Konsum und Politik in der Weimarer Republik

English summary: In the Weimar Republic, food shortages, inflation, and housing riots were as much a part of everyday life as the lure of the big-city entertainment culture that shaped the image of the Roaring Twenties. Based on an examination of material living standards, Claudius Torp illustrates the gap between lack of experience and expectation of wealth, and shows how consumption has been widely politicized. In this case, the political debates and activities reveal the...
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English summary: In the Weimar Republic, food shortages, inflation, and housing riots were as much a part of everyday life as the lure of the big-city entertainment culture that shaped the image of the Roaring Twenties. Based on an examination of material living standards, Claudius Torp illustrates the gap between lack of experience and expectation of wealth, and shows how consumption has been widely politicized. In this case, the political debates and activities reveal the sophisticated and ultimately failed project of a rational design of consumption, in which democratic and paternalistic features were superimposed. The relationship between consumption and politics offers a new perspective on the problems and potentials of the Weimar Republic. German text. German description: In der Weimarer Republik gehorten Lebensmittelknappheit, Teuerungsunruhen und Wohnungsnot ebenso zum Alltag wie die Verlockungen der grossstadtischen Vergnugungskultur, die das Bild von den Goldenen Zwanzigern gepragt haben. Ausgehend von einer Untersuchung des materiellen Lebensstandards, verdeutlicht Claudius Torp die Kluft zwischen Mangelerfahrung und Wohlstandserwartung und zeigt, wie der Konsum allseits politisiert wurde. Hierbei offenbaren die politischen Debatten und Massnahmen das ebenso anspruchsvolle wie letztlich gescheiterte Projekt einer rationalen Gestaltung des Konsums, in dem sich demokratische und paternalistische Zuge uberlagerten. Der Zusammenhang von Konsum und Politik bietet daher eine neue Perspektive auf die Probleme und Potenziale der Weimarer Republik.