Splendor and Misery in the Weimar Republic: From Otto Dix to Jeanne Mannen

From the glamour of the Golden Twenties to the depths of the dark side of a world undergoing rapid change – the penetrating content of works by more than 60 artists recreates the age of the Weimar Republic, big-city life and the entertainment scene as well as the consequences of the First World War and socially controversial topics such as prostitution, political struggle and social tensions.

As the first German democracy, the Weimar Republic (1918–1933) is regarded as a time of crisis and transition – from the German Empire to the totalitarian regime of National Socialism. Numerous artists not only portrayed these years in their realistic representations, which are ironical and grotesque as well as critical-analytical; they also aimed to comment on the status quo and bring about social change. Works from Otto Dix and George Grosz via Conrad Felixmüller and Christian Schad to Dodo, Jeanne Mammen, Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler, famous artists and others waiting to be rediscovered, paint a multi-layered and political picture of the Weimar Republic.

•  Highly topical – The fight for democracy in the Weimar Republic as seen by the artists
•  High artistic quality – controversial content: the art of the 1920s from a socio-historical point of view
•  From Berlin to Munich and from Rostock to Hannover – A view of the capital and of the entire republic