Weimar Culture Research Fact Sheet
Research and make point-form notes about the following areas of Weimar culture. These will form the basis for comparison between cultural life in the Republic and the cultural policies of the Nazis once they came to power. Remember to save a copy of your notes in your H drive or on your USB for printing (or print it if C13 is being kind …).
Theatre, film and literature:
§ Cabaret – typical subject matter and reasons for its popularity
- names of TWO popular cabarets of the period and their composers
- Who was Marlene Dietrich?
§ Bertold Brecht – names of TWO of his plays and an overview of his social and political views
§ Fritz Lang – names and thematic concerns of TWO of his films
§ Leni Riefenstahl – TWO films she made as an actress and/or director before the Nazis came to power and their thematic concerns
§ Thomas Mann - names of TWO of his novels and an overview of his thematic interests in his literature
§ Herman Hesse - names of TWO of his novels and an overview of his thematic interests in his literature
§ Erich Maria Remarque – name of his most famous novel and an overview of his response to the experience of the trenches in WWI.
§ How many of these writers and performers were banned and/or had their books burned by the Nazis? How many left Germany?
Architecture:
§ Bauhaus architecture: key elements of the style, famous buildings (copy and paste in TWO examples) and the theory behind the Bauhaus
§ Walter Gropius: main achievements as an architect.
§ What happened to the Bauhaus under the Nazis?
Art:
§ What were Modernism and Expressionism as art movements/styles (very briefly)?
§ Choose TWO of the following, copy and paste in TWO examples of their work, and briefly outline their typical subject matter and techniques:
- Otto Dix
- Paul Klee
- Ernst Barlach
- Vassily Kandinsky
- Max Beckman
§ How many of these artists had their works banned by the Nazis?
Science and Technology:
§ Number of German (or German-based) scientists who won Nobel prizes in the Weimar years.
§ The Zeppelins – their development and use in the Republic
§ Albert Einstein and theoretical physics
§ Technological change
§ How many prominent scientists left Germany when the Nazis took over?