Weimar Under Attack

Germany’s first democracy began with a non-violent revolution in 1918. The empire became a republic. Only a few weeks later, however, the peaceful beginnings turned violent. Uprisings, assassinations and attempted coups by both right- and left-wing factions posed a massive threat to the young republic.

The multimedia exhibition “Weimar Under Attack” traces the facets of violence in the years 1918 to 1923. It shows how extremists and separatists brought the country to the brink of civil war, the drastic means used by the state in retaliation and how the language and literature of the time reflected the brutality of the events. At the same time, the exhibition raises the question of how lines of continuity run through Germany’s long history of political violence – from the Weimar Republic through the Nazi era to the present day.

The exhibition “Weimar Under Attack. The Violent Beginnings of the Republic 1918–1923” was developed by the Weimarer Republik e.V. (Weimar Republic Association) in cooperation with the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History Potsdam (ZZF) and the Walther Rathenau Gesellschaft (Walther Rathenau Society).

Conceived as a traveling exhibition, the exposition was initially shown from November 2023 at Freienwalde Palace, Bad Freienwalde. After Berlin, Weimar and Hamburg are further planned exhibition venues.

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