"Es lebe das Neue!" Berlin in der Revolution 1918/19

by Moritz van Dülmen (Editor), Bjoern Weigel (Editor)

100 Orte – 100 Geschichten: Berlin war der wichtigste Schauplatz der Revolution von 1918/19. Von der Ausrufung der Republik am 9. November 1918 über das Ende des Ersten Weltkriegs, das Wahlrecht für Frauen und den Weg in die parlamentarische Demokratie, bis zur Sozialpartnerschaft zwischen Unternehmern und Gewerkschaften: Hier wurden die bedeutendsten Erfolge erreicht. Aber auch die tragischsten Entwicklungen nahmen in Berlin ihren Ausgang: Blutige Aufstände, bei denen sich die Anhänger*innen der gespaltenen Arbeiterbewegung als unversöhnliche Feinde gegenüberstanden, hunderte politische Morde, deren prominenteste Opfer Rosa Luxemburg und Karl Liebknecht hießen, der Beschuss von Wohngebieten mit schwerer Artillerie – hier geriet die junge Demokratie in ernste Gefahr.
Das Buch erzählt die Geschichte der Revolution in der Hauptstadt anhand von 100 Orten im gesamten heutigen Berlin. Weithin bekannte Ereignisse, Personen und Daten stehen neben vermeintlich kleineren, randständigen Geschichten. Politik, Kultur und Gesellschaft kommen aus verschiedensten Perspektiven zur Sprache. Und an den verschiedensten Orten: manche sind noch heute sichtbar von der Revolutionszeit geprägt, manche sind gänzlich verschwunden. Doch sie alle erzählen von der Bedeutung der Revolution 1918/19 für Berlin.

204 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2019

Reviews

[Nathaniel Flakin · Rating 4 out of 5]

100 locations for the 100th anniversary of the November Revolution of 1918-19 in Berlin. This was an exhibition from 2018, with large stickers pasted on the sidewalk at the different addresses. All the texts in German and English are available on a website: www.100jahrerevolution.berlin


This book compiles the texts in German, which has two big advantages: 1) it's much easier to read everything; 2) the photographs are amazing. There were many pictures I had never seen before, and they were lovingly arranged.

The book is surprisingly sympathetic to the revolution, considering it was sponsored by the Berlin government. It more or less presents the historical facts: that the Social Democrats aligned with proto-fascist paramilitaries to drown the revolution in blood.

The title is a quote from the murderous reformist Philip Scheidemann — but the cover image features the guns of the People's Navy Division (whom Scheidemann had killed). A good sign of the contradictions. Many different authors worked on this, and they often disagree. For example: Was the USPD expelled from the SPD in 1916 for opposing the war? Or did they split away? (They were expelled.) This book switches between the two versions.


One place where the historical record gets distorted is that some authors are obsessed with the idea that Rosa Luxemburg was the polar opposite of V.I. Lenin. They don't deny that she founded a Communist Party and spoke of the need for violent revolution — but they make it sound like Karl Radek was pointing a gun to her head and forcing her to take these positions.

This exhibition and the book recovered a number of locations that had almost been forgotten, such as the home of Leo Jogiches (Rosa Luxemburg's lifelong comrade-in-arms) in Neukölln. He was assassinated by a police officer, who was never even put on trial for the murder. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book — especially the photographs. The best part is that a new hardcover copy only costs €10. If you liked the chapter on the November Revolution in my guide book, Revolutionary Berlin, this will provide you with a lot more detail in German. #bookstagram #novemberrevolution #rosaluxemburg