1925-1926: More Priest than Politician

The story of the residents of Weimar during the rise and reign of Hitler.

Weimar – On the Edge of Catastrophe is written by Katja Hoyer.
The reader is Sian Thomas.
The abridger is Julian Wilkinson.
The producer is Lu Kemp.

Hitler gives his first speech outside Bavaria, in Weimar. He warms to the town, the heart of German culture, and thinks it is just the place to breathe life into the dormant Nazi movement. At Hitler’s first speech is Weimarer teenage Baldur von Schriach, who is deeply impressed by Hitler. He sees his future with this impressive man, and writes a poem for him.

Hitler is particularly taken by the Hotel Hohenzollern (run by Jewish woman Rosa Schmidt). He makes it his hotel of choice for his next few visits to Weimar. At just over a week away from her 40th birthday, Marie Weirich gives birth to a healthy baby boy – Willhelm. Carl is delighted to have a second chance at a family.

Nazi Party membership is on the increase. The first Nazi party rally is held in Weimar in 1926. Delighted with their progress, Goebbels and Himmler spend the afternoon of 24th June cruising through Weimar on a motorbike. The Hitler Youth is inaugurated, the eagle with the swastika in the middle is used for the first time, and Hitler establishes the Nazi salute.

The Nazis are only in town for two days, but their thuggery is everywhere – brawls and riots, vandalism and knife attacks lead to countless injuries. Weimar’s town council fret as these ugly scenes make national news, but the Nazis consider their first big rally a resounding success.

Weimar explores ‘the question of how and why a nation that prided itself on its culture and civility enabled the catastrophe of Nazism haunts us to this day because we fear a repeat.’ The book is about the tension between individual and collective responsibility and sounds a warning for our own times.

Katja Hoyer is a German-British historian, journalist and the author of the international bestseller Beyond the Wall as well as Blood and Iron. A visiting Research Fellow at King's College London and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, she writes for Bloomberg and Berliner Zeitung and is a commentator on German current affairs for many British newspapers. She was born in Germany and is now based in the UK.