Berlin – A Cultural Metropolis: 1900-2000

Twenty years after the wall fell, Berlin is unexpectedly on its way to becoming one of Europe’s most popular major cities. To be sure, the current hype surrounding Berlin is not based on a mature urban mythology, as is the case with Rome, London, or Paris; the city’s changes in identity were too rapid for that to be the case: “royal capital” and “capital of the Reich,” “city with four sectors,” divided city, “state in the Federal Republic” and “capital of the GDR” as well as—after extensive debate—“capital of the Federal Republic.”

The course explores selected chapters from different periods and areas of Berlin’s cultural history such as Berlin expressionism; die Goldenen Zwanziger Jahre; clubs, cabarets and revues; Berlin as Cinematic center of Germany; Jewish Life in Berlin; Literatur Cafés; Berlin during the 3rd Reich; art districts (Prenzlauer Berg and Kreuzberg); the building and fall of the wall; and the cultural profile of present-day Berlin. In addition to literary texts, examples are drawn from the fine arts, music and film.

A reader will be made available.