do. His holistic approach to art, craft, politics, and culture completely immerses the reader in this period.

I found this, as with Gay's other books, to be an extremely useful analysis. We tend to think of Weimar as the "new Periclean age" of Germany between the wars--rich in culture and artistic expression and experimentation. Gay does a very solid job of covering a number of topics in 145 pages. Among other subjects, Gay discusses expressionism; architecture (including Gropius and Bauhaus); the Warburg and Frankfurt Institutes; poetry and the German imagination; the rejection of politics during this period; the new realism in art, such as that of George Grosz (but no discussion of da-da); the "new objectivity"; youth movements; the impact of modernism; Heidegger and other philosophers; and Spengler and history. Among the most interesting sections is one on the expressionist cinema. Gay concludes with a brief, yet suggestive, analysis of what went wrong with Weimar and why it came to be rejected by most Germans prior to WWII. Particularly important in this regard, was the legacy of Versailles which tarnished all that Weimar politically (and perhaps artistically) had been able to accomplish. First published in 1968, the book contains a valuable bibliography (up to that point) and an interesting appendix "A Short Political History of the Weimar Republic." Norton has produced a most pleasant paperback edition, with some very fine illustrations and graphics. Compact but abundant with insights for those interested in this period.

A great book on Weimar.

A classic. Didn't seem dated. Always glad to learn about Weimar.

Peter Gay's book is essential reading if you are interested in the period between wars in Germany. Well written and researched.

I realise that this will put me at odds with other reviewers and the quoted press reviews but I frankly found this rather dense book disappointing. Perhaps the 1960s presentation style is now dated. Before considering the text let me say that the design of the book is misleading. A nude lady appears on the cover so you may think the subject of Weimar cabaret will appear in the book, not so. I can see no justification for this cover design. The printed illustrations are of low quality and not very relevant to the text.Turning to the content the author, Peter Gay, has chosen to adopt a psychological context for the different chapters. He is trying to demonstrate his thesis of deep underlying psychological fault lines in the German psyche following the defeat of the First World War and the founding of the Weimar Republic on 9th November 1918. In so doing the author attempts to describe the different aspects of Weimar culture in support of his hypothesis. I would have much preferred a straightforward exposition of German cultural trends in the 1920s and 30s free of this overlay of Freudian ideas.After an introduction to the history of the Weimar Republic there follows five chapters, each deals with a different aspect of the culture. Thus, ‘Community of Reason’ describes the founding of important institutes outside the established universities, including the esteemed Warburg Library and Institute. The key cultural change here being that the institutes admitted students without the need for the ‘Abitur’ which was previously a necessity for entry to higher education. The chapter ‘Secret Germany – Poetry as Power’ deals with the unprecedented influence of poets such as Stefan George, Rainer Maria Rilke and the 18th century Holderlin. The playwright Buchner who wrote ‘Danton’s Death’ and ‘Woyzek’, later to become Alban Berg’s opera ‘Wozzeck’ in 1925 using Schonberg’s 12-tone system and ‘Sprechgesang’, is discussed at length. ‘The Hunger for Wholeness – Trials of Modernity’ is a somewhat difficult chapter on the philosopher Heidegger and the supposed superiority of German culture. This feeling, it is suggested, resulted in the formation of ‘Wandervogel’, community groups for the promotion of outdoor activities and folk culture. Oddly the architects Erich Mendelsohn and Walter Gropius are also mentioned in this chapter but knowledge of their work by the reader is assumed, not described. Expressionist film, in particular Robert Wiene’s 1920, ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’ and the revolutionary Expressionist artists such as Grosz, Dix and Beckmann are mentioned in ‘The Revolt of the Son – The Expressionist Years’ (1918 – 1924). However, again the author assumes knowledge by the reader of the work of these artists and their output is not described or illustrated. Finally ‘The Revenge of the Father’ charts the return to artistic objectivity and sobriety during the years 1924 to 1929, the rise of ‘Neue Sachlichkeit’. Thomas Mann’s 1924 book, ‘Der Zauberburg’ (The Magic Mountain) is discussed at length. The main publishing houses operating in Germany at this time are also referred to with Ullstein Verlag coming in for much criticism. I think you have to be a little wary of an author who describes ‘Grand Hotel’ and other books by Vicki Baum as “facile mediocraties” and Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ as a “tasteless extravaganza”.As will be evident from the comments above that the author does not discuss the most obvious subjects such as architecture, art, theatre, cabaret or the most popular writers of the day in any useful detail, for this you will need to turn elsewhere. Gay’s writing is about feelings and psychology and I doubt many citizens of the Republic would have recognised his exposition of their culture.A useful short synopsis of the political history of the Weimar Republic appears as an appendix.

prachtige beschrijving van politieke en culturele gebeurtenissen in Duitsland in de jaren 20 en begin dertig van de vorige eeuw

This book is very readable and well researched. Itis also as objective as a history book can reasonably be and has a short chapter on the historical background as well.

Fully satisfied.