Bertolt Brecht's Berlin: A Scrapbook of the Twenties [Paperback]

Wolf Von Eckardt (Author), Sander L. Gilman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1993

In 1936, at the age of eighteen, Wolf Von Eckardt and his mother and sister fled Berlin and came to New York. With Sander L. Gilman, he as brought into focus, through words and pictures, an uneasy era that divided two great catastrophes.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A haunting evocation of the revolution that Hitler destroyed and a tragic glimpse of the German genius."—Publishers Weekly

(Publishers Weekly )

"This scrapbook of the twenties is a mindblower—not only in providing a feel for the twenties but for the horror coming fast on its heels."—American Libraries

(American Libraries )

"A thorough, anecdotal and lovingly detailed survey in words and pictures of [Berlin’s] golden years under the Weimar Republic. All aspects of the city’s life are covered, not only the philosophers, painters, musicians Bauhaus architects who gave it special distinction but [also] the social unrest, the nightmare inflation, the glittering cabarets and low bars, the prostitutes, drug addicts and petty criminals who have a special bearing on the work of Brecht."—Washington Post Book World

(Washington Post Book World )

About the Author

Von Eckardt, formerly architecture critic for the Washington Post, is the author of The Challenge of Megalopolis.

 

Sander L. Gilman, Goldwin Smith Professor of Humane Studies at Cornell University, has written a new preface for this Bison Book edition of Bertolt Brecht’s Berlin. His books include Inscribing the Other (Nebraska, 1991).

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803296126
• ISBN-13: 978-0803296121
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,736,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars After the wall fell, November 29, 2003

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Bertolt Brecht's Berlin: A scrapbook of the twenties (Hardcover)

It is a scrapbook. Berlin dreams included many things, art, architecture, theater, sport. In the 1950's the city's dividedness became an occasion for more riches of artistic expression.

Brecht died in 1956. His daughter took over his company--the Ensemble-- and the right to produce his plays. The Berlin of the 1920's became frozen in time. After reunification the question arose as to whether the Berlin Ensemble should be preserved.

Friedrich Ebert was the first President of the Weimar Republic. German inflation, 1919-1923, was more demoralizing than the defeat of armies. Berlin is surrounded by beautiful lakes and woods but most of the inhabitants stayed within the city's confines which produced a multitude of employment opportunities and leisure pursuits. There was also the issue of a lack of low cost housing which some of the architects and planners sought to overcome.

Berlin night life defied description. There was political cabaret. There were night clubs one does not talk about. Criminal gangs were camouflaged as social clubs. Franz Werfel, Stefan Zweig, Erich Maria Remarque, and Stefan George were active. Kathe Kollwitz and Georg Grosz were inevitably involved in showing the ugliness of life in the city. Other artists included Otto Dix, Ernst Barlach, Paul Klee, Max Beckmann, Otto Muller, Lyonel Feininger, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. The Bauhaus group influenced the avant garde.

The first public psychoanalytic institute was established in Berlin in 1921. The Berlin theater attracted the best talent. German film makers used Espressionism. Another genre of film was the mountain film. The music scene included Wilhelm Furtwangler, Arnold Schonberg, Paul Hindemith, Otto Klemperer, Erich Kleiber, Arthur Schnabel, and Kurt Weill. The Wandervogel movement was apolitical. Notes and index are provided.