“How does the cultural product represent the feelings and attitudes of Germany during the Weimar Republic?
Essay 3
Josephine Baker’s sensual dancing in Berlin during the Weimar period correlates with the feelings of liberalism and
experimentation which swept over the new Weimar Republic and its people. During this time, Berlin was known as
the ‘sex capital’ as ‘the instability of which beset the Weimar Republic as a political and social order made possible
unlimited experimentation’ (Kolb, 2004: 98, 97). Baker’s dancing was one enjoyed only by the wealthy who could
afford such luxury, while the proletariat were forced into the sex trade in order to support themselves. The division
between the classes illustrated in the social criticisms made by George Grosz in his drawings and Berthold Brecht in
his poetry. The establishment of Weimar as a modern and liberal Republic is furthered in the works of those such as
Walter Gropius and his founding of the non-traditional Bauhaus movement.
Josephine Baker’s dances symbolised the popularisation of the overtly sexual during the Weimar period. She
performed with ‘a wantonness that could hardly be constrained’ (Everything2, 2000), dancing widely on stage to
feverish drumbeats and the ‘new’ music of Jazz. In her most famous dance ‘the Banana Dance’, she performed to her
audience naked but for s string of bananas around her waist. She personified the “Weimar exploration of all things
primitive and modern” (Everything2, 2000) juxtaposing her uninhibited dancing, reminiscent of the wild people of the
past, with the modern music of Jazz which was heralded in Weimar. Thus, it was one of the unique performances
which the Weimar period gave birth to. The people and city embraced the new and foreign, wanting to separate
themselves from the conservatism of the past and the dreariness brought on from the Treaty of Versailles at the end of
WWI and the subsequent hyperinflation.
Due to the aforementioned hyperinflation, it was only the rich with foreign currency that could hope to see such exotic
performances by dancers such as Baker. Her kind of performances “exploited the desires of decadent middle and
upper class audiences seeking expensive thrills” (Von Ankum, 1997: 149). The flourishing sex trade of the time meant
that by 5 o’clock, the city was transformed into a ‘Sin City’ where ‘every kind of fetish was catered for’ (CBC-TV,
Legendary Sin Cities Berlin, 2005). While Josephine Bakers’ dancing illustrates a decadence enjoyed during the time,
in reality hundreds of thousands of the proletariat were forced into prostitution or the like, in order to survive during
the harsh times brought on by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. On one night, as many as 100,000 prostitutes (CBCTV, Legendary Sin Cities: Berlin, 2005) walked the streets catering for foreigners who flocked to the city to take part
in the hedonism it signified. While many view the uninhibited sexual activities of the time as “breaking free of
outworn ties and liberation from irksome restraints and as decadence and exploration of novelty (von Ankum, 1997:
98) the element of glamour in Baker’s performances was not one enjoyed by the majority of Germans during the
Weimar period, who were forced into the sex trade for their own survival.
Other cultural products of the time convey the class division in Weimar as well as the thirst for modernity. George
Grosz illustrated this juxtaposition ‘Five o’clock in the morning’ where the rich are partying and enjoying the
hedonism of the time at the early hour of the morning with the proletariat out on the street in hope of finding work.
Berthold Brecht furthers Grosz’s critical sentiments with his poem “Travelling in a comfortable car” in which a
member of the upper class refuses to allow an unfortunate member of the lower class to ride with him, despite having
the room. Bakers’ performance as a cultural product merely shows you what foreign currency could buy you in the
Weimar Republic displaying the benefits available for the rich and not the average German., Her performance
however, expresses the new found feelings of freedom as the country hoped to remodel itself into a place a modernity
separating itself from its stifling past under the rule of the Kaiser. The Bauhaus movement founded by Walter Gropius
established itself as “the reunification of all craft discipline...a new form of architecture” (Great Building Online,
Bauhaus, na) It shunned the traditional principles of design, wanting to create something new and, like Bakers’
dancing, inherently Weimar.
Thus, while Bakers’ exotic dancing provides and insight into the liberalism of the time, the entertainment was situated
within the wealthiest consumer orientated district” (von Ankum, 1997: 146). In reality, it was the struggling lower
classes who for the most part forced into the sex trade glorified by dancers such as Baker, to provide for these
consumers. While the Weimar period offered such decadence as seen by Baker’s dancing to those who could afford it,
the same luxuries and benefits were not extended to the majority of the German people.
Essay 2
During the Weimar period (1919-1933) Germany’s culture took a major turn towards ‘modernisation’ and as a result
new cultural products were born. One of them was a cabaret and burlesque dancer - Josephine Baker. Josephine
Baker’s dancing represented the feelings and attitudes of Germans during the ‘Golden Years’ of the Weimar republic.
Josephine Baker’s performances, such as her famous ‘Banana Dance,’ promoted sensuality and diversity, which were
frowned upon before 1918. The economic problems in the Weimar Republic (such as the aftermath of the Treaty of
Versailles, hyperinflation, political violence between left-wing and right-wing extremists) forces German’s attitudes to
change dramatically. New values, ideas and feelings were being produced and nearly all of them revolved around sex
and modernization. Josephine Baker’s ‘savage’ dances mirrored these attitudes, which is most likely why she became
such a star in Berlin. Josephine Baker conveyed these values and ideals through her outrageous costumes and
sexualised infamous ‘Banana Dance,’ in which Josephine dances in suggestive ways wearing nothing but a skirt made
out of artificial bananas. Josephine Baker’s success suggests that German’s loved the idea of being free, which the
Treaty of Versailles restricted (the laws didn’t allow Germany to have its own freedom and do whatever it pleased).
Therefore the performances of Josephine Baker represented the new attitude of modernization and freedom which
many Germans adopted in the 1920s.
Before 1918, society was incredibly different and most likely would not embrace Josephine Baker’s dances of ‘the
future.” Before Berlin became the new art and cultural hot spot, people would not dare speak about sex in a
pleasurable way; let alone dance around partially nude on stage. Josephine Baker’s wild sexy dances opposed the
traditional dancing of the early 1900s and encouraged Germans to “look forward, instead of looking back into the
past” (Art and culture in the Weimar Republic, 2009). Many Germans were willing to adopt this new type of outlook
on life, as their current lives were full of suffering due to the economic meltdown. With hyperinflation causing more
people to turn to prostitution for survival, Josephine Baker’s dancing gave the illusion that prostitution was a sexual
freedom and made people enjoy it rather than be ashamed of it. Josephine Baker conveyed this by creating dances
which were wild and aggressive - the complete opposite of elegant ballroom dancing. her legs kicked quickly and
wildly, as see in the videos of her dancing in 1927. “...I improvised, crazed by the music ... Even my teeth and eyes
burned with fever. Each time I leaped I seemed to touch the sky and when I regained earth it seemed to be mine
alone.” (Josephine Baker, n.d.). Thus Josephine Baker’s dancing not only influenced German’s attitudes during the
1920s but also represented it.
Not only did Josephine Baker reflect the feelings and attitudes of Germans in the Weimar Republic, there were other
cultural products depicting these aspects. However, some of these products looked at Germans and their society in a
darker way (unlike Josephine Baker). George Grosz’s artwork, ‘Five o’clock in the morning’ is a split drawing of (on
top) the working class walking to work, and (on the bottom) several middle-class men drinking, smoking, fondling
prostitutes and even vomiting. Grosz uses sketchy, harsh lines which suggest that he found Germany’ society
disgusting. Grosz’s view on the Weimar Republic during the 1920’s is strongly negative and this is seen in his
artwork. His views and values are completely different to that of Josephine Baker. Although Josephine ‘personified
the savage on stage’ (Josephine Baker, n.d.) and Grosz personified a similar savage in his artwork, Baker didn’t find
Germany’s nightlife at all putrid - she thrived in it and found it sensational.
The new attitudes and feelings of sexual freedom and modernization which were clearly represented in Josephine
baker’s dancing, evolved from the 1920s, and are still around today. Josephine Baker is associated with these attitudes
today, therefore Josephine Baker’s dancing represented some of the feelings/attitudes/ideas of Germans during the
Weimar period.