Let me tell you what I know about Berlin.
Several years before I went to Berlin, there was a war from 1914 to 1918. It was a huge war that happened between several countries. Three million people died in Germany and they lost the war. The economy in Berlin in 1919 was in terrible shape Germany spent a lot of money on this war and as a result, afterwards everyone was poor. What made Germany’s economy worse was the Versailles Treaty. Versailles Treaty is the peace document signed after the war between Germany and the allied countries. At the Versailles Treaty, Germany lost 13% of its territory, including areas accounting for 16% of coal and 48% of iron ore production. Because they lost the war, Germany had a lot of debt, too. This brought inflation in Germany and everyone suffered.
Even a few years after the war, Germany was not able to pay back a debt because some of their most productive regions were taken in the Versailles Treaty. Therefore the government started to print more money to pay reparations they owed, which resulted in a rapid decline in the value of German currency. Germany experienced hyperinflation in 1922. The cost of living in Germany rose twelve times between 1914 and 1922.
During the hyperinflation, people had to carry their Marks with a wheelbarrow. I have heard that they had to use a whole wheelbarrow to simply buy a loaf of bread at the worst time.
There is a famous story that people burned their bills (German Marks) because they were more valuable to use as fuel than as money. Also, children were playing with Marks as they were nearly worthless.
Then, in 1929, the Great Depression happened in my country, the United States. The crash on the New York Stock Exchange in October 1929 affected Germany, too. The number of unemployed people increased, wages fell, and the number of bankruptcies increased daily. In 1929, one-fourth of people lost their jobs. The Great Depression had an immediate political impact. It undermined the
foundations of the system and increased support for the extremist parties both on the left and on the right. So this is the time when I came to Berlin.
At this time in Berlin, there were many immigrants and tourists visiting Berlin from other countries like me. There were immigrants from Russia and there were Jews living in Europe. Jews are a diverse group, ranging from the so-called Three-Day-a-Year Jews, who only identify as Jewish on the high holidays, to the Reform Jews, and Orthodox and Hasidic Jews from Eastern Europe. Jews come from the working class to the middle class, and from German-born to Ostjuden (Eastern Jew). Unfortunately, I realized that antisemitism existed in daily life even from the time I arrived. There were insults, intimidation, boycotts of Jewish-owned businesses, propaganda, lies, and anti-Jewish demonstrations. It got even worse later, especially after 1933 when Hitler became Chancellor and the Nazis gained power.
Also, Berlin, especially the Nollendorfplatz, was known as a gay-friendly area. In the 1930s, Nollendorfplatz, where I stayed in Berlin, was a center of entertainment and culture, home to artists and writers. At the time of the rise of Nazi Germany, being gay was not acceptable and hundreds of gay men were convicted and sent to prison every year. However, many people including some of Kit Kat Club dancers came to Berlin because they felt free to express their
sexuality in Berlin. During that time, there were some gay rights movements happening too in Germany. I heard that the first institution studying sexual science called Institute for Sexual Science was established in 1919. Even though there was censorship, there were some homosexual magazines published and some films about gay couples screened. (Well, they mostly had a bad ending, though.) Also, Berlin was famous for its nightlife such as bars and cabarets and people expressed their sexuality in the nightclubs. I have heard that there were between 65 and 80 gay bars and 50 lesbian bars in the capital alone. Despite the difficult economic and social situation, nightlife culture was so decadent and rich at this time. It was such a beautiful place.
In 1932, the Nazi Party became the largest political party in the Reichstag (Germany’s central government). And in 1933, Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi Party, became Chancellor. Things started to change dramatically after this. I have heard that after I left Berlin, one of the famous night clubs called Eldorado, the transvestite club, was shut down by Nazis in 1933. I wonder what happened to Kit Kat Club after I left. I hope everyone is living somewhere happily.
Photo Credits:
Figures 1, 2
https://keripeardon.wordpress.com/2013/06/01/wheelbarrows-of-money-andthe-weimar-republic/
Figure 3
https://mashable.com/feature/german-hyperinflation
Figure 4
https://alphahistory.com/weimarrepublic/1923-hyperinflation/
Figure 5
https://mashable.com/feature/german-hyperinflation
Figure 6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado_%28Berlin%29
Figure 7
https://perspectives.ushmm.org/item/photo-of-the-eldorado-club
To find out more about Berlin in 1920s and 1930s, please check out the following:
The Weimar Republic | Holocaust Encyclopedia
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-weimar-republic
Weimar Republic: Definition, Inflation & Collapse - HISTORY
https://www.history.com/topics/european-history/weimar-republic
Encyclopedia Britannica | Weimar Republic
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Carl-Schmitt
More About Hitler Youth
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/hitler-youth-2