The Weimar Republic – boning up for June trip to Germany

 

I suppose I am not alone in having gaping holes in what I assume should be common knowledge. The Weimar Republic is one such chasm. Classical Pursuits will be visiting Weimar this June as part of our Made in Germany trip. In planning this trip with the help of discussion leader, polymath Don Whitfield and three German Graces, Barbara Zable, Hannelore Krome and Helga Hermann, my vague associations about Weimar, the place, and Weimar, the republic, were sharpened.

Now I am about to fill in some remaining blanks. A Toronto treasure, Eric Koch, will be launching his new novel, The Weimar Triangle, this Saturday afternon, December 4, at the Deer Park Library. Eric Koch has been called a Canadian master of historical fiction has been explaining German culture to North America for years. The Weimar Triangle is the third historical novel in Eric Koch’s trilogy exploring the making of modern Germany during the first part of the twentieth century.

The Weimar Triangle is set against the background of an invigorated, relatively confident but severely divided Germany, during the period between the two world wars.

Happily for those who are unable to get to the launch, you can view Eric Koch on youtube, explaining the nature of the Weimar Republic, a particularly rich cultural time that established the roots of Germany’s post-war success. There is so much German literature and history and films and music…I plan to do a lot more exploring over the winter and will occasionally pass along other resources that I find particularly compelling.