In the interwar period from 1919 to 1933, the Weimar Republic became an unofficial name for Germany. During this time, Berlin became Europe’s intellectual and creative hub, pioneering in the modern arts as well as science. At the time, the economy and political situation in Germany was experiencing hardships, whereas cultural and intellectual life flourished. The time period of the Weimar Republic is often referred to as ‘Golden Years’ in German history due to the explosion of sexual freedom and self-expression. Thus, In the “Golden Twenties,” Germany was the center of European expressionism, which was presented as a protest movement against “mundane naturalism” in art, as a symbol of the spiritual world of a person.
Weimar Berlin was brimming with provocative cabaret performances, excessive drug use, hedonistic party nights, public and same-sex relationships. According to Friedrich Berlin, the community turned into “Not an authentic society, but a new society based on new money, and on extravagance, brashness, show” (Friedrich p.12). Consequently, such after-war emancipation inspired Berliners to open up new horizons in art, technology, and comprehension of beauty. It was during the existence of the Weimar Republic that icons like Marlene Dietrich and Anita Berber became symbols of the time. It was also Brecht’s decade of art and design, the Isherwood’s, and the Bauhaus movement. Henceforth, due to the burst of freedom, Weimar culture became one of the most celebrated ones in Europe back then.
All in all, the Weimar Republic was one of the 20th century’s most febrile and interesting periods. This was the time when cultural imagination and technical innovation are walking hand in hand with political uncertainty, increasing inequality, and gathering on the horizon storm clouds. Small wonder, though, that 100 years later, in film and literature, music and art, the Weimar Republic is still being celebrated and romanticized.