Centring the Weimar Republic

(Re)Centring the Weimar Republic explores how centrist German politicians and intellectuals sought to foster stability and cooperation during the interwar period. In contrast to the persistent image of a democracy “hollowed out” by divisiveness and political extremism, this book offers a new perspective on the Republic’s efforts to define and hold an ambitious and productive middle ground. Leading scholars and cultural practitioners from the fields of history, German studies, philosophy, literary studies, and music document the progressive activities of the Weimar Republic’s “centre” to answer the question: how can political centrism employ social, cultural, and democratic institutions to resist polarization and extremism? This book’s three sections reveal how key thinkers worked to balance pluralism and national identity, how politicians struggled to hold centrist positions across right-leaning, centrist, and left-leaning parties, and how contemporary culture today interprets those efforts for audiences in the press, the museum, and the concert hall. In today’s age of stumbling democratic institutions and increasing political polarization, (Re)Centring the Weimar Republic offers a historical touchstone for evaluating liberal democracy pushed to its limits and the multipartisan efforts to reinforce its principles.