Berlin (1918-1933) Trivia Quiz

Answer: 9 November

There were two declarations of a republic on the same day in Berlin. Philipp Scheidemann made the key proclamation from a window of the Reichstag building, and shortly afterwards Karl Liebknecht proclaimed a specifically socialist republic. The stage was set for conflict between the Social Democrats and the radical left.

The 9th November 1923 saw Hitler's Beer Hall Putsch; 9-10 November 1938 was the 'Night of Broken Glass' pogrom, and 9 November 1989 saw the start of the Fall of the Wall. Going further back, one finds that on 9 November 1848 Robert Blum, a leading Radical in the Frankfurt Parliament, was shot after a very hasty trial, for allegedly inciting rioting in Vienna.

Answer: Homosexuality

Germany was the only country in Europe to have a campaign in the period c. 1918-1933 for the decriminalization of homosexual acts between consenting adults. (This campaign had in fact begun on a small scale around 1898, when the subject was widely considered almost unmentionable).

The film, directed by Richard Oswald, is about a homosexual who is blackmailed. The blackmailer is charged, tried and convicted, but in the process the hero's orientation and activities become public, and he commits suicide.

However, the film was too much even for the Weimar Republic, and was banned in 1920.

In 1931 a film sympathetic to lesbianism, entitled "Mädchen in Uniform" ("Girls in Uniform"), was also released in Berlin and later won awards in Italy and Japan. It was shown in Germany until it was banned by the Nazis.

Answer: The swastika

Various 'Free Corps' units had marched on Berlin and tried to seize power. The Marinebrigade Ehrhardt sported the swastika and marched through the streets singing, 'Wir wollen, wollen, wollen keine Judenrepublik' (Engl. 'We will not, will not, will not have a Jewish republic'). The Kapp-Putsch, as it came to be called, was thwarted by a general strike, not by the government, which had fled to Stuttgart - conveniently close to the Swiss border, as cynics noted.

Previously, the swastika had not been widely used as a political symbol outside Bavaria. (Its use as a symbol for good luck was centuries old).

Answer: As a tribute to Walther Rathenau

Three days earlier Walther Rathenau had been assassinated by an extreme right-wing secret society called 'Organisation Consul', composed mainly of former Freikorps officers. Rathenau was the Foreign Minister at the time. Among his noteworthy achievements in the Weimar period were a renegotiation of the schedule for the payment of reparations and the Treaty of Rapallo between the two 'outcast states' of Europe - Germany and the Soviet Union.

Antisemitism was clearly one motive, but the conspirators also hoped to provoke a left-wing uprising. They believed that only the Freikorps would be able to suppress it, and that, having done so, they would be able to seize power in a putsch.

Some of the conspirators were killed in a shoot-out with the police but those who were captured were dealt with very leniently by nationalist judges.

Answer: The S-Bahn

The S-Bahn (Stadtbahn, 'city railway') was created by amalgamating various existing lines, especially the East-West link (from the Ostbahnhof to Charlottenburg) and the Ringbahn. Other local lines and spurs were included. The system was electrified and the platforms were raised almost to the height of the doors to enable passengers to enter and leave trains quickly.

(Note that the name 'Stadtbahn' for the elevated section from Charlottenburg to the Ostbahnhof had already been in use earlier).

Later, North-South lines were added.

There is no Schwebebahn in Berlin ... For that one has to go to Wuppertal.

Answer: Danced naked

Sometimes she danced with a partner, sometimes solo. Some of her dancing was considered very provocative ... On stage she often wore nothing or almost nothing. One of her most successful series of dances was the "Dances of Vice, Horror and Ecstasy".

Early in her days as a model she pioneered an androgynous appearance, which some claim inspired Marlene Dietrich.

In 1925 Otto Dix painted a well known portrait that made her look distinctly older than she was and even a physical wreck, with heavy make-up.

Her dancing was judged by many to be innovative and of considerable artistic merit.

Answer: Fear of a left-wing uprising

The Berlin police force was big and well equipped at the time, with armoured cars and even small tanks. In addition, there was a significant military presence in the city. The authorities had not forgotten the Spartacist uprisings of 1919.

Answer: True

The law of October 1920 creating Greater Berlin increased the area of the city thirteenfold. Seven towns, 59 civil parishes and 27 minor rural districts were combined into one vast city, subdivided into 20 boroughs.

Later, this expansion allowed Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union to have a more or less viable sector each in Berlin in the aftermath of World War II.

Answer: Tempelhof

Tempelhof was designated an airport in 1923, and three years later the newly founded Deutsche Luft-Hansa established its headquarters there. Completing the buildings with the well-known semi-circle later became a Nazi prestige project, but some parts of the grandiose scheme were never completed.

In 1948-49 it played a key role in the Berlin Airlift.

Answer: 'Cultural Bolshevism'

Six of these Modernist housing estates, including Siemensstadt and the 'Horseshoe' in Britz, were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites in 2008. In addition, the period also saw the building of some very innovative projects in more traditional styles, such as the Ceciliengärten in Schoeneberg.

Bruno Taut emigrated first to Japan and in 1936 to Turkey.