Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Golden Twenties
The giant metropolis of Berlin as we know it today was forged in 1920 from the region's
many independent towns and villages (Charlottenburg, Schöneberg, Spandau etc), making
Berlin one of the world's largest cities, with around 3.8 million inhabitants.
Otherwise, the 1920s began as anything but golden, marked by the humiliation of a lost
war, social and political instability, hyperinflation, hunger and disease. Around 235,000 Ber-
liners were unemployed, and strikes, demonstrations and riots became nearly everyday oc-
currences. Economic stability gradually returned after a new currency, the
Rentenmark,
was
introduced in 1923 and with the Dawes Plan in 1924, which limited the crippling reparation
payments imposed on Germany after WWI.
Berliners responded like there was no tomorrow and made their city as much a den of
decadence as it was a cauldron of creativity (not unlike today…). Cabaret, Dada and jazz
flourished. Pleasure pits popped up everywhere, turning the city into a 'sextropolis' of
Dionysian dimensions. Bursting with energy, it became a laboratory for anything new and
modern, drawing giants of architecture (Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner, Hans Scharoun and
Walter Gropius), fine arts (George Grosz, Max Beckmann and Lovis Corinth) and literature
(Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Tucholsky, WH Auden and Christopher Isherwood).
The fun came to an instant end when the US stock market crashed in 1929, plunging the
world into economic depression. Within weeks, half a million Berliners were jobless, and ri-
ots and demonstrations again ruled the streets. The volatile, increasingly polarised political
climate led to clashes between communists and members of a party that had been patiently
waiting in the wings - the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (National Socialist
German Workers' Party, NSDAP, or Nazi Party), led by a failed Austrian artist and WWI
corporal named Adolf Hitler. Soon jack boots, brown shirts, oppression and fear would
dominate daily life in Germany.
The Siegessäule (Victory Column) in Tiergarten park has had starring roles in Wim
Wenders' movie Wings of Desireand U2's 'Stay' music video. It also inspired Paul van
Dyk's 1998 trance hit 'For an Angel' and the name of Berlin's leading gay magazine.
Hitler's Rise to Power
The Weimar government's inability to improve conditions during the Depression spurred the
popularity of Hitler's NSDAP, which gained 18% of the national vote in the 1930 elections.
In the 1932 presidential election, Hitler challenged Hindenburg and won 37% of the second-
round vote. A year later, on 30 January 1933, faced with failed economic reforms and per-
