EXHILARATION – The Short Life Between the Wars

Fifteen years that are like a century – an exciting new look at the short period between the wars.

Germany 1918. The end of the First World War, revolution and the victory of democracy sees, at the same time, the triumph of a more liberated way of life. Everything is supposed to fundamentally change: the “new woman”, the “new man”, the “new living” and the “new thinking”. When the economy begins to see an upward trend in the mid-1920s, Germany becomes a different country. Women conquered the race tracks and tennis courts, went out alone at night, cut their hair short and didn’t even think about getting married. Jähner describes the emergence of hobbies; boxing; dance halls (hotspots of the new era); offices and city traffic; department stores promising happiness; and the streets as the site of bitter conflict. So much of it seems strikingly modern. The taste for irony, sincerity and directness. But also, the fear of the “debasement of all values”, the ascendancy of things that are cheap. A large proportion of Germans did not identify with this emergence. Over time, it was clear that there was a deep division in society and that this could not be tolerated.
Harald Jähner delivers an overall portrayal of this pulsating, rich era as it has never been seen before – and depicts the image of a divided country full of violent and shocking energies. It is disturbingly similar to the way we are now and yet – hopefully – completely different.