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Changes in Society 1924-1929 (Leisure activities (Cinema (New films were…
Changes in Society 1924-1929
How living standards changed (positives)
Wages
Between 1924-28, wages increased by over 10%
Fall in level of unemployment and this meant more people had jobs and earned more money. They did not have to rely on the government to give them cash
Housing
Between 1924-31, nearly 3 million homes were built
Level of homelessness was reduced by 60%
Help for the unemployed
Weimar Government created a system called 'unemployment insurance' this meant that if a worker lost his job, he could get benefits to cover the cost of living
Special benefits were provided to war veterans, single mothers and disabled. This meant there were fewer people in need of help in Weimar Germany
How living standards changed (Negatives
Wages
There were 184,000 middle class workers who were out of a job in April 1928
Unemployment was worst among lawyers, civil servants and teachers
Many of the middle class workers could not claim benefits from the Government
Housing
Massive shortages of houses in Germany
Shortage of 800,000 houses in 1927
Help for the unemployed
Some people could not benefit from the system. If you did not make any contributions to the scheme, you could not receive any benefits if you lost your job
System was badly designed, could only cope a maximum of 1.1 million people. But by 1932, there were 6 million people out of work which was beyond the capacity of the system
Changes for women in society
Politics
Women over the age of 20 were given the right to vote in elections
by 1926, there were 32 female deputies in the Reichstag
There were only 6.5% of representatives in the Reichstag were female
Employment
proportion of public employees who were female increased from 6.5% in 1907 to 12.6% in 1925.
By 1933, there were 100,000 female teachers and 3,000 female doctors.
most of the better paid jobs went back to men after the war
Leisure time
Women had much more freedom than before. They could go out without their husband. It was also acceptable to smoke or drink in public
Women fashions developed, more edgy styles - e.g shorter skirts or shorter haircuts became more popular
Although women seemed to have more freedom, this was quite temporary. The numbers of male deaths during WW1 meant that there was a shortage of young men in Germany
Leisure activities
Art
Artistic styles changed in Weimar Germany. There was more focus on everyday life. The name for this was Neue Sachlichkeit - which means ‘New Objectivity’.
They tried to draw or paint what they really saw, rather than an idealised or perfect world. Examples of these artists were people like George Grosz and Otto Dix
Architecture
Under the Kaiser, buildings had been decorative and intricate. The new ‘Bauhaus’ style was different
Architects like
Walter Gropius
used basic shapes and colours. It was ‘minimalist’, because it used less space, materials and time to create. His buildings were rejected by traditional architects
Cinema
New films were made during this period
Most famous director was Frtiz Lang
Films such as Metropolis were famous and the actress, Marlene Dietrich was well known
Literature
Lots of new authors produced novels and poems. Many of them were considered controversial because they discussed issues which people found uncomfortable
Right wing authors criticised the Weimar Republic and said that WW1 had been a triumph for Germany and that they wanted Kaiser back
Left wing authors criticized the military. They reflected very badly on WW1, saying it was a bad experience