Jazz
and the controversy it caused in Weimar Germany
THE Age OF
Roaring 20s
1918 - 1933
index
1. Origin
2. How it came to EUrope
3. Jazz in Germany
4. Weintraub Syncopators
5. controversy
6. Sources
index
the rhythm of the world shifted by an eighth - but what an eigth it was
- Friedrich Hollaender
Origin
- Early 20th century in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Combination of classic and West African music
- mostly played by African Americans in brothels
and the red light district
- First all-white band led to the success of Jazz
- Jazz moves to major cities
Origin
19
18
- young people traumatized from war
- Jazz as a form of resistance
--> Americanization and mass culture
- Soldiers bring Jazz back after WW1
- Phonograph, radio, and mass production of sheet music spread Jazz music
How it came to Germany
Jazz in Germnany
Years of turmoil
- Small Jazz groups
- Not many people with time or means to listen to Jazz
1920-23
- Dawes Plan brings economic stability
- Berlin becomes a cosmopolitan city
- New big Jazz orchestras form
- Charleston, Shimmy and Fox Trot becomes popular dances in night clubs
after 1924
New Woman
before the 1920s
during the 1920s
Weintraub Syncopators
- 7 members
- Stefan Weintraub as leader
- Played parodies, swing and jazz music
- Famous for their uniqueness and
entertainment
- Appeared in famous movies and theaters in
Berlin
- 1933 all members immigrate to different countries due to their Jewish background
Weintraub Syncopators
The German schoolmaster cannot dance it. The Prussian reserve officer
cannot dance it. If only all ministers and councilors and professors and politicians were obliged to dance jazz, even now and again publicly! In what a
joyous way would they be stripped of their entire honor! How human, how nice, how comical would they have to become! No atmosphere
of stupidity, vanity, and grandeur could form. If the Kaiser had
danced jazz—all that would never have happened! But no! He could never
have learned it. Being German Kaiser is easier than dancing jazz.
- Hans Siemens 1921
Controversy
- Devil's music
- Different concepts and values
- Racism and antisemitism
- In 1933 Nazis take over and ban Jazz music
--> Jazz seen as "Alien music"
Controversy
Sources
https://hancockhistoricalmuseum.org/i-love-the-1920s/jazz-music-during-the-1920s//#:~:text=Started%20in%20the%20late%2019,touch%20of%20West%20African%20culture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age
https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/kunst-und-kultur.html
https://holocaustmusic.ort.org/politics-and-propaganda/third-reich/jazz-under-the-nazis/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_jazz
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/cultureshock/beyond/jazz.html#:~:text=It%20featured%20improvisation%20over%20traditional,seen%20as%20barbaric%20and%20immoral.
https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/31384/628781.pdf?sequence=1
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3051611?seq=4
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40244198?seq=5
https://academic.oup.com/gh/article-abstract/6/2/145/717820?redirectedFrom=PDF
https://www.bpb.de/themen/zeit-kulturgeschichte/sound-des-jahrhunderts/210142/roaring-twenties/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stefan_Weintraub
https://www.nps.gov/jazz/learn/historyculture/people.htm
https://jazzgeschichten.de/weintraubs-syncopators/
file:///Users/leobrandenburg/Downloads/WR_Jazz%20in%20Germany.pdf
https://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/search/search.cfm
Sources
you
thank
Any Questions?
For listening
Analyze the Authors / Illustrators' stance on Jazz and the culture in Weimar Germany
summerize their arguments / point ov view
Task
