The German Historical Museum in Berlin

A book by Kurt Tucholsky and John Heartfield, 1929

The German Historical Museum, at Unter den Linden 2, is a real must for anyone interested in German history. Recently they housed an exhibition focused on the Weimar Republic. Here, an excerpt from the presentation :


"One hundred years ago on 19 January 1919 following the First World War and the revolutionary turmoil, the citizens of Germany were called upon to elect a constituent national assembly. For the first time women had the active right to vote and the passive right to stand for election.

On 31 July 1919 the National Assembly convening in Weimar passed a new parliamentary democratic constitution. It had been drafted by Hugo Preuss at the request of Friedrich Ebert and it laid the groundwork for the first democracy in Germany. Basic rights and freedoms now became a reality. At the time the Weimar Constitution was considered one of the most modern in Europe and served as orientation for many other states around the world.

Its impact is still felt today. However, the republic based on this constitution was exposed to massive dangers, alone from the difficult situation in which it found itself at the start. Authoritarian traditions and attitudes stemming from the time of the monarchy continued to exert an influence. Economic instability, social tensions and fear of change led to a political radicalisation. During nearly the entire time the hard-won rights and the fascinating potential for democratic development had to be defended against attacks from right-wing and left-wing extremists. Anti-Semitism, a völkisch-nationalistic mindset and ­anti-democratic and anti-parliamentary movements endangered the work of the democrats from the very beginning.

Berlin 1922

In his seminal treatise The Essence and Value of Democracy, the constitutional law expert Hans Kelsen maintains that the ability to compromise on differing social opinions between political parties is the outstanding achievement of democracy and represents its very core.

Against the claim to absolutism of those he called the “political believers” he set the relativism of a democracy based on compromise. At the same time, only a demo­ cratic system of government guarantees the protection of minorities and the individual vis-à-vis the state and creates mechanisms that provide the most effective way of safeguarding the freedom of the individual.

To this day Kelsen’s work has lost none of its urgency and actuality. The Deutsches Historisches Museum has therefore deliberately chosen to draw on this work for its exhibition Weimar: The Essence and Value of Democracy and to shine the spotlight on the question “What is democracy?” as seen in the historical example of the Weimar Republic.

Raphael Gross. President of the Deutsches Historisches Museum."

The Historical Museum in Berlin