"Vertigo" was an interesting overview over the events of the Weimar Republic and the lead up to the Third Reich.
I, personally, would have preferred a less heavy emphasis on individual art pieces, but I definitely learned a lot from this book about Weimar Germany.

In Vertigo, Harold Jaehner--a brilliant writer--wants you to feel what it was like to live during the tumultuous era of the Weimar Republic (1918 to around 1933). And he wants to show you that the Nazi seizure of power was not the inevitable outcome of what happened during that era. He shows there was a path the Republic could have followed to avoid that outcome. He wants you to see that the outcome was a choice based mostly on emotion—a loss of confidence in the existing regime and anxiety about the future.

Jaehner immerses us in the world of the Weimar Republic by writing incisively about the famous and less-famous people who lived through it; and by quoting from newspapers and novels, diaries, popular magazines and intellectual journals. He also writes insightfully about paintings, photographs, films, music, dance halls and public housing. He analyzes the effects of the increasing traffic that crowded the streets and the increasing number of office workers that crowded the sidewalks in the big cities.

In this way he conveys the emotions that motivated and were evoked by events during an era when people’s emotions were constantly being challenged. Hope in democracy was challenged by rage against even the idea that Germany would be a Republic, and violent opposition by soldiers home from the war who could not understand why the war had ended.

Despair at hyperinflation was challenged by a carefree appreciation of the absurdity of money. (The government issuing a one-hundred-trillion mark banknote? Theatre tickets costing 2 trillion marks or 2 eggs?)

Euphoria at the end of hyperinflation was followed by an eager embrace of modernity, a belief—in the cities at least--that everything could be made new: dance (the Charleston), music (jazz), architecture (not just the Bauhaus but also precursors of art deco), literature and painting (new objectivity), journalism (new kinds of cultural criticism and political commentary), fashion (new design for women and men), the economy (new opportunities for women to enter the workforce), new ideas about masculinity and femininity (Berlin became the epicenter of the international gay scene). Yet the exhilaration of living in such a dynamic society was challenged by resentment and anger that the nation was becoming un-German, that modern society would destroy traditional community.

Global economic depression brought an end to any belief that Germany was headed for a great future. Jaehner shows us that, by 1930, even though much of the cultural and technical innovation the Weimar Republic is remembered for was still to come, the “party” in what he calls “Café Deutschland” was over.

Long-harbored resentment and rejection of everything that was new began to take hold where it had been dismissed before. In the short time the Republic had existed Germans had not learned—or had not wanted to learn--how to live in it. Germany’s politicians could only attack each other, and Germany’s leadership could not—or did not want to--use the power of the elected government to meet the national emergency.

Jaehner says the loss of confidence in the government, and the increasing influence of democracy’s opponents inside the government and in the media, made it impossible for the democratic government to convince the population to give it more time. The challenge was not just to revive the economy. It was also about putting an end to the psychological pain of living in a country that so many in its population now felt had chosen the wrong path when it became a Republic.

You could decide to read this book just to see if there are any parallels between what is happening in America today and what happened in Germany in the long decade of Weimar. And you will find a lot of them. But I think it is too soon to draw any conclusions. We will know more after November 5th.

Instead read this book to experience the vertigo—the sensation that the environment around you is spinning in circles, making you feel dizzy and off-balance—that characterized life in the sensational Weimar Republic.

I have read quite a bit on the Weimar Republic, but this is the first book that helped me make sense of it. The reason, I think, is that there is much less here than is usual in the Weimar Republic literature on the elections, the political violence, and the alphabet soup of the parties; the existence of the Weimar Republic is not viewed merely as a way station to fascism.

In fact, surprisingly little space here is dedicated to the NSDAP or Hitler. Rather, most of the book is a careful, detail-rich reconstruction of what it was like to live in the Weimar Republic, down to an almost social-media level of immersion in the prevailing fashions, trends, styles and cultural signposts. There is so much here on what, and who, was quintessentially cool and vital—cars, hair styles, clothing, music, dance, the club scene; the film and music stars; the celebrities and socialites. So, this is largely a social and cultural history of the Weimar Republic, rather than a truly all-embracing history. But then even a more narrowly focused history has to account for the fall of the political order it describes, and the book does it well, if not perhaps with the same level of ardor that it lavishes on the “rise.” All in all, an excellent addition for anyone interested in the period.

This is a comprehensive and detailed exploration of the era. As another reviewer noted, this probably shouldn't be the FIRST thing you read about the era. It assumes the reader is familiar with German history.

If you are a culture buff, VERTIGO: THE RISE AND FALL OF WEIMAR GERMANY by Harald Jähner is the perfect pick. The author uses historical events only as a necessary frame for cultural changes that appeared in the short period between WWI and Adolf Hitler's rise to power. His interests include music, architecture, gender equality, journalism, etc. In general, it seems no stone has been left untouched by the author, and future researchers have nothing to add to such a comprehensive work.

My only recommendation would be to read about German history and geography before choosing VERTIGO. The amount of information, squeezed under one book cover, may astonish the reader, unfamiliar with places and names associated with the period.

I received an advanced copy through Netgalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A fantastic account of a complex and tumultuous moment in German history. The author effectively captures the creative and intellectual incubator that was Weimar Berlin - and chillingly details the malignant forces that turned against this creative impulse. While the heart of the story is that of economic turmoil, the cultural analysis Jahner provides is outstanding. I believe this is the most thorough scholarly investigation of the Weimar Republic since Detlev Peukert's invaluable contribution from the 1990s