Posts Tagged ‘Weimar Republic’

Can America Learn from the Weimar Republic?

Monday, November 21st, 2022

Can America learn from the Weimar Republic? Having grown up in post-World War II Germany, I always wondered how an evil man like Adolf Hitler was able to destroy a democracy in such short order. The constitutional federal republic preceding Hitler was called the Weimar Republic and existed for only fourteen years (1918 to 1933). What persuaded Germany’s political leaders and the general population to believe and follow Hitler, a man who tried to satisfy only his own twisted needs rather than those of the nation he pledged to represent? Something like this couldn’t happen in America, could it? Or could it? Let’s examine the main reasons that caused the Weimar Republic to fail.

The Big Lie that brought down the Weimar Republic

At least three factors helped Hitler seize power toward the end of the Weimar Republic. It started with a “Big Lie.” The lie was that the German Army had not been defeated on the battlefield at the end of World War I. Instead, Jews, Marxists, Democrats, and Internationalists had betrayed the country by subverting the war effort, driving out Kaiser Wilhelm II, and signing the punitive Treaty of Versailles. Germany’s conservative right promoted this lie relentlessly. Hitler had calculated correctly that the masses would be more likely to go along with a big lie rather than a small one.

Conspiracy Theories helped to bring down the Weimar Republic

Hitler endlessly reiterated the Big Lie without offering proof. The message was designed to appeal to the emotions rather than the intellect. It was used as justification for violence, and in 1923, Hitler instigated the Munich Beer Hall Putsch. He hoped to take over the government with this insurrection. However, the coup failed. Hitler was arrested and put on trial for treason. While in prison, he continued to spread the Big Lie by insisting that the founders of Weimar Republic, not he, were the real traitors.

How did the conservative party and judiciary react?

Germany’s conservative right came to believe that they could not win an election without Hitler’s Nazi base. They needed him to stay politically relevant. Therefore, instead of getting rid of this dangerous man permanently, he was sentenced to only nine months in prison. Hitler used that time to strengthen his base even further. In the end, the conservative right appointed Hitler as chancellor, in the mistaken belief that they would be able to control him.

The Great Depression made Hitler even more relevant

Meanwhile, hyperinflation, high unemployment, social and political turmoil, and punitive reparations led to public discontent during the Great Depression and created a path for Hitler and his Nazi party. Within a mere five months, Germany had lost its democracy and become a one-party dictatorship and a police state.

During the hyperinflation in Germany in 1923, people used the back of 1 Million banknotes as notepaper. A new pad would have cost 3 billion Marks. Photo courtesy of Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00193/ CC-BY-SA 3.0, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. www.walled-in-berlin.com

During the hyperinflation in Germany in 1923, during the end of the Weimar Republic, people used the back of 1 Million banknotes as notepaper. A new pad would have cost 3 billion Marks. Photo courtesy of Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-00193/ CC-BY-SA 3.0, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Germany license. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Are there parallels between the Weimar Republic and the Trump Administration?

I think so. (1) Disseminating and repeating a big lie over and over again smacks of Trump’s stolen election rhetoric. (2) Just as Hitler instigated the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Trump was behind the January 6 insurrection. (3) Neither coup resulted in swift punitive action. (4) In both cases did the conservative right align itself with a dangerous individual so that the party could remain in power. (5) Meanwhile, the public was deeply divided and willing to look the other way.

Hitler successfully used the electoral process of democracy to destroy democracy itself. Could similar actions bring down American democracy? Can America learn from the Weimar Republic? I hope it does.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Can America Learn from the Weimar Republic?

Five Tricks a Demagogue Employs to Incite the Public

Thursday, February 6th, 2020

 

What is a demagogue? According to Merriam-Webster “a demagogue is a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises to gain power.” The art of inflaming peoples’ passions has been practiced since democracy was invented. One of the first known demagogues was the Athenian Kleon in ancient Greece. Modern-time practitioners include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph McCarthy and Donald Trump.

Adolf Hitler was a demagogue who incited the public by employing a number of tricks that are still used today. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Adolf Hitler was a demagogue who incited the public by employing a number of tricks that are still used today. www.walled-in-berlin.com

 

An orator puts to use a number of tricks to incite his/her audience. Adolf Hitler was a master in this art. By the time he came to power in 1933 he knew how to rouse the public’s emotions, prejudices and ignorances. Below are five of the many methods Hitler employed to achieve his goal. Many of the same tactics are still used by current politicians. Next time you catch some demagoguery, pay close attention to see if you recognize the ploys.

Rule 1 – A Demagogue Tells People What They Want to Hear

Following World War I, Germany was a defeated nation. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles the victors had deeply humiliated the country. The Weimar Republic and ist political system were broken. The economy lay in shambles. The chances for recovery in the foreseeable future were zero. Along came Adolf Hitler. He promised to “Make Germany Great Again.” That’s what people wanted to hear and believe. He played to their desires and fears.

Rule 2 – A Manipulator Communicates Directly With his Audience

In 1933, the Volksempfaenger (People’s Receiver) was invented. At the time, it was a brand-new way of communicating. The Nazis immediately recognized the radio’s propaganda potential and held the purchase price down to the equivalent of two weeks average salary. Everyone could afford one. Of course, the Nazis did not mention that the set’s sensitivity was so limited that it could receive only the Nazi propaganda channel. Hitler then used the new media platform to establish and maintain a direct and unfiltered line of communication with the public. Back then, the newly invented radio was the equivalent of today’s social media, such as Twitter and Facebook. The one-channel radio allowed Adolf Hitler to bypass the standard news media and disseminate half-truths, outright lies, innuendos and racist and religious bigotry.

Rule 3 – A Demagogue Delegitimizes the Mainstream Press

Simultaneously, Hitler began to delegitimize the mainstream press. He regularly accused his opponents of spreading false information. It was Adolf Hitler who coined the word Luegenpresse (press of lies) to vilify the mainstream press. Today we call it “fake news.”

Rule 4 – An Agitator Tries to Demonize his Opponents

Hitler demonized his political opponents by calling them vicious names, such as parasites, criminals, cockroaches and scum. He blamed Jews and other racial and religious scapegoats for all of Germany’s ills, banned non-Aryan migration into Germany and embraced mass detention and deportations.

Rule 5 – A Demagogue Uses Coercion Rather than Cooperation

Adolf Hitler rejected international cooperation in favor of military and economic coercion and did not pay any attention to expert advice. Instead, he kept his own counsel. At the end of the war, when his plans for Germania fell apart, he ordered Germany’s destruction. Then he took the cowardly way out by committing suicide while the German people paid the price for Hitler’s ill-conceived ideas for the next 45 years.

These are just five of the many tricks a demagogue employs to mislead the public to gain power. He feeds the populace a steady diet of what it wants to hear and the people fail to demand the evidence behind the allegations and promises. British politician, Geoffrey Van Orden recently called this type of behavior on the part of the public “falling into the trap of an echo chamber of self-delusion.”

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Five Tricks a Demagogue Employs to Incite the Public

How Adolf Hitler came to power

Monday, July 2nd, 2018

Adolf Hitler, Chancellor of Germany during the Nazi period, came to power by bullying his way into office. He intimidated his opponents and promised the populace to make Germany powerful and proud again. The key government leaders already in office were accustomed to the democratic procedures of the Weimar Republic and unable to stand up to Hitler’s confrontational style. They meekly acquiesced while the majority of the population chose to look past some of Hitler’s misguided policies because he also promised to turn around the country’s dismal economic conditions, a result of the harsh peace terms of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. They focused on Hitler’s immediate promises rather than his long-term agenda.

Adolf Hitler came to power by bullying his way into office. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Adolf Hitler came to power by bullying his way into office. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How Adolf Hitler eliminated political opponents

The appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of the German Reich on 30 January 1933 marked the end of the Weimar Republic and of democracy in Germany. Since the Nazis had achieved only below average results in the 1932 elections in Berlin – the capital of Germany and center of German political power – it was of utmost importance to Adolf Hitler to gain full control in the city. While his people had pursued their aims primarily by means of rowdy propaganda and street violence prior to his appointment, as Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler took full advantage of all means of state power he had at his disposal. His aim was to eliminate political opponents and establish himself as a dictator.

Only two days after Adolf Hitler had been appointed Chancellor, the elderly Reich President Paul von Hindenburg was persuaded to dissolve the Reichstag (Parliament). In protest, the Communist Party called for a general strike. Upon Hitler’s urging, Hindenburg signed an emergency decree, which stipulated that demonstrations and pamphlets of political opponents would be forbidden. A rapid extension of the state police followed. Their purpose was to take action against “enemies of the state” with firearms.

With the Reichstag Fire Decree Adolf Hitler suspended civil liberties

On 27 February 1933, barely a month after Hitler’s appointment as Chancellor, the Reichstag chambers went up in flames. The Nazi government quickly blamed the fire on a communist coup and authorized another emergency law. It was called the Reichstag Fire Decree and was enacted the very next day for “the protection of the people and state.” The emergency decree suspended most of the civil liberties set forth in the Weimar Constitution, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right of public assembly, the secrecy of the post and telephone service, and it removed all restraints on police investigations. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007888 In other words, the decree provided the legal basis for the persecution of opponents of the regime. No warrant or judicial order was required, there was no right of appeal, and the arrests went into effect for an indefinite period of time. The number of people arrested rose abruptly after the Reichstag fire. Detention centers, such as the Nazi Prison Papestrasse were installed throughout the city and the country.

With the Enabling Act Adolf Hitler became a dictator

Less than a month later, on the heels of the Reichstag Fire Decree, Adolf Hitler passed another emergency law: the “Enabling Act” (Ermaechtigungsgesetz). It gave Hitler the power to enact laws without the involvement of the Reichstag. Together the two emergency laws abolished most civil liberties and transformed Hitler’s government into a legal dictatorship. The state of emergency remained in force until the end of the war in 1945. The climate of fear that spread throughout the country thwarted many potential attempts at resistance.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on How Adolf Hitler came to power

Saving – ingrained in German culture

Monday, June 25th, 2018

Germans are saving twice as much of their disposable income as their American counterparts. In 2015, German households set aside 10% of their disposable income while Americans saved only 5.5%. Germans tend to save more, purchase less on credit and take out fewer home loans than their American cousins. While Germans enjoy free healthcare and college tuition, Americans fund these services from their own pockets. Wouldn’t the added expense encourage Americans to put more funds aside for healthcare and college tuition? The opposite is true. Why?

Birth of the German saving culture

Germans have a long history of saving. The worlds’ first savings bank was founded in Hamburg in 1778. https://www.ft.com/content/c8772236-2b93-11e8-a34a-7e7563b0b0f4 Its purpose was to provide an avenue for the urban poor to save a few extra pennies for their children’s education and for rainy days. But the idea took hold far beyond the urban poor. Suddenly, savings accounts mushroomed all over Germany. By 1875, at least a quarter of the population had savings accounts. Schools began teaching the concept of saving to children and introduced special school savings banks. With the German unification of 1871 saving deposits began to be seen as a service to the nation because they allowed local banks to make them available to municipalities for the construction of canals, roads, electric works, gas works, schools, theaters and public parks.

Germans are saving twice as much of their disposable income as their American counterparts. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Germans are saving twice as much of their disposable income as their American counterparts. www.walled-in-berlin.com

 

During World War I, the German government encouraged people to invest their savings in war bonds. But with the demise of the Weimar Republic  people saw their savings deposits erode and finally be wiped out entirely by the hyperinflation of 1923. During the Nazi period that followed, Germans began to save all over again. Those savings, too, were wiped out by inflation, the currency reform and the introduction of the Deutsche Mark in the aftermath of World War II. Soon afterwards however, people started saving again because, apparently, the idea of savingwas deeply ingrained in the German culture by now. It is a habit that starts in childhood. When I was a little girl growing up in Berlin, I too, had a savings account in my name at our local bank. Whenever I had accumulated the miniscule sum of One Mark after rigorous penny-pinching, I deposited that money in my savings account. I was proud to watch my savings account grow. As far as I was knew, money belonged in the bank.

Saving Culture in German government

Financial discipline isn’t just considered a virtue on a personal level. One of the German government’s goal each year is to present a debt-free budget. It is referred to as “Black Zero” (Schwarze Null), which means being in the black. German finance ministers earn the support of voters not by promising tax cuts and spending increases, but by proving their commitment to fiscal discipline. In the United States, on the other hand, savings are equated to a lack of consumption and poor demand. Most of the US economy is driven by credit and debt. Heavy marketing also encourages Americans to spend rather than to save. While Germans consider saving the right thing to do, Americans consider taking on debt the right thing to do.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Tags: , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Saving – ingrained in German culture

Empty Bookshelves – Book-Burning Memorial

Monday, April 23rd, 2018

The most unusual monument I have ever seen is the Book-Burning Memorial, called “Empty Bookshelves.” It is located in the Bebelplatz (formerly Opernplatz), a public square on the south side of the Unter den Linden boulevard in the center of Berlin, Germany. A glass plate, set into the cobblestones of the square, allows passers-by to peer into a sunken library. There are enough shelves in this underground library to hold 20,000 books, but the shelves are empty. https://www.visitberlin.de/en/book-burning-memorial-bebelplatz/.

“Empty Bookshelves” is the work of Micha Ullman and serves as a reminder that on 10 May 1933 twenty thousand so-called “un-German” books went up in flames in this spot under the direction of the Nazis. The inscription quotes 19th century German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine’s words from his 1820 play “Almansor”: “Das war ein Vorspiel nur; dort wo man Buecher verbrennt, verbrennt man am Ende auch Menschen.” (That was but a prelude; where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people.)

"Empty Bookshelves" Book-Burning Memorial in the Bebelplatz in Berlin's city center. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

“Empty Bookshelves” Book-Burning Memorial in the Bebelplatz in Berlin’s city center. Photo © J. Elke Ertle, 2017. www.walled-in-berlin.com

How did the Berlin book-burning come about?

After World War I, many university students opposed the Weimar Republic http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/weimar-republic-can-democracy-be-too-democratic/ and found in National Socialism a way to express their political and social discontent. On 10 May 1933, the Nazi German Student Association and their professors hosted a book-burning in a nationwide “Action against the Un-German Spirit.” Students in as many as 34 other German university towns initiated book-burning ceremonies or marched in torchlight parades. They burnt the works of hundreds of independent authors, journalists, philosophers and academics. The books to be burnt were chosen according to blacklists and focused primarily on books written by Jewish, religious, anarchist, communist or pacifist authors, who were viewed as being subversive or as representing ideologies opposed to Nazism. With the words, “No to decadence and moral corruption! Yes to decency and morality in family and state! I consign to the flames the writings of Heinrich Mann, Ernst Glaeser, Erich Kaestner…” Germany’s propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, tossed the first books into the fire. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005852. Other blacklisted authors included Berthold Brecht, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Heinrich Heine, Ernest Hemingway, Aldous Huxley, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Helen Keller, Karl Marx, Leo Tolstoy and Kurt Tucholsky.

Other book-burnings

The 10 May 1933 book-burning under the Nazi regime is perhaps the most infamous one in history, but it was by no means the only book-burning during that time period. Years later, after having defeated Germany in 1945, the Allied occupation authorities in Germany drew up a list of over 30,000 titles. As part of the denazification program, they had millions of books confiscated and destroyed the following year. The books burnt ranged from simple school textbooks to poetry.

In the United States, German-Americans came under severe scrutiny when the US entered World War I in 1917. The American Defense Society urged Americans to burn German books and literature, and for a time, book-burning ceremonies became the rage in the United States. http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/where-have-german-americans-gone/

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic or current events, people, places or food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Empty Bookshelves – Book-Burning Memorial

Weimar Republic – Can Democracy be too Democratic?

Monday, March 12th, 2018

The Weimarer Republik (Weimar Republic) was Germany’s genuine attempt at creating its first-ever democracy. Trying to make it the perfect democracy, its leaders tried to build it on the principal of political and social equality for all. But the Weimar Republic lasted only 14 years before it collapsed. What happened? Was it not democratic enough? Was it too democratic? Let’s take a look.

“Weimar Republic” – an unofficial Designation

Between 1919 and 1933 – after Emperor Wilhelm II had abdicated and before the Nazi regime assumed power – the German state is commonly referred to as the Weimar Republic. That is an unofficial designation, however, because officially, Germany continued to be called Deutsches Reich, (German Empire), Deutscher Volksstaat (German People’s State) or Deutsche Republik (German Republic). The term “Weimar Republic” is based solely on the fact that the German state’s constitution was adopted in the city of Weimar. It was not until the 1930s that the term became mainstream.

Conditions preceding the Weimar Republic

In its fourteen years of existence, the Weimar Republic faced copious problems. They included hyperinflation, political extremism with right- and left-wing paramilitaries, attempted revolutions, public discontent and antagonistic relationships with the victors of World War I. Hyperinflation was such that in 1919, one loaf of bread cost 1 Mark; by 1923, the same loaf of bread cost 100 billion Marks. The value of the paper Mark had declined from 4.2 Marks per U.S. dollar in 1914 to one million Marks per dollar by August 1923. The German people blamed the Weimar Republic rather than their wartime leaders for the country’s defeat and for the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Banknote from the hyperinflationary period of the Weimar Republic - a 1923 banknote in the amount of 20,000 Mark, worth barely the paper it was printed on. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Banknote from the hyperinflationary period of the Weimar Republic – a 1923 banknote in the amount of 20,000 Mark, worth barely the paper it was printed on. www.walled-in-berlin.com

Why did the Weimar Republic last only 14 years?

The constitution of the Weimar Republic contained many features that were to insure a perfect democracy, such as a Bill of Rights that guaranteed the freedom of speech, freedom of religion and equality under the law. But the constitution also had two great weaknesses. http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/germany/weimarstrengthweakrev3.shtml One of those weaknesses was something called “proportional representation.” It meant that each party was allocated the number of seats in the Reichstag (Parliament) that was proportional to the number of people who had voted for the party. But no minimum number of votes was required to get into the Reichstag. As a result, dozens of tiny parties ended up sitting in the Reichstag. When none could garner enough seats to represent a majority, the government could not get any laws passed.

The other serious built-in weakness in the constitution of the Weimar Republic was Article 48. That article stated that in an emergency the president could issue decrees without the agreement of the Reichstag. But the article failed to define what would represent an “emergency.” It was under Article 48, the Enabling Act of 1933, that Adolf Hitler assumed power.

These two major flaws in the constitution, albeit democratic and well-intended, made it impossible for the Weimar Republic to survive.

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | 3 Comments »

Nesthaekchen – Once Popular Children’s Books

Monday, December 11th, 2017

 

Nesthaekchen is a German term for the baby of the family. Else Ury (1877 – 1943) wrote close to forty books for children of all ages, including her immensely popular 10-volume Nesthaekchen series. The series was published between 1918 and 1925 during the days of the Weimar Republic (between the end of the German Empire in 1918 and the beginning of Nazi Germany in 1933).

In her Nesthaekchen series, Else Ury describes the adventures of Annemarie Braun – the baby of the Braun family – from childhood to old age. Ms. Ury was not only one of the most productive female German writers of her time, she was also one of the most successful. Millions bought her books, heard them read on the radio, attended her receptions and read her newspaper columns. As a child, I received one Nesthaekchen volume for Christmas and another for my birthday until I owned all of them. In other words, it took me years before I had read the entire series. Still, I have the fondest memories of reading those books, curled up on the couch and deeply engrossed in Annemarie Braun’s life.

Volume 5 of the Nesthaekchen series by Else Ury - Nesthaekchen's Backfischzeit (Nesthaekchen's Teen Years) - Photo J. Elke Ertle, 2017, www.walled-in-berlin.com

Volume 5 of the Nesthaekchen series by Else Ury – Nesthaekchen’s Backfischzeit (Nesthaekchen’s Teen Years) – Photo J. Elke Ertle, 2017, www.walled-in-berlin.com

The Nesthaekchen series continues to be re-published. Since 1945, with every new release, the stories were modernized so that today’s editions contain only 70 to 80% of Else Ury’s original text. During her lifetime, more than one million Nesthaekchen books were printed, and over seven million have been printed to date.

Synopsis of the Nesthaekchen Series

The Nesthaekchen series follows Annemarie Braun, the youngest of three children in the family, from age of 6 to grandmotherhood. Her father is a physician. Her mother is a homemaker. The family includes Annemarie’s parents, her two older brothers, a cook, a maid, a nanny, the family dog and a canary. They live in an upper-class neighborhood of Berlin. During WWI, Dr. Braun is dispatched to France as a medical officer while her mother is trapped in England, having missed the last departure for Germany. In 1923, Annemarie marries a young doctor, Rudolf Hartenstein, and raises a family of her own. Her youngest daughter, Ursel, marries the son of a coffee plantation owner. Ursel moves to Brazil and makes Nesthaekchen a grandmother with all its joys and hardships.

 

To read about Else Ury’s life and untimely death, click http://www.walled-in-berlin.com/j-elke-ertle/else-ury-life-and-ghastly-death/

 

For a sneak peek at the first 20+ pages of my memoir, Walled-In: A West Berlin Girl’s Journey to Freedom, click “Download a free excerpt” on my home page and feel free to follow my blog about anything German: historic and current events, people, places and food.

Walled-In is my story of growing up in Berlin during the Cold War. Juxtaposing the events that engulfed Berlin during the Berlin Blockade, the Berlin Airlift, the Berlin Wall and Kennedy’s Berlin visit with the struggle against my equally insurmountable parental walls, Walled-In is about freedom vs. conformity, conflict vs. harmony, domination vs. submission, loyalty vs. betrayal.

 

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in J. Elke Ertle, Tête-à-Tête, Walled In Berlin | Comments Off on Nesthaekchen – Once Popular Children’s Books