Knowledge test: Culture in Weimar Germany

1. Knowledge test: Culture in Weimar Germany

2. Question 1 Question 2 Living standards improved during the ‘Golden Years’ of the Weimar Republic. As an example, what was introduced in 1927? • Unemployment benefits - workers would receive a weekly fixed income whilst they searched for employment. • Unemployment insurance - workers could pay into a scheme that paid cash benefits if they became unemployed. • Paternity leave - new fathers received 6 months paid leave to help care for their first born child. 2 million more ….. were built in the years 1924-1931 by the Weimar government. What is the missing word? • Prosthetic limbs - they were needed to help the casualties of WWI recover. • Cars - the 1920s was the time of the automobile. • Houses.

3. Question 3 Question 4 Who mainly benefitted from the economic changes? • Middle classes • Working classes • The Nazis Which one best describes a problem behind Weimar Germany’s improving economy? • High living standards could only be maintained with a strong economy. Thankfully, Germany’s economy was robust. • High living standards could only be maintained with a strong economy. Unfortunately, Germany’s economy was still fragile. • High living standards could only be maintained with a faltering economy. Thankfully, Germany’s economy was faltering.

4. Question 5 Question 6 Women over the age of 20 were awarded the vote in Weimar Germany in 1919. How many women were elected to the Reichstag between 1919 and 1932? • 92 • 102 • 112 Who thought that giving women the vote, and therefore more power and freedom, threatened traditional Family live and German values? • Some right-wing German nationalists • Some left-wing German socialists • All divorced men (divorce rates increased during the Weimar period)

5. Question 7 Question 8 The traditional role of women began to change in Weimar Germany. Who is not an example of the changing role of women in Weimar Germany? • Sylvia von Harden- journalist, painted by Otto Dix and example of ‘new women’ (independent, successful career, new styles and lifestyles) • Marlene Dietrich - actress and film star (one of the highest paid actresses of the era) • Steffi Graf - sports star (7 time Wimbledon champion) Who directed the silent film ‘Metropolis’ in 1927? This film director is an example of how cinema was changing - he was dubbed the ‘Master of Darkness’ due to his focus on dark unpleasant topics (‘Metropolis’ is set in a future urban dystopia - an imaginary unpleasant and ruined place) • Bertolt Brecht • Fritz Lang • Walter Gropius

6. Question 9 Question 10 Which school of design was highly influential in Weimar Germany? It promoted experimentation and modernism. For example, in architecture it promoted straighter lines and the use of grids - this clashed with traditional German architecture. • Cologne Progressives • Kraftwerk • Bauhaus Whose dramas highlighted how the arts and theatre was changing and becoming bolder during the 1920s? • Leni Riefenstahl (her films, such as Triumph of the Will and Olympia, glorified authority and promoted German nationalism). • Bertolt Brecht (his Threepenny Opera criticised capitalism and showed his generation’s disillusionment with life after WWI). • Joseph Goebbels (oversaw films such as Day of Freedom: Our Armed Forces which glorified German militarism).

7. Answers 1. B 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. A 7. C 8. B 9. C 10. B