1927-1929: An Age of Optimism

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.

The young democracy is starting to find some economic recovery and life is becoming slightly easier for Germans, but division within the political parties has resulted in the middle classes feeling politically homeless. Meanwhile the Nazi party is building strength.

A chance meeting with Hitler enables Baldur von Schirach to nudge his way into Hitler’s inner circle – convincing him to speak to university students. Disillusioned by their parents’ loss of status, Hitler would find some of his most fervent supporters from the university.

Weimar is attempting to build their place in the German economy with a new national sports stadium, and the Graf Zepelin flies over Weimar to the joy of its citizens.

At first the Wall Street Crash is barely registered by ordinary Germans, but by December the impact of American economic crash has hit Germany hard.

And President Hindenburg is aging… he will not last long. A new leader must be found.

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.