The Weimar Republic was a time of great social and artistic advances, but shaky politics and a disastrous economy made it ripe for the rise of National Socialism – the Nazis. Adolf Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, which brought an end to the Weimar Republic. As part of his swift project of cultural eradication, books were burned and people contrary to the regime, or who simply did not fit the Nazi’s ideal of the “Aryan” race, were arrested, murdered or forced to flee Germany. In our last film we explore the effects of the rise of the Nazis, and Weimar’s legacy.

These six films form the introduction to the Philharmonia’s concert series Weimar Berlin: Bittersweet Metropolis, which returns 23 September 2019 at Southbank Centre, London: https://www.philharmonia.co.uk/concerts/series/82/weimar_berlin_bittersweet_metropolis