There are few film movements which have traveled quite as far as German Expressionism. It was born out of the ferment of post-WWI Europe, where the last notes of fin-de-siecle decadence clashed with the yearning for the constructive change modernity could bring as the world clambered out of the wreckage of battle.
The darkness and intensity of these films was what literary critics might call an objective correlative for the general mood of Germany—but perhaps more broadly the mood of a continent, or even a planet. It’s all there: the shadows representing dread, as well the bursts of light which, rather than bringing positivity or hope, merely cast the darkness into greater relief.
Source: https://nofilmschool.com/
German history [1918–1933]
Weimar Republic, the government of Germany from 1919 to 1933, so called because the assembly that adopted its constitution met at Weimar from February 6 to August 11, 1919.
The abdication of Emperor William II on November 9, 1918, marked the end of the German Empire. That day Maximilian, prince of Baden, resigned as chancellor and appointed Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Friedrich Ebert to succeed him. Ebert had advocated the establishment of a true constitutional monarchy, but Independent Socialists in Bavaria had already declared that state to be a socialist republic. With a communist uprising gaining strength by the hour, Ebert’s hand was forced by fellow Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann, who, to Ebert’s dismay and with no higher authorization, proclaimed a German republic from the balcony of the Reichstag. Ebert, fearing that extremists would take charge, accepted the fait accompli.
The Weimar Constitution included these highlights:
• The German Reich is a Republic.
• The government is made of a president, a chancellor and a parliament (Reichstag).
• Representatives of the people must be elected equally every four years by all men and women over age 20.
• The term of the President is seven years.
• All orders of the President must be endorsed by the Chancellor or a Reich Minister.
• Article 48 allows the President to suspend civil rights and operate independently in an emergency.
• Two legislative bodies (the Reichstag and the Reichsrat) were formed to represent the German people.
• All Germans are equal and have the same civil rights and responsibilities.
• All Germans have the right to freedom of expression.
• All Germans have the right to peaceful assembly.
• All Germans have the right to freedom of religion; there is no state church.
• State-run, public education is free and mandatory for children.
• All Germans have the right of private property.
• All Germans have the right to equal opportunity and earnings in the workplace.
1. After decades of restrictive, authoritarian government, Weimar was a period of social liberalisation.
2. In post-1924 economic revival saw many seek new forms of leisure and entertainment, like Kabarett.
3. German cabaret entertainment revolved around themes of sexual liberation and political criticism.
4. The cabarets followed no political line: any party or leader was subject to criticism or mockery.
5. Many feared the impact the ‘cabaret culture’ was having on German society and public morality.
A group of female cabaret dancers wearing costumes typical of the 1920s
German Expressionism is a cultural movement that is challenging to define as it is not distinguished by a singular style or method of creation, but rather is better described by both the mindset of the artist creating the work and the generation he or she lived in. The German Expressionists were artists, writers, and thinkers who were of age in Germany prior to World War II, and lived during Wilhelm II’s reign. German Expressionism developed as a result of the younger generation’s reaction against the bourgeois culture of Germany during this time period.
Source: University of Maryland LibGuide
Source: https://www.wikiart.org/en/otto-mueller/paar-mit-grunem-facher-1913
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